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Published: April 7th 2007
Bali, is crazy! Not really what I expected. There are Scooters everywhere, and it's pretty dirty and people trying to sell me stuff left, right and center. Common questions: where are you from? do you want to buy? you want transport? I'll show you my shop. You want massage? Sir sir, wait! Sir, where are you going now? and more
Honestly, ALL DAY LONG. I literally would have been asked 1000 times out of my four days on the island! It makes me think that I actually have friends.
I arrived at 11pm (4pm NZTime), so after having spent all day flying and running round like an idiot for the past few days trying to sort myself out, I finally made it! "Welcome to Bali; drugs import = DEATH PENALTY"- quite the juxtaposition. I was exhausted and of course had not organised accommodation and didn't really have a clue where anything was. Anyway, I found some fellow travelers, as you do, and they were looking for accommodation also. But found a pretty good place for $5 in the middle of Kuta so no complaints.
I spent the first day getting to know Kuta and as described good
hassled all bloody day long.
The following day I hired a scooter with my NZ drivers' license and rode for about 7 hours via Ulub to Lovina (guess that tells no-one anything). The driving was mad, I was cautious for a start but that soon changed as I become just another anarchical scooter rider, only this one was white! The road rules here are minimal, they generally ride on the left and generally stop at stoplights but that's it. For the rest it's weaving in and out of traffic, honking, passing wherever, cutting others off and general anarchy. But it seems to work!
At one stage I make the mistake of waiting until it was cold and raining (as I was at altitude) before running out of petrol in some small random Balinese town, where English was far from the official language. Mistake. Next minute the whole neighborhood surrounded me trying to sell me stuff. Someone did get me some petrol but then he wanted me to buy his buddah head. I was saying "what? put him on the back of the motorbike?" He said that I must buy it. No thanks! (tidak terimakasi crucial phrase to learn!) He
even tried to swap me for my sandals, my top, my other top but clearly I needed those things. Anyway I got away somehow and I do not own a buddah head, and it's unlikely that I ever will. My bad luck continued though as I got lost and ended up in some crazy crazy town. All I could here was loud buddah music and the entire town just looked at me as I rode to the end of the town got to a dead end and turned back. It was in a remote valley hidden well away from mainstream bali village civilization; I think that I'm the only white person to ever have visited. I got away again.
But as I decented down the rain coat came off and the temperature returned to about 35. I had passed through so many little villages and temples and saw so many people- most it seemed were just so surprised to see me passing through and generally smiled. I finally made it to Lovina (a touristy seaside resort in north Bali). I went dolphin watching and snorking as the sun rose the following morning. The next day I rode via the central volcanic region- gunung batur- (where I also stayed) and back to Kuta. I passed through Denpassar (the Bali capital) on the way back which was also a mistake. It rained and I shared the roads with 1000 other motorcyclists (and cars, trucks and buses). I got back though alive but my lungs full of emissions and other such chemicals.
Anyway, I'm in Jogjakarta at the mo (at a decent internet cafe for once, hence the write-up). I'll reveal new stories from Java another day.
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Gina
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What??!! No Buddha head??
So.... would be a bit broken-recordish right now to try sell you something wouldn't it. It's so extremely tempting overseas to buy up large just for the bartering... ah, the thrill of getting useless stuff for cheap. reckon you could've got the Buddha head for the sandals alone. who needs shoes when you can have a big wooden head? anyhow, hi. Am impressed that your entries read just like you speak, (clearly). Your journey sounds so eventful!! I'm jealous, even though it sounds like a lot of mad havoc... am ispired to travel! Might take a trip to Timaru this weekend (yes, your blog has had effect!), prob not much mad havoc down there, guess I could honk honk honk and rark some up though. Thats about at far abroad as current wallet situation will allow, but eventually i reckon I'll get to some such crazy places as you. The weaving in and out of traffic on a scooter sounds fun, very bond-ish. Lots of scooters everywhere must be insane, one high pitched bzzzzzzzzzzzz is hilarioius enough to hear hooning along (at about 40km/hr). Many must be quite a squeaky roar. Oh well, enjoy the chaos, better than boredom, wot wot. smiles, hugs etc from NZ