Indonesia – theclumsywanderer

10 minutes on a moped.

So here’s a story from 2017.

We planned to get a moped to explore Bali at the end of our travels, the day before we fly back… get lost amongst the rice fields, take some photos and embrace nature. You know wind in our hair type of affair…

Mopeds are the main source of transportation in Bali, everyone has one. A Balinese lady I met there has been driving since she was 12, and if you don’t drive a moped you get a Blue Bird taxi, or a GoRide or a GoCar everywhere.

So anyways, we found a rental company that was reasonable – you’re allowed to haggle- and when I say rental company, I mean a man with some mopeds in a hut.

You’ve gotta live life on the edge guys.

The day before we leave Bali, we make our way to the rental man, all ready for the day. Pretty excited to go touring with my Mr for our last day. Price negotiated, papers signed, helmets secured….Vroom vroom and we’re off!

Driving to Seminyak Square, only 2 minutes in to our journey and I’m having a lovely time. Now you see Seminyak square, let’s say it’s the equivalent of Trafalgar Square, The Bull Ring, Bristol City Centre. Now imagine those in the summer, you get the picture… It’s manic.

Mopeds are allowed to the mount the pavements in Bali. Traffic can get ridiculous, so they have dipped curbs all the way down the roads to allow mopeds to go up and down to get through the traffic. So that’s what we did.

10 minutes in, he mounts the curb, I’m holding on tight but I’m confident he’s got this. We’re approaching the other side.

Now imagine a cartoon where the car is soaring through the air – that was us, I’m sure of it! The moped tilts to the side, we’re sliding through traffic towards parked mopeds. Crash. He’s off, on the floor holding his foot. I’m stuck underneath the moped. What is this life.

I check my bones, I’m ok.

The local men came rushing over to his aid, pour water over his wound. He isn’t ok… blood is pouring from his foot. What do we do?! The clinic was two meters away (thank goodness) so he was taken there by one of the men. I sort the moped, grab the keys whilst a local man is trying to get an insurance claim from me. No chance. I walk to the clinic. He’s alive. He has his limbs but the cut on his foot. Yikes.

Luckily we had insurance, however the doctor asked me about anaesthetic as he may need this for the stitches. Shocked and overwhelmed, here’s were I made a bit of a mistake. I thought she meant the general anaesthetic, you know the one that puts you to sleep. So I’m thinking recovery time, money and whether it was necessary, don’t forget we fly back to the UK the next day. Wasn’t until after the stitches I realised she meant local anaesthetic.

Anyways, I reassure him that it’ll hurt a bit but he doesn’t need the anaesthetic, he’s got this. Goodness me. I didn’t realise how much it would hurt. Ever had someone speak in backslang and understood it under pressure? I have.

Feeling a guilty.. understatement. Still feel guilty now? Definitely lol.

My leg now starts bleeding and they clean it with iodine. Mother of God. I forget how much that stuff stings. Overwhelmed with it all and scared we won’t be able to fly back, or the Balinese Mafia will be after us for the moped, I’m crying. Adrenaline is a crazy thing.

Bill settled – equivalent of £200. Hobble to the taxi and make our way back to our Villa. He can’t walk, well on one foot he can. Next problem, how the hell are we returning the moped back? We’ve left it in Seminyak Square, and our villa is a taxi journey away. He cant drive it now and there’s no way I can… or can I? He tells my G.I Jane self to relax because it’s too dangerous on my own. Now what…..

The rental company took our address see, so they know were to collect it from, and there are lots of insurance scams happening between locals and tourists. So if they attend the villa and if we don’t have it then what?!

I’ve got it. I’ll speak to the staff we know and see if they can help. He’s in the villa with his foot elevated, I’m in a taxi on the way to get the moped with the receptionist who has offered to drive it back to the villa for us. The relief. She’s the lady who has been driving since she was 12! She even stopped in the pharmacy to get us the medication we needed. Now I tell you guys, I held on tight and felt the wind in my hair. Drove through the rice fields. This is what I wanted… not a trip to A&E lol

Turns out the moped was faulty.

Even the journey home was a massive palaver!! Massive. At the airport I grab a wheelchair for him because of the pain, and his inability to walk on his foot. We didn’t realise, but as we’re about to check-in, we’re informed that he needs to be authorised to fly home. Off we go to see the Doctor in the airport. It was such a long walk I felt like I was going to be interrogated for being a drug mule at one point.

Providing the forms from the A&E, a check-up and a payment – yes we had to pay to be authorised to fly, we could catch our flight. After a few giggles from the Doctor and his staff at our expense, they explained that the A&E charged us triple what they would of charged a local because they know it can be claimed back on our insurance. Cheeky gits.

The staff in other countries as so attentive. Sure, they’ve probably come across 100’s of tourists injured from moped accidents, however they stayed with us until we sat at our gate. Pushing him around in the wheelchair – he felt like an injured King I’m sure. Taking us through all these secret corridors. We were grateful.

Next time I’m driving the moped.

