Bali the ‘paradise island’ on 2 wheels

We loved being back in Asia with the smell of insense in the air, colourful offerings lining the chaotic streets, smiling vendors and free dogs everywhere. Bali is known for its beaches, stunning rice fields with waterfalls and temples inland and volcanoes and mountain lakes making for an impressive skyline to the north. The Balinese life philosophy to be at harmony ‘Tri Hita Karana’ can be seen and felt everywhere making Bali one of the most spiritual places we have visited. We had 30 days in Bali and wanted to explore every inch of the ‘paradise island’ so the minute we reached our base villa in Kuta we hired a moto.
Hiring a moto in Bali:

Finding a scooter to hire for your trip is easy, everyone is selling them! We shopped around as we wanted a discount for hiring for 30days that many of the tourist vendors couldn’t accommodate. But we did manage to barter down a sensible price from one of the main street vendors in Kuta.

We paid 1million Rupiah which worked out at around £2 a day, but hiring in a less tourist and busy town would be cheaper still. We opted to get ours from Kuta as it meant our taxi back to the airport would be less expensive too.

We needed to show our international driving permit as well as our UK licence to rent the bike. I’m sure many vendors will give out bikes without seeing either but having them is a requirement so helps should you get stopped by the police. Helmets are also a legal requirement so make sure you get one. (If you don’t then they are cheap enough to buy.) We drove past the cops several times everyday and saw many tourists also on bikes and were never stopped so stories of police bribes etc may be a little dated since Bali now has Tourism Police.

Riding in Bali is similar to that anywhere in Asia. The only exceptions we saw was that outside of Denpasar the roads were very quiet and less manic. Also the roads changed daily for us in Kuta in that what would be a 2 way street the next day would be 1 way then a change of direction the following week. GPRS was therefore completely useless and the changes in layout often meant an added hour on a journey home!

Kuta (and surrounding):

Kuta is the first town you come to from the airport and therefore arguably the most touristy. With that come streets full of vendors, bars and restaurants, a good night scene and a good base to explore nearby Ubud and the hippy surfing town of Canggu. Kuta has its own city beaches and although lively Seminyak just further up the coast is the most famous, we found a journey to South Kuta rewarding as the more unspoilt and beautiful beaches run along the southern coast.

Ubud:

Ubud is simply stunning. Vast rice fields, forests and rivers cover the landscape and are Bali’s picture perfect. Ubud itself has lovely places to eat more reasonably priced than Kuta. If you could ever get bored of strolling or riding through the beautiful templesque streets and lush green fields then there are also many beautiful day excursions in Ubud such as the Monkey Forest, Water Temple, Tegegungan Waterfall, Tegalallang rice terrace and our favourite, the Hidden Canyon which has not yet been added to Ubud tourist day trips so is still beautifully hidden!

North Bali:

So we never actually made it to the North of Bali! Our poor 100cc scooter after 25 days of riding up steep mountains and clocking up a lot of mileage started to shake and not do very much at all going up yet another mountain 100km north of our pad! We knew if we did manage to get up we had another 2 to climb just to get to our destination let alone all the ones going back home again so we had to admit defeat!

Had we if made it we would have been treated to dolphins off the Lovina beach coast, volcanoes, lakes, hot springs and waterfalls.

East Bali:

The recommended ride out to the 2 mountains, Agung and Abang towering on Bali’s east coast was spectacular. The road twists and turns through jungle and yet even more stunning architecture of the towns and villages with viewpoints to stop and see and hidden beaches along the way.

Bali for us didn’t have the best beach we had ever seen or the highest waterfall or the best food but we loved everyday we spent there. The only thing we can say is the island has an aura that you can’t escape. Maybe it’s the incredible tasting Bintang that they brew? Or maybe it is because every home you walk by looks like a temple, every person you meet is relaxed and happy and every time you turn a corner there is something wonderful waiting? We really don’t know, we just loved it ❤️