On the Road to Bali

That’s the worst thing about Bali - the roads or, more precisely, the traffic on the roads. It was horrendous. It took forever to get anywhere. We hired a car and driver on three of the days we were in Bali. Each time we laid out an agenda that we thought was doable based on the guide books and maps and each time we found that we had to pare our schedule because we were crawling along in traffic and it was taking much longer to get from point A to point B - no matter where those points were.
We stayed in a small hotel just outside Ubud - a lovely spot and one that gave you a sense of what Bali could be and probably was, twenty years ago. We’re just too late. We heard that the northern part of the island is still relatively unspoiled so that would be our target should we be fortunate enough to return. And we would like to return. For all its maddening traffic, Bali is magical. When you get away from the urban, tourist areas, it’s hard to imagine a more beautiful island. And, it’s populated with the nicest people - the native Balinese, not the invading hordes of Indonesians.
We arrived in Bali late on Sunday night. Wednesday was the start of Galungan, a ten-day festival held in Balinese temples to celebrate the triumph of good over evil. The Balinese believe that all the gods come down to earth for the festivities. Every village has three temples and every family complex has its own temple. Walking around Ubud on Monday and Tuesday we would see people getting ready. Every house was being decorated and offerings were placed everywhere. Of course, the birds and the monkeys, no respecters of religious intent, were having a field day. (To a lesser extent, so were the dogs.) Our hotel was just down the street from Monkey Forest so the neighborhood was crawling with monkeys.
On Wednesday morning, we decided to walk down Nyuhkuning Road and were treated to a steady parade of Balinese dressed in their Sunday best and headed to the local temple with their offerings. It was a wonderful experience and we took lots of pictures. Later on the walk, we passed another temple behind the Dangin Lebak Community Hall and found the same, large, happy, colorful crowds of temple goers. On Saturday, we visited Pura Luhur Batakan while there was a ceremony in progress. We were allowed to enter the temple grounds (wearing sarongs) but not the temple itself. It was magical and colorful
In contrast to the serenity and sense of purpose that pervaded these temples, our experiences at several of the major temples were not as memorable. On Saturday we also visited Pura Dalem Batur and on Sunday we went to Tanah Lot and Ulu Watu. To say that these temples are tourist attractions would be a major understatement. They’ve really become tourist traps - they’re crawling with tourists, touts and tacky souvenir stands. All in all, major disappointments.
Speaking of touts, one gets the feeling that at least half the men in Bali are taxi drivers. You can’t walk ten steps in Ubud without having someone ask if you want a taxi. We found the same thing in Denpasar when we visited there on Sunday morning. Doreen was looking for some batik and had decided to check out the fabric stores on Sulewesi Street. First, we got waylaid by a tout in the market area where we’d parked and then we kept attracting them as Doreen browsed for her fabric. She finally got fed up and we left without any batik.
Two things stand out about Bali - the quality of the light and the shades of green. Early morning light was great for picture taking. I can understand why Anak Agung Rai uses the term ‘Golden Hour’ in reference to his morning walks. Good thing we had gotten into the habit of early rising on the boat. It came in handy here. Rice fields in Bali, especially in the Jatiluwih and Sidemen areas, offer endless picture possibilities. The only other place I can recall having as many shades of green was Kauai.
The one thing we did in Bali that I regret was the bicycle tour. It sounded so good - a chance to see the countryside up close, a downhill ride so not a physical challenge. The guide was very good, breakfast and lunch were terrific and we were with a nice group of people. I even had a new bike. So, what was the problem? In a word, the roads. The back roads we traversed were not well maintained. I was concentrating so hard on avoiding the potholes and not running into other traffic that I saw very little of the countryside. Also, who would have believed that sitting on a bike for a couple of hours with little pedalling could be so tiring. My legs were cramping by the time the ride was over. We saw much more from the cars we hired.
We had made a conscious decision to concentrate on the Ubud area and rural Bali and avoid the beaches. We did want to see the Kuta area and thought we’d be able to spend a couple of hours there on the way from Tanah Lot to Ulu Watu. Traffic conditions made that impossible. The only beach we visited was in Jimbaran where we overnighted because we had an early flight to Perth. It was a gorgeous beach but rain was threatening and we didn’t spend a lot of time. Another reason to go back!