My Scrap Notes...: Anonymous - Bali

The day started with a 10 am sharp eye-opening. Probably because I read “free breakfast served from 6 am to 10 am” just before I went to bed last night. The perks of being a solo traveler -I slept very well in just a small cubicle bunk bed in a hostel, somewhere, 1 hour away from Denpasar International airport.

It was already 10.30 when I got ready and one of my exciting reservations were waiting for me at 1 PM in Tulamben, which is 2 hours away from the current hostel. I was super hungry, and I asked the reception lady if she can still give me some breakfast with strong expectation for "sorry sir, kitchen is closed". However, she politely asked – “what would you like, sir?”. That’s when I realized how hospitable and welcoming Bali people are – no complaints or excuses- no wonder why it is a tourist spot. She gave me nicely toasted bread with an omelet.

Delightful morning lights from Denpasar Hostel – day 1

They had set up the hostel in a way that the sunlight gets penetrated through the green covers of thick tree leaves in front of the hostel and reached the small pool they had placed downstairs near the car park, with an attractive blue flooring that reflects magnificent colors in the morning. Across the pool, they had set up a few benches where I sat down to enjoy the breakfast– which tasted delicious with a special touch of love in it.

My travel mate - scooter staring
at the streets at night

I had already started loving Bali even though it was only one night so far. Riding on the bargained-rented bike last night, the streets reminded me of Indian semi-urban cities. No rules, no signals, just honks and within first 5 min, I saw myself adapting to the 4-dimensional traffic. I remembered last night’s scooter trip - as the street renters had carefully left the fuel tank with just enough petrol to move 3 km, first challenge was to find out where can I feed my scooter. Yes – googled “fuel near me” and it took me on many wrong ways despite showing no signs of any pump nearby. It’s already 3 km so far – I might have to use the man powered engine if I don’t find fuel soon. So, I decided to stop and ask the humans, from which I learned, “Bensin” (petrol) is sold in small shops here, pretty much in every grocery shop, and rarely in well-built dedicated fuel stations.

New day - Off to the adventure under the bright sun, (aka burning my skins) – everything was totally fine until one point where Google told me to “Turn right” in the middle of a forest! There was no road and it was just a dead end. Well, I was expecting this because a street-watching hero sitting on a wooden frame made of bamboos indicated the dead end with his hands closed above his head when I was riding uphill at 60 kmph. If not enough, another driver gave that strange look – “does this alien know there is no road ahead?”. I rode back from the dead-end, learning the lesson not to trust google maps in Bali anymore. Each part of the world is in different zones in timeline. I parked the bike near the same street-hero to ask him the directions. “Tulamben!?” “Straaaight... Leeft... Riiiighhhhhht... Leeft... Straaaightt” – I didn’t know it was that easy before (huh, are we complicating things in google maps??).