Hunger Games (in Bali)

For us, we love trying different places to eat and drink when we visit somewhere, and Bali have an endless amount of places to try. Neither of us really eat fast food and to be honest, you won’t find a huge amount of fast food outlets over there, however, do not fear my friends, there are plenty of burger joints and places you can buy fries! TripAdvisor can be a great help – download the app if you haven’t already.

There is a huge Aussie influence over there, which isn’t surprising with how close Bali is to Australia – this is literally a local place for them to travel to. Slightly jealous! Bali is the place where you’ll find several variations of smashed avo on sourdough with wilted spinach and poached eggs – one of my faves I’ll admit. Countless flavours of fresh fruit smoothies, french toast with caramelised bananas and ice-cream, and our newest discovery of red velvet pancakes. Mmmmm!!

Watercress located in Seminyak, large restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating, a fresh deli, great menu and their own shop:

There is a popular cafe called Cafe Organic located in Kuta which we visited in 2015. It was new and I loved their concept and menu. We revisited this year, and they still seem popular and have expanded so there is more space, however we where so disappointed, menu was the same but the love in the food had gone. We didn’t go back again.

A short distance down from there we discovered The Fat Turtle and what a delicious find this was. A new cafe since our last visit to Bali. Lots of subtle effort like Springer sewing machine tables to dine on and a funky lighting features. Home of the red velvet pancakes, french brioche toast and the tastiest fresh lemonade, I sure do miss our brunches here. Highly recommend you visit here.

Lots of bars and restaurants have a happy hour, one of our faves was Char Char Bar in Seminyak. They have the coolest seating area overlooking the main street. The seating area is a series of wide stairs with a water fountain at the bottom. It can get busy, but you are never waiting for more than 5-10 minutes. They have a good selection of drinks and cocktails and they serve food too. Their happy hour operates 3pm-9pm. Heres their website:

Sister fields – A modern Australian Cafe located in Seminyak. Brioche french toast with matcha custard, banana and yogurt sorbet, banana crumble and Canadian maple syrup. I’ll leave this here…..

Warning: the avocados over there are super fresh and super huge, so you’ll find the portion sizes bigger than normal, and after a few days and some googling, we realised avocado acts as a laxative. So if you begin to get stomach cramps, you know why! lol

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Bali

There is something about Bali that I won’t stop loving. I’ve been there twice, and often consider the possibility of living there – normally whilst sat at my desk in work! Even the long journey doesn’t put me off.

Everything is beautifully care-free there, and that combined with the sun, culture and attention to detail is why I love this place. I am a visual person who loves colour, art and creative decor which is something that the Balinese do with all their cafes, restaurants and hotels. The effort they make pleases my soul so much, and for those that love a photo or two, there is opportunities around every corner. England is definitely lacking with this!

The Balinese are largely Hindu, so you will quickly see the prettiest little wooden baskets on the pavements, entrances to shops and around shrines. These are called Canang Sari and are offerings to their Gods. They are usually woven from palm or banana leaves and contain flowers, oils and small food offering with an incense. These offerings are put outside throughout the day so try your best not to stand on them. Balinese people always try to be in harmony with their gods.

We first visited in November 2015 and travelled around lots staying in four different areas – Seminyak, Ubud, Kuta and Uluwatu.

Our most recent visit in May 2017, we decided to base ourselves in Ulumas in the most beautiful Villa, and travelled to Gili Trangwagan for three nights and visited Ubud for one day.

Flights are pretty reasonable, and accommodation can be within anyones price range. Both trips with flew with Qatar Airways – literally my absolute favourite airline!! November 2015 – flights cost £570 return and May 2017 flights cost £360 return. Not as expensive as you thought right?!

Tip: Always use the Blue Bird Taxi Company. The are reliable and on the meter, which means the prices are reasonable. These are one of the main transports there, and you won’t walk far without one driving past. Your hotel will call these for you with no problems. There are two other taxi’s which you will find look very similar to the Blue Birds, however they will over-charge you a great deal. You’ll be able to tell the difference after a day or so.

Bali is definitely full of wildlife and nature. On our last visit, we seen dolphins, a python, a monitor lizard, geckos – small and big, grass snake eating a frog (poor thing!), monkeys and one of the biggest spiders I have ever seen!

Tip: Mosquitoes are HUNGRY in Bali, and after the first week they managed to find any area missed by the bug-spray. We did take our own bug-sprays, however the natural bug-sprays worked so much better, and with less chemicals they are better for the skin too. They cost 70,000 IDR and can be found in the pharmacies. Tea Tree oil works wonders on bites too, as its an antiseptic.

For those free-spirited travellers out there, its easy to book as you go – I have a friend about to do this in Bali. Plus they have hostel accommodation for travellers too, I will find the link to the one we came across. We booked all our accommodation (apart from one) prior to traveling there, and pre-booked our speed boat to Gili T.

