Feature: Volcano eruption scare deals major blow to tourism in Indonesia's Bali island

By Abu Hanifah

BALI, Indonesia, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Impacts from escalating volcanic activities of Mount Agung in Indonesia's Bali island have direly affected those earning their living from tourism business in Amed, an eastern Bali coastal area which is well known for its beautiful beaches, surfing and diving spots.

The area, located some 85 km northeast from Bali province's capital of Denpasar, now is an empty town with most of cottages, homestays, villas, hotels and cafes remaining vacated.

Amed used to be lively with western tourists carrying along their surfboards and diving equipments along the way to the beach before the volcanic escalation.

Tens of white outrigger boats which used to serve foreign tourists to dive into the deeps off Amed sandy coast now parked neatly on the beach, helplessly waiting for customers to hire.

Nahede, a 50 year-old boat crew, said such a condition had been going on since Mount Agung, which is standing tall at the backdrop of the coast, showed its raging activities in September.

"This beach used to be catered by people from western countries who sit on the beach sand, enjoying good times with their colleagues and families, or hanging around in cafes by the beach. Now, no one was here since Mount Agung erupted months ago," Nahede said on Friday after removing the water that lightly inundated the boat's inner part after the rain.

Pointing at rows of similar boats spanning across Amed beach, Nahede said that no one had hired any of the boat in the day.

"I've been here since morning, I did not see any tourist hire a boat. They used to hire the boats to usher them farther into the sea for diving, or just wanted to experience the thrill of riding an outrigger boat in the raging waves," Nahede told Xinhua.

He added that his life became harder in the last two months after Mount Agung did what he said of "coughing", making him barely able to finance his life.

"I had never experienced this kind of situation before. This is too hard for me. I used to get tips from generous tourists that may reach 200 to 300 thousand rupiah (about 22 U.S. Dollars) per day. Luckily, my boss is a very compassionate person. He supports me as long as I keep watching for his boats," the old single man said.

His earnings now came from the people hiring the boat for fishing. "They pay me with fishes which I eventually sell them to merchants in the market," he said.

After taking a deep breath, he said that he did not know how his life would be amid the uncertainties caused by the wrath of the volcano.

"I don't want to move somewhere else to earn my living. I am too old for that. I don't know works other than what I am doing now."

The situation facing Nahede was also bitterly felt by those running hospitality business.

"I come here once every two days just to clean up the rooms. They had been all empty in the past week since Mount Agung emitted black smoke and ashes. No single tourist stayed here since then," Ni Luh, an attendant of Surya Rainbow villa in Amed beach told Xinhua.

Sitting near the villa's pool facing VIP rooms, the 23-year old girl said this kind of situation was also experienced by villas and hotels in Tulamben, another diving spot and marine-themed tour destination nearby.

She recalled that the rooms were always full everyday before the volcano made initial eruption in September, adding that the management even had to turn down guests and bookings for rooms in the villa during those times.

"Now, guests were not coming even though we already offered discounts," Ni Luh said, adding that many customers cancelled the bookings after they learned about the eruption.

Luh Ayu said that the villa received several foreign tourists after the volcano receded its activities and the authorities downgraded the alert status into level 3 in October.

"Guests immediately checked out from the villa when Mount Agung blasted black smoke late last month. They left immediately after seeing the scary black smoke from the volcano," she said.

Most of the guests in the villa were foreign tourists from France, Germany and Britain, and they were now scared to visit Amed because of the current volcano condition, she said.

"I don't know how long this situation would be going on. No bright clue related to recovery so far. The volcano now seems in normal condition, except a brief rain of ash several days ago," said the girl, the fourth child in a family that has stayed near the villa.

Citing her parents' story related to the deadly eruption of the volcano in 1963, she said that minor smoke and tremors from Mount Agung were felt about a month before the final big explosion.

She said that the final eruption occurred a day before the Galungan festivity.

"People were already happy to welcome the festivity before the eruption," she said, recalling the story told by her parents, referring to Hindu religious festivity in Bali.

The 1963 eruption was the most deadly one as it claimed over 1,500 lives.

Indonesian Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said recently the Bali island accounts for 40 percent of foreign tourist arrivals to the country, followed by the capital city of Jakarta which stands at 30 percent and Batam 20 percent. Enditem