Quarter Year

First days in Bali

by Azure

After 36 hours in transit, we arrived in Bali in the heat of the day. It was quite a shock stepping outside the airport to 90+ degree weather, having boarded the original plane in Seattle with near freezing temperatures. We got a cab to Kuta beach (the backpackers slum of south Bali) and found a guesthouse that we liked on the second try. Had the location been different, this place could have been a real hit. It had a pool surrounded by tropical foliage and wifi! (No photos were taken in this location)

But, as was the plan, we decided to get out of Kuta the next morning and head north via minibus to Ubud, another rather touristy hill town perhaps made even more popular by the 2006 novel, “Eat Pray Love” and subsequently Anthony Bourdain. Having arrived, again, in the heat of the day, we decided our best option as non-acclimated, sweaty white people was to wake up at dawn and do our sightseeing.

For some reason (jetlag), we’ll call it ambition, it was quite easy to get on the scooter by 6. We rode out to a whole different Ubud. There were people out in the streets, going to market, getting the kids off to school, but no one was asking if we wanted a taxi or a tour or some handicrafts, people were going about with their morning routine. Another great part was that it was cool — so much so that I considered putting on a jacket!

Armed with only our cameras, water and a map of the island with about the same detail as if I were to sit down and draw western Washington freehand, we began our climb north into the hills. We never had a real plan, but we picked a town and began our trek, stopping every half hour to make sure we were still on the right path. It was a beautiful morning for a ride. The sun was low enough that it filtered through the hills and the trees and made everything so surreal. Mike insisted that I pull out the new camera and take some photos from the back of the scooter, which I am now so thankful for.

When we finally got to our arbitrary destination, a town called Kintamani, it turned out to be a city on the ridge of a small mountain which overlooked the valley and another, strikingly large mountain.

After stopping to snap a few more photos, we decided to continue north and attempt to make it to the ocean since it was only 8am at that time. We set our sights on what we thought would be an equally easy place to find, as it was due north of where we were. In fact, it was not easy and seeing as the roads are not marked at all, we got lost. We were continually prodded forward by smiling locals until we found ourselves on what seemed to be a small, ill-maintained driveway for several miles. That, along with it being extremely steeply graded, we considered turning back. But, having nothing to really get back to, we decided to keep going. At some points we could look out to other hills in the distance and see no signs of human existence. At one such remote location, we came across a woman tending to some crops on a steep hillside and as we drove past we found that she was alone in all directions for at least 2 miles.

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Tags: bali, scooter, tour