Explore Bali ride March 2017

[Gryshond]

sub

 

[badballie]

:ricky: :thumleft: Sub

 

[tifua]

Dammit. Here I'm sitting at work and I have to look at THIS!! It's disgusting!  :xxbah:

Well, I'm sold completely, will probably be your first customer, depending on time and cost, as I have a major expedition towards the end of the year to finance first.

That looks like a heck of a trip  :ricky:

Working on a package that is realistic and doesnt rip the ass out of anybody. Will let you know, scale of economics applies so I ideal is around 6-10 people to keep costs down and I want to offer options for guys that want to include other activities such as enduro, diving, volcano 4x4 etc. Value for money so far in Indonesia is better than Thailand which seems to get all the thunder.

 

[tifua]

Hell and I was looking at a Bali tour yesterday. This is awesome, following this thread.

As I mentioned, keep in touch and I will be putting together a package that I will get participants to help create so everybody gets what they want out of the trip. This was a quick trip to check some routes but the one I will arrange for a group will be longer to include some other parts I have already scouted on previous trips.

 

[tifua]

Day 3: Woke up with a view the volcano I road up/around the day before. A good breakfast and cup of coffee (of course), I packed up and checked out. Today I ride back to Denpasar (the main town on the island of Bali) and first priority was getting fuel. Happens that fuel stations here run out but there are small shops that sell by the bottle or from hand pump. In this case, the guy setup his roadside shop next to the fuel station that ran out. Full tank and back on the road. Turned left off main road and followed the small coastal road towards the resort town of Amed and the further along I went, the narrower the road became until again I was following little more than tarred motorcycle roads. Road ran up hills to panoramic views of the ocean and coastline all way down to the beach area and back up again along sweeping road. Imagine the road around Bettys bay in the Cape. Imagine 1000 x the curves, rises going 200 m up and then over rise down to sea level again. On your right is jungle, on your right is the ocean.

Turning inwards I started following a small road that seemed to head through a built up area and it felt nice to ride through treet lined roads among 1000s of scooters and bikes with people on their way to work and school. With the volcano ahead as a reference point I started riding towards the rice fields of Sideman in the interior. Around a corner and to my right was a big rice terrace that went down into a valley with people working the fields. Stopped, stretched my legs and just took it all in. Rice terrace with the volcano rising up behind with clouds covering the top. Upwards and onwards to Sideman, following road carved into the side of the mountain. Stopped at a local "warung" (local family run shop) and sat having a cup of hot bali coffee while overlooking the rice fields. The shop was made of bamboo and wood and stood about 5 m off the rice fields and the green is hard to describe. You get green then you get this kind. Everywhere you look you think your mind is photo-shopping the view....it is that stunning. Road continued on through the same kind of small shops, temples, schools, micro markets. Each one filled with life and the appeal to stop around each corner and just enjoy the views is ever present. Smaller roads lead to bigger roads and they in turn led onto the long main coastal road. Sort of like our highways but lined up each side by shops, lumber yards, quarries, food stalls, temples and the ocean on your left as the road heads back towards Denpasar.

Before heading to the hotel, I took a left turn and followed the toll bridge build out over the bay. It has a dedicated motorcycle lane and runs about 10 m above the water level. Mangroves, fishing farms, fishing boats in the bay with cool breeze from the sea make it and amazing way to just relax and wind down from the ride. Back in the hustle and bustle of peak traffic in Denpasar as I ride to Legian where my hotel is. Everywhere you look you are surrounded by scooters and here you see a lot more foreigners as this is the main tourist point witch no many people venturing inland preferring to enjoy Denpasar for the parties there. Got to hotel, check in, shower and drop off luggage then off to look at some land-cruisers that are being sold. Friend of mine was looking for one so I promised I would get some pricing so SWAMBO made some calls and in the middle of North Kuta after an absolute hectic chaotic ride through a maze of bikes and back roads, I found the house. This area is where locals live and its away from the glitz of the main beach area so its much more of what life is like when you live here as a local. These cars are part of this guys collection and there are 3, two for sale. My family does safaris in Botswana so I grew up around Land-cruisers and loved seeing these beasts in such pristine condition (they are loved here and command premium prices). Afterwards it was off to get dinner then return the rental bike. Dinner at Mama Germans (famous in Legian) and as I sat eating, watched the traffic towards the party area build up. Cars, bikes, tourists, small shops, smells and colours of a million shops. Open air cafes, night clubs. Its like any coastal town filled with people from every corner of the world. A good chicken curry (Asian style) I head off to gas station to fill up the bike before going back too my hotel so bike can be collected. Tomorrow I will relax and walk around before catching my flight out in the evening to go pick up the Kopi Luwak that some of you will be enjoying soon .

Thanks for reading all. My other Bali ride report from July 2016 is here https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?topic=197137.msg3641834#msg3641834 and it will show you some of the same places but also other areas. Did that trip on a Versys

 

[tifua]

now the pics

 

[tifua]

more

 

[tifua]

more

 

[tifua]

more

 

[tifua]

for Landcruiser lovers

 

[tifua]

Also following this report with interest. Taking the family to Bali in May & want to do a little riding.

Let me know if you need any help. SWAMBO is Indonesian Chinese and and drive mean bargains. Every cent saved helps

Thanks for the offer Tifua sounds like a plan. We staying at Temple Lodge & then slumming it here https://www.villabatujimbar.com/the-locale/ for the 1st week & then moving on to Nusa Lembongan to surf Shipwrecks for a week. Want to get into the countryside & see the temples, forests, etc with my boys so will probably need 3 or 4 bikes for a couple of days just to do day trips. As far as I can determine there is no bike/scooter hire on Nusa Lembongan.

Will see what I can do. Dates? Any preference on bike ie scooter or KLX or road bike. How many bikes and how long you need them? Drop me email on [email protected]

We getting there 26th May. Probably just a scooter as we'll probably just do day trips into the interior & only when there isn't any surf. It seems the norm just to get the Lodge or Villa to organize. Prices seem around R50-70 per day each. Does that seem about right? Also confirmed with the villa owner that we can hire on Nusa Lembongan.
Really enjoying your ride report. Makes me even more lus to get there

Yes around R60 - R 70 (approximately Rupiah 60000) is going rate for a 150cc scooter. Glad you're sorted!