Biking Bali | Travel Log and Photographs

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

This log is de di c ate d to L e o w hom t h is adventu re w

To shar ing a we ek of l au g hter comfor t of ten kep

Than k you for br i ng i ng me g re at and u n forg

A l l if not most photo g r aphy

by L e on i e a

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Bi k ing + B a l i

ni e and Mar ius , for w it hout wou l d on ly b e a d re am .

r, d e ep c onve rs at i on, le vels of pt just for f am i ly. . .

e around B a l i and for b e ing ge tt able f r i e nds .

is cre d ite d to F l ow to g raphy, and Mar ius .

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1 We ek Bi k ing B a li:

Ngura h R ai Air p or t D enp as ar C ang gu Tab a hnan L ov ina Yeh Mehman Water fa l l Mount B atur L a ke Pay ang an Ubud C ang gu Ngura h R ai Air p or t

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N G U R A H R A I - D E N PA S A R 01

Ar r iv ing at t he air p or t, it was t he f irst and l ast t ime I h ire d a t a xi in B a li for t he durat ion of t he t r ip. I didn’t exp e c t for t his outcome, but it brou g ht ab out a g re at a dventurous spir it.

Wa l k ing into t he hous e of Ay a and Nur u at D e np as ar w he re L and M were st ay ing felt abs olutely sur re a l. The rel a xe d duo c ast ing t ime as ide as t he y f rolicke d under a t raiditona l sun - shading p av i lion of rest.

My G e r man f r iends, t anne d f rom t he s e a and t he su n .

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DE N PAS AR - CANGGU B ags are p acke d and of f we go to C ang gu. At R ast a I re nte d a s co oter for t he f irst t ime and picke d up r iding sk i l ls in t he a l le y way ne arby w it h M. A mot he r b at w it h ne w b or n b abies is t he main sp e c t acle in a dor m itor y f i l le d w it h we ste r n tou r ist s.

T he litt le f ish at t he Far mer’s Yard fe e d on ou r de ad sk in .

We me e t L e t ic i a w ho de cide d to quit her j ob, and c ome v is it S out h E ast Asi a to le ar n more ab out p e r mac u lture.

D in ne r at a War ung w here I k ind of fel l in obs e ssion w it h temp eh.

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C ANG G U - TABAHNAN 03

D or m itor y life.

Th roug hout t he tour ist-f i l le d zones of B a li, t he re were f lo cks of tour ists, t he g rowt h of f usion rest aurants and t he li ke.

M and L are dif ferent. The y k now how to s avour t he c u lture of a pl a ce aut hent ic a l ly. It was g re at hav ing t hem as t ravel f r iends. The y sp oke in nat ive tongue and ma de t he lo c a ls fe el li ke fam i ly to t hem .

We drove out of t he sma l l ro a ds onto t he big main ro a ds and were p a cke d w it hin p e a k t raf f ic ne ar 4pm . L arge t r ucks and bus es p ass by. I haven’t felt s o sma l l and s o af raid of injur y as w hen I was r iding .

I fel l once, my p a lm as s c ars of it.We cont inue to r un our er rands. We e at f r ie d stuf f. L ots. a c om mona lit y e ver yd ay w as our habit of not lo ok ing for pl a ces to st ay b efore t he l ate af te r no on. Than k f u l ly, we a lw ay s ha d s ome pl ac e to rest af ter a long dr ive.

We de cide d on a hot spr ing res or t t hat nig ht, on t he w ay out of C ang gu at Tabhnan, w hich we a l l k ne w was a litt le to o fanc y but w hat t he he ck.

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Hot Spr ing R e s or t s O ur B e dro om B a lc ony

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Hot Spr ing R es or ts Ab andone d Bunga lows

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TA BA HNAN - LOVI NA 04

Mor n ing c ome s and L and M hop into t he hot spr ing by t he r ive r. We ro de f ur t her nor t h, up onto t he mount ains w here it was much more chi l ly.

Fre qu e nt rain f a l l e nsure d we we ar our rainco ats of te n and quick ly. We brave a long and hard showe r of rain as we des cend t he sloping mount ain ro ads. I was s o ner vous w hi le r iding , af raid I wou ld slip at e ver y tur n.

We de s c e nd and t he we at her cle ars into nig ht.

We ar r ive at Singaraj a, t hen L ov ina , w here we t r y to de c ide w he t he r to e at and sle ep at t his pl a c e c a l le d t he “Fun ky Pl a ce”, but e ventu a l ly f i nding “S ant h i ka B&B” a much int rover te d and lovelie r opt ion .

