Looks amazing right?
We’ve all seen the famous Bali swings in the middle of a forest on Insta, haven’t we?
It looks breathtaking to be swinging in the air surrounded by luscious trees and nature with a view that goes on for miles on end. But most people don’t know what goes on behind the picture as the place resembles a theme park of some sorts. Here’s why:
There’s waiting lines with queues of more than an hour to go on a swing which literally lasts for 2 minutes maximum. Even if you want to enjoy the ride, most people can’t because they’re focussing too much on trying to look good for pics which is quite distracting and puts you off queuing again in order to enjoy the ride. I was posing for the first few things we tried out like the swing and nests but soon I gave up and tried to enjoy myself, preferring to watch others go through the struggle of getting perfect pics.
As I walked in, I saw a place full of beautiful girls and handsome guys dressed in cute outfits with big professional cameras ready to use. There was a group of Koreans who caught my eye with a professional photographer setting up his kit. Later on when we were queueing, I saw them on the swing one floor lower than others being recorded by a drone as they were swinging and saying comments to catch on recording. That’s when I realised there were a lot of insta famous people there.
As I mentioned above, there are layers so not all the swings are on the same level. Imagine a hill that has been engraved with different layers going further up to resemble a staircase but with bigger steps. There were around 3 layers all with different places to pose, whether it was in a nest, a hammock, on a rock or a swing. There were a lot of things for people to choose from but it meant we had to keep on climbing up or down the hill to go from one place to another which was quite tiring, so in reality the swing isn’t as scary as it seems. If someone fell, they would just fall onto the layer below them which is a few metres under their current floor instead of falling off a hill as people imagine when they see that picture.
Moving onto the good parts as it was a good experience after all, there was a food buffet included in the price which was simple but enough to satisfy one’s hunger after all the queuing. The environment itself was very relaxing as it was right at the bottom of the hill near a water flow which was calming. Also, due to the unlimited time stay at the Bali swing, people could stay as long as they wanted and that meant I could rest as long as I needed to under the sun.
Another perk is that people have the option of paying extra around £25 for a photographer to pick 20 shots per person which is a fair amount as I didn’t even take 20 pictures at the end from the photographer. People with photographers get given a red ribbon to wear on their wrists so every time you’re about to pose on a swing for example, there will be photographers ready to take pictures. So you don’t have to worry about getting average shots or comparing them with influencers on insta as they all come out pretty good at the end of the day as mine did.
Hopefully this piece gave you an insight into how a big tourist area actually works behind all the amazing pics we see on social media and if you ever plan to go, you know you’ll need comfy shoes in order to queue for those pics.