As I already mentioned in the last post renting a scooter is a must since the distances in here are noticeable. In order to get from one side of the island to the other it can take up to 4-5 hours without the crazy traffic that you’ll encounter around Kuta, Denpasar and other bigger areas. With a car it probably takes much longer because of the already mentioned traffic + in some places roads are really not roads and unless you’re in a 4×4 there’s just no way to pass. And be very careful in junctions since there are no rules. If a big enough mass gathers it’s your time to go. Be sure to look left, right, behind, ahead and down because there will be surprises coming from each direction :)! If to compare it with Phuket, the other place with notoriously horrible traffic, I think that this place is a bit worse, especially during rush hours. But you’ll get used to that :)!
Secondly be sure to carry cash everywhere you go. Since in almost every beach, temple and tourist object there is a small fee for parking your scooter + a fee per person to enter the area. Sometimes these two fees can be combined but you can be sure that someone will ask you a small amount of money :). Usually it’s about 2000-3000 for parking a scooter and entrance tickets can be from 2000 to 10000 with prices going up to 60000 in most popular tourist attractions. I get all that but what seems a bit weird is that even if you want to go to McDonalds or just a walk in the park for example, even there they’ll charge you for parking :). I don’t know from where this kind of tradition has come from but it’s just easier to get used to it!
Petrol/gasoline is really inexpensive (about ~0,53€ per liter) here. You can find it being sold almost everywhere in small home-made gas stations and in old liquor bottles on wooden shelves by the road. It comes in different colors 🙂 but as I’ve been told the only thing that they differ from is the price and an average scooter drinks almost about everything.
Since there are sadly a huge number of stray dogs roaming on the streets you have to be really careful about them also. In addition quite often you can meet just standing in the middle of the street: cats, chickens, rats, lizards, cows, geese, turkeys and a huge variety of other unknown animals :).
I hope you found some value in these tips! Meanwhile here’s the second video of Bali. Go and have a look!
The World As It Is 