T he re, we re a lis e t he ow ner, a Russi an l a dy, ha d mar r ie d a B a line s e man, and t heir 10 mont h ol d litt le b aby was t he f ittest and spr it iest i’ve e ve r s e e n .

D or m ro oms w it h double b e ds are a ls o p ossibly mo st rele vant in our t ime and age, and we chu ck le at such a ne w s ig ht.

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Siny araj a Nor t h C o ast

LOV I NA LOVI NA 05

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M and L woke up fe eling i l l. We de cide d to slow dow n t he p ac e of t raveling .

In t he af te r no on we r ide to t he b e a ches a long t he Nor t h . Trash is abund ant in B a li, and pl ast ic waste line t he co ast. Hotels and res or ts c are f ar le ss t han you wou ld imag ine ab out t he e nv iron me nt b e side t hem , of ten dumping t heir t rash on t he plot b ehind t heir b ound ar y w a l ls.

L o c a ls live w it h t he habit of bur ning pl ast ic waste, t he p ois onous gas cont r ibut ing to t he harsh e nv iron me nt and amount of p ol lut ion in t he air.

L and M’s work in B a li t hus far has b e en fo c us e d on e duc at ing yout h on how to pro cess waste s, and a ls o to a dvo c ate ne w mo dels of e nv iron me nt a l prote c t ion. It’s a c aus e I a ls o b elie ve in , and am g l a d to b e able to sp e a k to t he m ab out and share mutu a l exp er ience.

We sk ip t he tour ist item of c atching g low ing pl an kton by t he s e a- side t hat nig ht and st ay in at S ant h i ka.

Watch ing a wor r y ing p er for mance of a B a line s e hostel ow ner and his chi ld w it h a loud p e r for ming b and st r ipp e d us of our app et ite.

St r ange.

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LOVINA - YE MEMAN WATERFALL 06

We le ave Sant hi ka by no on. We ha d g rand pl ans , de ciding to he a d b a ck dow n S out h on anot he r route t hat wou ld by p ass Mount B atur.

It was a go o d de cision t hat we de cide d to change route s. Up on re a ching Ye Manp eh Water fa l l, we f a l l in love w it h t he natura l forests and p e a cef u l e nv iron ment. It w as e arly in t he d ay, but we de c ide d to sp end a nig ht in t he homest ay on t he mou nt ain away f rom t he cha os of t he cit y.

Showe r ing and pl ay ing at t he water fa l l w it h lo c a ls, we have a b a l l of f un. S ett ing up a mos quito net for me, L and M ma de sure I ha d cle an she ets to sle ep on due to t he shor t age of c ove re d b e ds. Simple t hings b e come t he fo c us at pl ac e s w here t here aren’t any t hing more to dist rac t one. This was s omet hing I appre ci ate d g re at ly.

B e ing accident a l ly vegan in B a li ha d of ten felt go o d. Not on ly did my b o dy fe el he a lt hier sur v iv ing on a vegan diet, i felt st ronger to o.

That n ig ht we ha d r ice s er ve d w it h le af y g re ens, dr ie d c o conut, b e ans, onions, tof u and temp eh.

We a ls o dran k out of p ap ay a stem “st raw s”.

As n ig ht fel l, we s at outside on t he re clining chairs t a l k ing ab out e ver y t hing f rom dre ams to re a lit y, M on his u kelele and our voices d ancing in t he d ark.

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Home St ay on t he Mount ai n

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Y E M E MAN WATE R FALL L A KE BAT UR - PAYANGAN 07

Oh no thi s i s crazy. I rememb ere d t hin k ing t his as I lo oke d at t he ste ep slop e a he a d. The lo os e s and on t he dis app e ar ing ro a d w as ag it at ing .

On our in it i a l way up tow ards t he mount ains to L a ke B atur, we de cide d it may b e b est to ab andon t he route. A k ind fam i ly sp oke w it h us , t he main host insist ing he r ide to show us t he way to t he l a ke w it h an a lter nat ive route one a lot le ss ste ep and p erhaps a lot more s afe.

L got of f M’s bi ke and hopp e d onto t he host’s.

