'Really disturbing, piles of rubbish, and animal cruelty' - Is Bali really a tropical paradise?

With piles of rubbish, horses being used as taxis, and buildings falling down, the question as to whether Bali is really the tropical paradise it's made out to be has to be asked. 

That's exactly what Ruby Bord, Social Media Editor with The Telegraph did. 

After seeing beautiful beaches, stunning sunsets, and people partying, she decided to bite the bullet and head there herself. 

However, what she saw was not what she expected.

She shared her experience on The Pat Kenny Show this afternoon. 

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Ruby says what initially attracted her to Bali was the photos she had been seeing on social media of what appeared to be a "tropical paradise."

She described show the photos she took and had been seeing were not at all what they appeared to be - with behind the camera showing something totally different to the image being captured. 

“What you can’t see is the piles of rubbish behind, the buildings falling down, the overcrowding,” she explained.

Ruby also described how in the "beautiful beaches" water, there was rubbish lurking around your feet. 

Although, Instagram often makes it look like you have these beaches to yourself, there are often "thousands" of other tourists on them too.

After 12 days, Ruby and her friend that she travelled there with finally addressed the “elephant in the room” while they were sitting on the floor of a cockroach infested hostel.

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“It was really sad… We had travelled so far and spent so much money. As soon as I got there, I was a little underwhelmed and I was thinking ‘hmm it isn't quite what I thought it would be,'” she said.

What was even sadder was that neither girl wanted to tell the other that they weren't having a good time.

During their trip, they went to Gili Trawangan, or GiLi T, which is known as a party island.

Ruby described how horses that "looked so ill" were being used as taxis that were bringing drunk people home.

“They looked like they hadn’t had a good meal in a very long time and just being treated like equipment rather than living creatures. It was really disturbing,” she explained.

Ruby believes influencers and people travelling there should show the truth so Bali can be improved.

She credited Zoe Rae, the older sister of MollyMae Hague, as she posted how she went to Bali and it wasn’t what she thought it would be.

After that a lot of people came forward and shared their experiences.

It is a gentle reminder that not all is as it seems in the world of social media.