I don’t like to charter a private taxi to travel over long distances. It’s like… just wrong for me. I want to find the local transport. At this stage of my life at least while I am young, tolerant, on a budget and full of energy. I don’t know how to put it. Wrong things out there that some people despise: like drawing a cartoon of Mohammed or smelling your own fart. But still people (you and I) do it. So even though I find it wrong and I despise lazy long distance traveling by private taxi, it somehow happened that I did it.
By (private) taxi from the South of Bali to Padangbai is about 60km and a little over two hours. We paid a lot extra and yes it had aircon, but I still think I was lazy and will next time look harder to find the public transport.
In Padangbai we rented a scooter ($5) to explore more of Bali’s East Coast.
I’ll say it again: “scooter travel is the way to go in Bali if you are not afraid of busy roads, have a flexible time schedule and not too much luggage”.
We rented the scooter in the morning and didn’t know exactly where we were going or what we wanted to see and do. We had to draw money in Amlapura, but other than that it was an open schedule. A day of scooter exploration! It’s often that when you’re not looking for anything and have no big expectations that you find something great or have an awesome experience. This day was one of those.
The East Coast of Bali is dry and arid when compared to crowded Ubud or the South. We made quick progress as we weaved through the traffic and drove like the Indonesians. Every now and then Clementine would squeeze me as we overtook a truck or dodged a street dog. An exciting ride that kept us alert all the time.
We stopped at a bay and saw some people snorkeling in the distance and decided to join. It was a famous East Coast snorkeling spot with a sunken ship and an abundance of colourful fish and coral. A better snorkel spot when compared to the Gili Islands.
It was our last day in Bali and I would have loved to scooter all around Bali - next time.
We headed back to Padangbai at sunset and took the early morning ferry to Lombok for our flight out of Mataram to Jakarta and back to humid Korea.
12 days were short, but we did as much as we possibly could. A fun filled vacation in one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. I would love to travel through Indonesia with no time limit. Stopping and staying as long as you’d like to. You need months to see all of Indonesia. There are so many hidden gems to be found in this archipelago.
I am a working man with some responsibilities for now, but I know I’ll have my freedom to travel at my own time and pace back soon. That’s at least the goal and dream for the near future.
It was a great trip, especially having Clementine with me. A place I would recommend to anyone. There are so many different travel options to take. Bali caters for everyone. From the backpacker eating street food to the lady with her Louis Vuitton handbag in Ubud. A country (the small part I visited) with friendly (English speaking) people, good cheap food, colourful landscapes and a tourism infrastructure that caters for everyone.
My dreams are getting bigger as the world is getting smaller. There’s so much more to see, experience, taste, witness and do. I am back in Korea, back on my Island teaching English to a handful of students, taking a ferry to work every day, communicating with my hands while keeping my dreams alive of getting out there again as soon as possible!
