Riding in the countryside in Bali is one of the thnigs I really enjoy. Living in Seminyak one could easily be forgiven for thinking this is how life in Bali is. This afternoon I dooned my poncho and headed up to Mengwi, via Denpasar. Mengwi is home to the 2nd most important temple in Bali, Taman Ayun. I passed the great place, but didn’t stop, I wanted to get a taste of what the locals were up to in the surrounding areas.
Tourism might be down, but rice production keeps rolling along. If the Balinese ever give that up they’ll regret it. I love the small lanes that pass through sawah and lead through tiny villages, each with a temple or 2 with the split gates (candi bentar) and the split log drum tower in one corner (kul kul). Its great to get out there and drive around. If you do this you will escape mass tourism very quickly. Heading down narrow lanes I always end up somewhere new and get lost along the way. The thing is I know that on the south side of the mountains, a downward slope always leads back to Denpasar, and it will be the busiest road. Uphill will be heading for Singaraja, so its easy to relocate direction.
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That dichotomy is what I like about Bali. You can spend your time drinking and other things until 6am in the Kuta area. There aren’t a whole lot of places where people party as hard as they do in Kuta. Then 20 minutes out of Kuta, you’re transplanted into a completely foreign world. I’d like to get a motorbike and ride around, but I’m too worried about falling off.
Nick are you using a different camera lately? Some of your recent photos are too dark to make out details. I really look forward to the photos.