Crazy as it may seem, you can get lost in Bali. Sure, you might say it’s only a small island and you are not far from the nearest town or village, but, it does happen and I can vouch for that. Albeit a bit worrying in certain aspects it can be heaps of fun and the things you discover and see are simply amazing. For those of you that hire a driver, you will not have these kinds of adventurous problems, however, if you hire a vehicle and drive around the island then getting lost is possible. I was in the north of Bali and armed with my trusty Periplus Bali Road Atlas, the thought of getting lost was laughable. We had just finished visiting the Brama Vihara Arama Temple located near Dencarik, not far from Pengastulan. I noticed in the mapbook that there as a shortcut south to Munduk where we could connect to the main road leading to the lakes of Buyan and Tamblingan. No worries, I thought, and we set off but soon found this road narrowing and climbing when we should have been heading south.
The map showed we were heading in the right direction and so why were we climbing instead of descending? Frequent stops at isolated mountain villages revealed that “The road is that way” with the gesture of an outstretched hand by one of the locals. This resulted in a T-Junction and it was a gamble which direction I took, left or right, to have us arrive at our next destination. Boy Scout training came in to play here and I failed miserably. Eventually we did make it to the main road after much frustration, but, it was the things we saw and the people we met that made, what was a 20 minute journey, an enjoyable three hour journey.
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Some of our best times were getting lost, finding ourselves on roads that nearly disappeared and experiencing the likelyhood that no other tourists had been where we were. It is possible to feel completely removed from our routine world, by taking that unmarked road. Barrie thank you for the photos, we too ran into road crews far out, away from any visible village. Oh I love it.
Hi Max,
Mapbooks have a tendency to put in slightly warped info but as it turns out, it is the adventure you have finding your way back.
Hi Cathleen C,
Nice to hear from you as usual. I am so glad you are pleased with the photos and now you can have flashbacks of getting lost in paradise eh!
My favourite way to travel in Bali is to take a wrong turn and just keep going. We found the most amazing mountaintop temple and then a valley with a Shangri-La village when we got lost around Pupuan and headed west-northwest, when we should have been heading north. It was one of the most memorable days on the road in Bali I have had in fourteen years of living here!
When people tell you to “get lost!” . . . don’t take offense . . . take it seriously and GET LOST.
Cheers,
Susi
Hi Susi,
Yes, isn’t it fun!. I like your site by the way and a good title.
We have had the same the map book is just hilarious, but we have had the best days out exploring!!!