My brother-in-law and his wife have taken a leave of absence to travel the world and are now in Indonesia. Here’s an interesting excerpt from their latest missive from Ubud, Bali:

What is remarkable is how few tourists there are. Or, to put it differently, the overcapacity. The bombings of about a month ago have had a very clear impact. When we checked in here we noticed that the last registered guests dated back to about a month ago. They talk about it in the stores and restaurants too, a girl who works at a souvenir-shop told us she had sold only two things over the past week. And the expectation is that things will get worse now that one of the most wanted Muslim terrorists, Dr. Azahari, has been killed in Malang. The Australian government has, as a response to that, issued a negative travel advisory for Indonesia. They fear reprisals. There are other countries too that have issued a similar advice and we often hear about people who have canceled their trip to Bali.

A once thriving and peaceful island is starting the pay a hefty price for jihadist violence. And the pain is felt where it will hurt most in the long run: the economy.

Related Posts
Bali Round-up
Why Bali?
Bali, again