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Bali beach experiences hour-long queues for tourist selfies
Kelingking ranked one of top 10 beaches in the world
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A picturesque beach in Bali has hour-long queues as tourists wait in line for the chance to take a selfie there.
Kelingking beach on the Balinese island of Nusa Penida attracts a huge number of visitors each year, many of whom are keen to take a photo overlooking the beach’s coral cliff, which is thought to resemble a T-rex.
The hundreds of pictures of the beach shared on Instagram largely feature exactly the same angle, taken from some steps above the beach and showing the quirkily shaped cliff face behind the photo’s subject.
What the images don’t show is the line of people, all waiting for their turn to pose at the lookout point.
“This morning at around 10am I arrived at Kelingking Beach and it was already very crowded,” Irma Maulida, a tourist from Jakarta, told Indonesian news site kompas.com.
“On average photos can take up to three minutes per person.”
She said she decided to throw in the towel after queueing for 20 minutes.
Kelingking has gained prominence in the last few years after ranking ninth in CNN Asia’s round up of the world’s most beautiful beaches and placing second in TripAdvisor’s list of Asia’s best beaches.
It also received a 2019 Tripadvisor Traveller’s Choice award and was named the 19th best beach in the world by the travel reviews site.
Although the majority of the 1,000+ reviews of the beach on Tripadvisor rate it as “excellent”, there are some that highlight the issue of overcrowding.
“This place is literally CRAWLING with people,” wrote user Matt S in May of this year. “The hike is steep and people are not prepared, wearing dresses and flip-flops for their Insta photo shoot.”
He added: “It is impossible to even see the beach without a million people in view.”
Another user wrote: “There are too many people. Over 1,000 people per day. You can’t walk or enjoy the view.”
Reviewers also raised the issue of the island’s roads, which are not an easy drive, and the danger of attempting the hike down to the beach on a difficult trail if not prepared with the correct footwear and adequate water.
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