Exploring Bali
„As a young couple you are obliged to explore Bali by bike 🛵“, the family sais. Eager to follow their advice we rent a scooter and head out of the calm hotel into the freaky traffic.
It is like swimming in a large swarm of humming and honking fishes. The next bikes passing only by centimeters and the overtaking cars are guiding the way. There is some efficiency in this howling chaos: every centimeter of asphalt is used; even the sidewalk. Although we are much to careful for this kind of rolling madness there is no aggression on the road. The honk is used constantly, but only to friendly remind someone of your presence. Most people seem to feel like being a happy calm part of this traffic swarm.
Like the explorers of the past we have to stop every few kilometers to check the map. I know: you can check your phone while driving, because you only need one hand for driving (everbody is doing it). Maybe we are not truly committed to Bali 😉🙏🏼.
After about 45 minutes or 10 kilometers of fumes, cacophony and pure driving bliss, we arive at the beach in Canggu. A fresh coconut 🥥 is relaxing the cramped legs of Sarinah and we are ready to explore the main road by foot (very tourist like).
Very atypical we can see a lot by strolling along the road without being overrun by traffic: lovely little boutiques, sports gear and a lot of restaurants. At the beach we sit out a little shower while watching the surfers. What to do in Asia during holidays: eating good foot. Honestly, food is treated like a religion here. Willfully following that example we jump on our scooter and head for a beautiful restaurant adjacent to a rice field. Enjoying vietnamese style food at sunset we are feeling a bit blessed too. The way back to the hotel feels easy driving through the warm breeze of the early night.
The next day greets us with rain and we decide to take a car to the mountains. The driver is a crafty tour guide so the hourlong trip is not a bore (Did you ever do karaoke in the car? 🎤). The first destination is the cleanest town of Bali Penglipuran village. There we try a peculiar green drink and are part of some pictures of asian tourists.
Notable stops on our journey to Ubud are a spectacular lake and a coffee-tasting ☕ in the jungle. In the city of Ubud we visit a hindu temple and a hidden but really big local art gallery. After a long trip we enjoy fried food, gay colors and loud music at the beach.