AmyHuang
Eat, Pray, Love effects - tourists flock to the old man who just wanted to live a simple life
Yes, I've read the book, but I have yet to seen the film. Eat, Pray, Love has become such a global hit that while it was not intended to be a travel narrative more than it is a book about self discovery and growth, it has affected tourism aspects of the places it mentions.
So it seems that the old man who just wanted to live life simple, is now a hit with tourists wanting to get their fortune told. Ketut Liyer, an old fortune-teller in Ubud, Bali, is now being rewarded for helping the author find her feet. Tourists are now flocking to his house in the hope to find a similar experience to that of Elizabeth Gilbert.
In my last post, Lonely Planet was accused of 'ruining' places by advertising them, by introducing them to thousands of people in the world who would flock of these areas and overcrowding an 'un-touched paradise'.
Well, here is an example of the same thing, but by an author who merely wanted to talk about her experiences in Bali.
Yes, Gilbert did promise the old man that she would try to attract more customers for him, however I feel that the sudden influx of tourists (which might only last for as long as the book is popular for) just make him yet another tourist attraction and no longer 'special' as described by Gilbert, as the article suggest: "Now there is a line of camera-toting tourists waiting outside his home to hear their own fortunes told, at $25 a pop. That's a fortune for a man who is more accustomed to bartering his predictions for simple gifts from local villagers." (smh.com.au, 1 Mar 2011)
I suppose, this is the continued debate about the dillemma of tourism and writers. Every country, every town, every village need tourism for income, but how much is too much?
Read: Bali's Eat, Pray, Love guru reaps rewards of fame - smh.com.au
So it seems that the old man who just wanted to live life simple, is now a hit with tourists wanting to get their fortune told. Ketut Liyer, an old fortune-teller in Ubud, Bali, is now being rewarded for helping the author find her feet. Tourists are now flocking to his house in the hope to find a similar experience to that of Elizabeth Gilbert.
In my last post, Lonely Planet was accused of 'ruining' places by advertising them, by introducing them to thousands of people in the world who would flock of these areas and overcrowding an 'un-touched paradise'.
Well, here is an example of the same thing, but by an author who merely wanted to talk about her experiences in Bali.
Yes, Gilbert did promise the old man that she would try to attract more customers for him, however I feel that the sudden influx of tourists (which might only last for as long as the book is popular for) just make him yet another tourist attraction and no longer 'special' as described by Gilbert, as the article suggest: "Now there is a line of camera-toting tourists waiting outside his home to hear their own fortunes told, at $25 a pop. That's a fortune for a man who is more accustomed to bartering his predictions for simple gifts from local villagers." (smh.com.au, 1 Mar 2011)
I suppose, this is the continued debate about the dillemma of tourism and writers. Every country, every town, every village need tourism for income, but how much is too much?
Read: Bali's Eat, Pray, Love guru reaps rewards of fame - smh.com.au
