We stayed in Bali for the entire time we were in Indonesia. We managed that by me being really ill.
Denpasar is the city you’ll arrive at from an international flight, and the various beaches in that area are the main tourist hub of the island. It’s the closest non-Australian holiday destination to Australia. Imagine Malaga but with Aussies instead of Brits, NRL replacing football on the tv, vests instead of football colours, but more chill because Australians.
An easy uphill ride to the north is the other big tourist hub of Ubud, but this time populated by Europeans. The traffic in this area is so dense that it’s at a standstill much of the time.
The southern interior is sharply undulating and very beautiful, mostly surrounded by rice terraces and cornfields. Bali has an incredible number of small roads – mostly to reach the rice fields – so you’ll have your pick of quiet places to ride.
The west and north coasts are pretty flat and unspectacular. The main attraction in the north is Lovina beach. The beach is uninspiring, the main draw are boat trips to see dolphins.
We took a route up to the Mount Batur volcano from Desa Tejakula, via Dausa, through Kintamani and down to the lake from the south. It’s a convoluted route, but we were trying to minimise the really steep gradients, and it was a decent road, fairly quiet but with enough drink stops to keep us going. We rode down from the north of the lake, but first we had to climb out of the crater, and this part was brutal. It’s so steep that we could barely push the bikes up. After that we took the southern of the two routes to the ringroad. I wouldn’t recommend this way down, it was far too steep to be enjoyable. We don’t have disc brakes and had to stop quite a lot to cool the rims down.
The east coast is most popular for its dive sites. There is a US navy wreckage off the coast, and due to the relatively low cost of diving here, many people come to do their PADI and to rack up dives in their logs.
Roads: Generally in good condition, but just really, really narrow.
Traffic is crazy and heavy on most of the coastal route around island. It’s noisy and intense. The roads are very narrow, with the exception of the final 10km or so into Denpasar from the east which does have a moped lane until you’re right in the city. The interior is very quiet though.
Roundabouts: Driving is on the left in Indonesia. Normally when using a roundabout and you are turning right, you would approach the roundabout and go round on the left, circulating clockwise until you get to your turning. In Indonesia you approach the roundabout and then just turn right.
Prices
I’ve come across some Australians complaining about how expensive Bali is these days, and threatening to go to Thailand instead. It’s hard to know if they are actually suffering from delusions or not. It’s one of the cheapest places I’ve ever been.
Accommodation: In the southern beach areas, £15 to £20 for a basic hotel, with air con, a pool and breakfast. At the higher or lower end depending on the size of pool and distance to the beach. Ubud is roughly the same, but without the pools. Lovina beach is slightly cheaper. The rest of Bali it’s around £10 for a good homestay or small guesthouse. It’s normal to have breakfast included in that.
Food & Drink: You shouldn’t have trouble finding places serving a small bottle of Bintang for £1.30 to £1.50 in tourist areas. Prices are pretty consistent around the island.
In a cheap restaurant in the southern beach areas, a dish of nasi/mee goring, chicken satay or a curry costs about £2.50. Away from tourist areas it drops to half that.
Other stuff
It just cannot be overstated how kind people are. Even the people trying to sell tours are unbelievably friendly and chill about it.
Tap water in Bali is not safe to drink.
Plastic bags are not given out as freely here as other parts of SE Asia, which is great news. At mini marts you can pay for a felt bag (which are re-usable and handy to carry around) or you don’t get a bag. At roadside kiosks you are likely to get given a plastic bag, but you won’t need one because you’ll have saved your handy felt bag to use instead.
Electricity: Voltage in Indonesia is really low compared to the UK. If you do have a kettle in your room (YES!) it will take about 2 hours to boil, so plan your tea ahead of time.
Dental care is a reason that some Aussies come here, or at least combine treatments with a holiday because it’s very cheap but high quality. Richard chipped a tooth and had that repaired for probably minimum of a quarter of what a UK treatment would have cost, and I had a new mouth guard made for about half the cost of getting one in the UK.
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