An hour l ater, we were a cross t he crater’s t ip and r iding dow n t he ste ep slop es le a ding to t he l a ke. T he re was a p oint in t ime w hen t he ro a d was s o ste e p t hat w hen you lo oke d st raig ht it was n’t t he c anopy of t re es t hat you s e e but big ass f luf f y clouds in blue sky. My he ar t w as on f ire. If not for anot her lovely lo c a l I may not have b e e n able to push my bi ke dow n t he f ina l slide.

We r ide by t he l a ke, and w it ness t he extent of volc an ic e r upt ion to have cre ate d such a l arge c rate r. T he ash lies li ke a bl an ket over t he f ields.

We r ide up and dow n t he crater’s e dge on t he ot he r e nd and he a d to Pay angan to a t raining s cho ol w here we st aye d t he nig ht. There we me t a lovely host name d Ni k ko and a volunte er, Eva, and L and M sp end s ome t ime c atching up w it h t heir f r iend, Way an, a lo c a l business ow ne r.

C raz ie st d ay of t he t r ip yet.

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L a ke B atur

B atur C rate r

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PAYA NG A N - UBUD 08

Wayan had inv ite d us to his hous e t hat mor ning , and it was a lovely exp er ience s e eing t he l arge c omp ound of t he t ra dit iona l indonesi an hous ehold. The archite c ture w as b e aut if u l.

Ni k ko hands us our l aundr y and we le ave t he t rain ing s cho ol in t he af ter no on, Ubud was a ha lf hou r dr ive aw ay, our shor test dr ive t hus f ar b e t we e n lo c at ions. Up on ar r iv a l, a l l dre ams we re d ashe d. My f irst t ime at Ubud w as a huge wa ke - up c a l l to w hat t his es c apist haven ha d b e come.

Yoga s anc tu ar y. Hasht ag vegan, e at cle an. The l arge st c u lture sho ck I felt stem me d f rom t he e nor mous amount of foreig n pro duc ts pl a ce d st rate g ic a l ly. Ever y t hing w as ab out “energ y ”, many t h ings were ab out cha k ras, gur us, v ib es, “om shant i shant i om”. I felt li ke t his w as more a sp e c t acle of a m ispl a ce d and m is appropr i ate d lo c a l c u ltu re, and t here w as not hing t r u ly aut he nt ic . And t he cra ziest t hing w as e ver yone was buy ing into it. Swe at p ants ga lore.

M and L sug gest we es c ap e t he bust le and f ind a home - st ay in t he r ice f ields a dist ance aw ay f rom t he main cit y center. Pour ing g re en, s imply b e aut i f u l.

Pad T hai at Habit at w as go o d. L dr iv ing at t he op e n p ark ing lot ma kes for a g re at memor y.

T he y e ve n broug ht me to che ck out Ruma h Komp os.

T hat n ig ht we me et Way an again br ief ly, t hen L e t ic i a, and ma de a ne w f r iend, Mi ka el a , w hi le j amming at SOMA in t he he ar t of Ubud. L et’s just s ay we sto o d at t he side of t he ro a d de ep in c onve rs at ion ab out yoga c u lture v s spir itu a lit y for ab out a tot a l t ime of 2 hours.

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Way an’s Home

Fluf f y f lowe rs at Wayan’s

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O utside SOMA

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Ubud Training S cho ol

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U BU D - C A NGGU NG U R A H R AI AI R P ORT 09

We wa ke f rom t he qu aint homest ay by t he f ields, and le ave to f ind Michi’s w here L et ici a w as st ay ing . What an imag inar y pl a ce. The mos aic e ve r y w he re w it h mu lt iple f unc t ion ro oms and f ant asy li ke s ett ings re a l ly fe el li ke a B arcelona G audi- B a li mashup. It was no doubt b e aut if u l, but I a ls o felt a st range s ens e of e er iness in t his pl ac e, prob ably f rom t he l a ck of lo c a ls.

We ch i l l at t he p o ol and L et ici a of fers us s ome fo o d. When we le ave, I buy a fe w s arongs for mom, and t hen of f to C ang gu, stopping m idway b e c aus e of rain. It w as t he l ast d ay and I wante d it to go on for much longer.

We have dinner at a fant ast ic War ung , and e xchange s ome items of in her it ance as t he y have a fe w more mont hs of universit y here. I s orely miss t he t ast y vegan opt ions in B a li.

R e tur n ing my t r ust y s co oter f r iend of a we ek to R ast a and hopping onto a G o Jek, I bid M and L f are wel l as I he a d to t he air p or t for t he f lig ht home.

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C h e r i s h Ye s t e r d a y , L i v e To d a y, D r e a m To m o r r o w.