Bali tour guide hopes for end to pandemic amid bleak Lunar New Year

Effendy, a 65-year-old ethnic Chinese tour guide who also uses the name Lin Wen Hui, poses for pictures at Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park in South Kuta. - Reuters

UNGASAN, Indonesia (Reuters): Dwarfed by a 21-storey-tall statue of the Hindu god Vishnu riding the mythical eagle Garuda, a tour guide on the Indonesian resort island of Bali said he was staring at a dismal Lunar New Year season as the coronavirus wreaks havoc on tourism.

"In the last 10 months, there's been no income, because there are no visitors," said Effendy, clad in traditional red headgear and batik sarong, as he stood in the deserted 60-hectare (148-acre) park where the statue is a tourist draw.