Ubud is tropical paradise. The fresh green rice fields are stunning to see and are free to look at, and you can wander off amongst the tracks on tours for a fee too. The waterfalls are impressive and we visited Tegenungan Waterfall which has an entrance fee of 100,000 IDR. Even with several steps to climb back up in the heat, its beautiful and you can get in the river and under the waterfall too. Ubud also have a large local market selling clothes, gifts, art and food which everyone should visit, especially if you need to buy gifts for a loved one. I honestly don’t know the obsession with wooden penises, but you will definitely see them everywhere lol. Have you seen the photos on instagram of people swinging up high amongst the palm trees? Thats in Ubud.

Seminyak is the busiest area in Bali. Smack bang in the hustle and bustle. Mopeds everywhere, restaurants, bars and shops. So naturally this is where all the tourists go. Your visit wouldn’t be complete without visiting here, especially on the evening for food and drinks. My next post will have the details for all the restaurants in this area and everywhere else.

If you are visiting Bali, you have to visit Gili Trawangan. There are three Gili Islands, but Gili T is the most vibrant. Gili islands are renowned for the turtles and manta rays so snorkelling is a must. I went snorkelling and despite making friends with a huge fish and cutting my leg on coral, I didn’t see any turtles. I was gutted. I have since learnt that the best time to snorkel for turtles is in the morning around 10:30am. You can rent snorkelling equipment all around the island, and you can buy brand new from shops too. Lots of people go diving here, and there is plenty of boat tours you can pay for. You can cycle around the island in just over an hour, and you can rent bikes all over the island – we rented two bikes for 100,00 IDR for 24hrs. Prices are never fixed and they are open to haggling. Cycling was a great way to view the island, the hidden paths and we made lots of videos. There is the famous Gili T swing in the sea which is great for a photo and plenty of space to sunbathe. Its lively on a nighttime with the bars all playing different genres of music. The boat there takes 2hrs30mins and we sat on the top enjoying the ocean. We got to see some dolphins and could see the other islands. This is were I got sunburned, badly. Worse I’ve ever had, and I was wearing suncream. F*ck my life. We didn’t realise, however the boat back takes much longer as it picked up passengers from the other islands. Safe to say I got sea sickness during the last hour, but Im told the views were great! We used Bali Fast Forward boat company and pre-booked our tickets before we travelled there. They offer a free collection and drop-off to most areas.

Our stay in Seminyak in 2015 was with Crown Astana (now known Crown Bali Villa) and I felt like a queen. It was my birthday, and what a way to live for 5 days! We had a kitchen, large kingsize bed, bathtub, shower room, double bathroom sinks and our own private pool. The windows slid open and you could sit down and dip your feet in the pool. The customer service was outstanding, and you could choose your breakfast for the following day, with a time slot and the staff would leave in on your kitchen table in the morning. It was great location – firstly next to a supermarket and a short distance to the Seminyak Square where all the bars, restaurants, shops and clubs are. We stayed here for 5 days and this cost £449 for us both.

When we visited Ubud in 2015, we decided to do things a little different so we stayed in a vegan hotel. We stayed in The Shift for 5 days and it cost £236 for us both. It was a small room, but was clean and felt new. There was nice clean communal pool which I spent lots of time in. There was no TV though, which added to the vibe of the hotel. The restaurant only sold raw foods, and there was absolutely no food with an animal trace or with a carbon footprint – I am talking no bread, no cheese (unless it was completely vegan) so we definitely tried some new things here. This was challenging at times, however I have NEVER found a breakfast like theres – fresh granola, coconut cream, coconut milk, chocolate sauce, cacao nibs and fresh banana, it tasted insane. Many guests, and people staying in the area practice yoga, and you will find a huge community here in Ubud if this is something you wish to try.

Staying in Umalas May 2017, we stayed in Aqua Octaviana Bali Villa for 14 days and this cost us £592 for us both. Its located in a much more quieter area, so we did have to travel by taxi to the main areas, however it didn’t bother us as we knew this before booking. The staff were lovely, and extremely helpful – especially after our moped accident – I’ll tell you about that later. We had our own private pool surrounded by plants which was stunning in the daylight, and our room was so spacious.

Whilst in Gili Trawangan this year we stayed in Natya Hotel for 3 days which cost us both £73. Gili is a small island and most hotels are located on the breach front. The hotel had a lovely pool, and the rooms had a beach feel to them. Shower was a little dated but it worked. The aircon was efficient and with my amazing sunburn, I am so thankful for this! lol. We didn’t eat here, but the breakfast buffet and evening restaurant was always busy.

Tip: Mopeds and taxis dominate the roads in Bali, with a few cars, and although there doesn’t appear to be many rules, it just works. You’ll find there can be lots of vehicles beeping, this is an alert to another driver that they are behind them and/or about to drive around them. Taxis will beep at you for business so ignore them, unless you want a taxi of course!

P.S thought you would want to know that after a few days we found a restaurant around the corner from The Shift that sold pizza and chips and it tasted GOOOOOOOD lol

Hope you found this blog helpful so far. Bali seems like a popular destination at the moment! Visit our Instagram account for our visual journal:

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