Away to Bali

I’m off overseas today, heading for Bali, returning Sunday week.

Sadly it is not a holiday, but for a conference – Apricot 2007. I don’t tend to end up with a lot of spare time at these things, but am sure I will still enjoy the environment.

Also it’s not the safest place to be going to. The official MFAT advisory says:

Our advice to defer non-essential and tourist travel extends to Bali. Further attacks, following the bombings on 1 October 2005, cannot be ruled out. The most likely targets are areas frequented by foreigners. If your presence in Bali is essential, extreme caution should be exercised.

As the 1 October 2005 Bali bombings demonstrated, there remains a high threat from terrorism in Indonesia.

Attacks could occur at any time, anywhere in Indonesia, and could be directed at any location known to be frequented by foreigners. Possible targets for terrorist attacks include (but are not limited to) embassies, hotels, bars, restaurants (including fast food outlets), identifiably western businesses, shopping malls, schools, residential areas and all other areas where westerners tend to gather could be targeted by terrorists without forewarning. There is a credible threat of terrorist attack in Indonesia during the Christmas and New Year period.

New Zealanders who do travel to Indonesia should observe a high level of security awareness in public, choose their destinations and activities carefully. There is also a threat of kidnapping.

New Zealanders should avoid places where Westerners are known to gather such as hotels, clubs, bars, shopping malls, tourist resorts and places of worship in Jakarta and elsewhere. They should treat very seriously any threats, including bomb threats, that may be made against them or the premises they occupy.

So it’s not all a barrel of laughs.