I visited Bali in last month and there is a waterfall called GitGit waterfall at north bali near lovina. I hired a taxi and asked the driver to take me there.
Now here is the thing, when I visit a new place, I always study google maps first and I have a very clear idea about routes and distances.
So the taxi driver stops his car around 1 kilometers away from the actual spot where vehicles can go. he says “This is the parking for the waterfall, from here you need to take a guide”.
He introduces me with a guide.
The first thing the guide says is “We provide guides for free here, we do not take any charge, only you need to pay for entry ticket to the waterfall”
“How much is the entry ticket?” I asked.
“It’s 120K IDR and that includes me taking you there, the return and the history of the waterfall.” he replies.
I asked him if I can go there myself without guide, he said “No it’s very dangerous, the road is slippery and has many turns and branches, you can get lost in there easily.”
From google maps, I know that the place is exactly around 900 meters away. I told him no thanks buddy, I’ll go myself.
He said “The money which we take is not for ourselves, it’d for charity, student’s education, welfare of local people etc, if you have any respect for local people you should go with us.”
I said “I deeply respect Balinese people, I am from India and we share the same culture and religion, but I came here for adventure, i’ll go myself”
Saying this, I moved forward, with help of google maps, I walked the 900 meters path. a simple and straightforward path, no twists and turns, no slippery path, just a walk in the park.
and whats more, the entry ticket is just 10k IDR, not 120k as told by my dear guide.
I found out that the taxi could have easily dropped me near the ticket counter, But he deliberately dropped me at the guide center which is half-a-kilometers away from the ticket counter.
The waterfall