“Boss, Where are you going!”

Scooter Park, Denpasar Intl Airport.
Barely relevant but it's pretty cool

I’m actually going to Singapore!

I caught a free ride on the back of a motorcycle from Denpasar into Kuta from a stranger I met while scoffing down two adult sized portions of ayam kremes & nasi putih in an Indonesian warung (with my bare hands like a tryhard). If talking to strangers is one level, accepting free motorbike rides from a stranger who’s also just paid for your meal is quite a few levels up there.

He dropped me off at ‘Poppies 1’ which is a street located right near the tourist centre of Kuta.

About 5 seconds after I disembark, a stranger walks up to me asking where I was going and whether I wanted to rent a scooter. 'Oh fuck, so it begins' I thought.

“Where are you going?”

Such a simple sentence yet so difficult to answer.

My lack of clarity regarding my next destination is something I struggle with both on the micro and macro level.

To say that your next move is to wander somewhat aimlessly in a general compass direction taking photos of stuff is an answer that not everyone seems to understand. Obviously for the person offering transportation services, a compass direction is of no use to them.

Irrespective of this I sometimes wonder whether it really is necessary to have somewhere to be, somewhere to go, or something to do.

What am I really here for?  Obviously I’m not here to get tattoos or massages or get absolutely wasted.

It seems to me like a lot of the tourists are here (Kuta) to really experience luxury which would otherwise be unattainable back home. In one rapid swoop they go for it all, filling the day with multiple experiences perhaps not necessarily unique to Bali except for the price; like some kind of playground where the middle class can get a taste of what it feels like to roll at a higher level.

For me, visiting Bali has been about staying in $4 NZD a night hostels located within narrow residential jalans, hearing the bakso man in his scooter make his rounds several times a day, washing yourself with a scoop and a bucket, watching the toothpaste you just spat out flow down the exposed concrete wastewater channel in the outdoor ‘bathroom’, drinking juice out of a plastic bag, and riding within the tightly packed scooter formations on the Denpasar roads.

I fly out to Singapore as part of a rapidly increasing desire to take photos of cool things. They have cameras there... lots of them I hear. (And really expensive accommodation)

Hopefully this means more and better photos.

Rice Terrace, en route to Mengwi

Semarapura - Come see our water treatment plant!

Semarapura

Semarapura is a small town which lies on the edge of the Balinese plains. It's located 40km (Via the inland scenic route) out from Central Denpasar - so about a 3 hour scooter ride. (This can be reduced to about 2 hours if you're skilled at overtaking into incoming traffic or into blind corners).

It is the only place I believe with a restaurant beside the water treatment plant. There is also a restaurant as well the standard plethora of accompanying shops selling what appear to look like condoms but are more likely instant coffee or juice.


I won't bother going into what else I did that day because it would make for some boring reading. All i can say is that I spent about 8 hours on the road, experienced riding on the Balinese highway, made my way through winding rural roads in the Balinese foothills saw a waterfall with heaps of white people, had an awkward coffee tasting session, and consumed only about 1/2 of my daily calorie requirements. I'll be writing about these in the future but for now, a few photos.

A man was taking a shit in the canal below me. I pretended that I didn't see him.

Come see our water treatment plant!

I hope to be back in the future packing a DSLR

I managed to snap this one before staff told me I had to go and pay for an entry ticket. They never got my money

Air Terjun Tegenungan

When things ‘break down’

Denpasar

There are a number of things worse than trying to navigate a new city at night time on foot. One of those things is navigating a new city at night time on foot with a scooter which has just stopped working.


I was returning to central Denpasar after driving around rather aimlessly around the countryside near Ubud. It was approximately 18:00 and I was on my way back to the hostel, driving along one of the arterial routes when I noticed the power of my Suzuki Skywave was starting to diminish rapidly. I stop at a red light. Two minutes pass.

Green!

I hit the accelerator.

Nothing.

It dies on me.

Hordes of riders overtake me as I quickly dismount and push the bike to the other end of the intersection and into a small bike park on the side of the road.


“Fuck fuck fuck, why now”.


I immediately put the problem down to overheating. I could feel the warmth air being emitted from the engine. ‘Maybe if I wait 10 minutes, it would have cooled down enough to get me back to the hostel. It’s only 5km away’ I thought.


10 minutes had passed and it had now become dark. Time to test it once again.

I pulled the brake and pushed the start button.


The scooter splurts back to life


“Fucking A”


I travel 10 meters.


It was becoming clear this scooter was out of action. All the nearby mechanics had closed for the day. There was only one option - we’re pushing this fucker back to the hostel. Walking is slow, so i decide to run there.


There I was, running on the side of the road, in the dark, through intersections, wearing a motorcycle helmet and a hoodie, in 25 ℃.  It’s hot.


I turn down a quiet road where there are no shops and the lighting is sparse. I’ve covered about 150m by foot and I’m becoming less enthusiastic about running with this scooter.  High humidity it seems is not conducive to long distance running.


The absence of light brings clarity to the dashboard interface. The fuel guage catches my eye. The fuel pointer points to ‘empty’.


I thought I’d been running around with ¾ of a tank full of gas.


This is great fucking news.


In Bali, you can find petrol for sale every bloody 100m. A lot of people purchase large quantities of petrol and sell it on the side of the road for convenience. Look out for the glass ‘Absolut Vodka’ bottles or something similar.


I approach a ‘warung’ which appears to sell petrol on the side. A bunch of men are sitting on a bench smoking and just chilling (No1 Indonesian past-time).


I point to the bottles

“Bensin! 1 Litre, harga?”


1 Litre cost me 10,000 IDR which is around $1 NZD. I don't know exactly what type of petrol it is but it works.


By now it’s approaching 19:30 and all I’ve eaten for lunch is an ice cream and a canned latte. Turning down a random street i approach a food stall (basically a wheeled benchtop with a sign and a bbq) in some like of bazaar-like area with long tables and plastic chairs.  I used to find them somewhat intimidating as most of the time it's just words on a board.


Buying local food gets a whole lot easier once you know what the words mean.

The fastest way to learn the language is to purchase food.


“Nasi Goreng, Ayam, telur….two… Duo”

Harga?- 24,900 IDR

What a day.