Who's Talking

A simple and unfortunate rule of travelling:

Those who talk to you, you don't want to talk to.

These are the touts down Monkey Forest Road in Ubud that call after you for a taxi over and over and over again. Or ask if you need a room, or need to buy souvenirs, or...the list goes on. Then you walk two steps and it starts again and again and again. They are doing their job, I get that, but I can't possibly say or even acknowledge everyone that speaks to me in a day because I wouldn't move 2 feet.

Those you don't talk to you, you want to talk to.

These are the people going about their day and allowing you into their country with a warm smile and welcoming passivity. These are the people that go about their day despite the tourists and don't rely on the tourist dollar for their livelihood which usually means that they have much more interesting and 'real' lives to the multitudes of those that hassle tourists.

It is the people of any country that make it worth seeing and exploring and the Balinese live up their reputation for being kind and with a deep soul that resonates in everything that they do. If only I carried a sign that said "I don't want any. (And if I do...I'll find you)".