Basics - The Rough Guide to Bali and Lombok - page 82

UK Embassy Jakarta 021 2356 5200, www.gov.uk/government/world/indonesia .
US Consulate Jl Hayam Wuruk 188, Renon, Denpasar 0361 233605, amco-

[e-mail] .
US Embassy Jakarta 021 3435 9000, jakarta.usembassy.gov .
Customs regulations
Indonesia's customs regulations allow foreign nationals to import one litre of alcohol, two
hundred cigarettes or fifty cigars or 100g of tobacco, and a reasonable amount of perfume.
Cars, laptops and video cameras are supposed to be declared on entry and re-exported on de-
parture. Import restrictions cover the usual banned items, including narcotics, weapons and
pornographic material, and foreigners are also forbidden to bring in any printed matter writ-
ten in Chinese characters, Chinese medicines, and amounts of Rp5,000,000 or more in In-
donesian currency. Indonesia is a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in En-
dangered Species (CITES), and so forbids import or export of products that are banned under
this treaty, which includes anything made from turtle flesh or turtle shells (including tortoise-
shell jewellery and ornaments), as well as anything made from ivory. Indonesian law also
prohibits the export of antiquities and cultural relics, unless sanctioned by the customs de-
partment.
Gay and lesbian travellers
As members of a society that places so much emphasis on marriage and parenthood, the
Balinese are generally intolerant of homosexuality within their own culture, to the point
where gay Balinese men will often introduce themselves to prospective lovers as hailing from
Java, so as not to cause embarrassment to their own people. It's not uncommon for men to
lead a gay lifestyle for ten or fifteen years before succumbing to extreme social pressure
around the age of 30, getting married and becoming fathers. Lesbians are even less visible,
but subject to similar expectations.
On the positive side, it's much more common in Bali and Lombok to show a modest amount
of physical affection to friends of the same sex than to friends or lovers of the opposite sex,
which means that Indonesian and foreign gay couples generally encounter less hassle about
being seen together in public than they might in the West. Indonesian law is relatively liberal:
the legal age of consent for both gay and heterosexual sex is 16.
Despite the indigenous aversion to gay culture, Bali's tourist industry has helped establish
the island as one of the two main gay centres of Indonesia (the other being Jakarta). Young
gay men from islands as far afield as Borneo gravitate to Bali in search of a foreign partner,
and most end up in the Kuta area, where sophisticated Seminyak has become the focus of the
island's small but enduring scene . Here, Jalan Camplung Tanduk has a burgeoning number
of boutique gay bars and more out-there clubs (with drag shows, theme nights and the like).