Feeling Safe in Bali

My friend and I just returned from a two-week vacation in Bali--an incredible package tour for under $900. We were prompted to go by your “Bali Low” article (Oct. 11). And indeed, prices on the island were at times unbelievable (gourmet dinners for $5 a person, hotel rooms for $10 a night or less), and the dramatic landscape, warm people and fascinating culture were everything we’d hoped for.

But despite our insistent pleas, many of our friends are still reluctant to go to Bali because of the political disturbances in the capital of Jakarta and other parts of Indonesia.

Please inform your readers that Bali is completely safe for tourists now. Partly because of their unique Hindu traditions, the people of Bali abhor violence and are very far both geographically and culturally from Jakarta.

In fact, Australian and European tourists continue to go to Bali. One “benefit” (at least for tourists) of the political disturbances in Jakarta is that there are even fewer people to disrupt the serenity of a Bali vacation.

STAN WU

Los Angeles