Indonesia, Day 4 A Long Day's Ride

Tuesday May 24^rd

Today I spent a lot longer on the scooter than I anticipated. The ride heading north from Ubud to the north shore is not as simple as I expected. I had to take a number of smaller roads to head west in order to pick up the main road north. I stopped and asked directions a lot, but still had some trouble. Started out well, but made a wrong turn somewhere and had to double back for a half hour. Finally picked up the main road at Tabanan and headed north. Up to this point it had been mainly through towns and the road was lined with shops. The further north I rode the more rural it became. The island is very green and lush, and there are lots of rice paddies and palm trees. The road began to climb and as I crossed the island I rode up and over a mountain pass. The air was quite a bit cooler and there were some really nice views. At one view point I saw some more monkeys eating bananas and several Chinese tourists who were on a tour bus, all took pictures of me and my scooter!? I watched some women digging and carrying mud out of a river on their heads, not sure why they were doing that. Got stopped today in a police road check, but they were just checking for driving licenses and luckily I had my International one, so no big deal. Actually after they saw it they were very friendly.

After three hours I arrived at Lovina on the north shore. I was handed a business card for a beach cabin in Lovina by a young man on a scooter. This is where I intended to stay tonight, so I followed him there and he showed me a nice enough room, but I wasn't impressed with the beach. It was black sand with small stones in it, and there were lots of fishing boats on the beach. There were very few people around. Writing this it sounds kind of idyllic, but it wasn't what I was looking for, or had pictured in my head. So, I decided to give it a pass and head west looking for a better area. Well, I never found one. I expected, and was lead to believe that there were lots of beaches and guest houses up here but not so. There are a couple of big resorts, but the beaches are not nearly as nice as Thailand. My travel agent had told me to go to the northwest end and it would be beautiful there. Not so. I found a national park, and a village, but that is only a harbour for ferries. There are no nice beaches, hotels or any tourists. I was very frustrated and was about to head back to Kuta, but that was another three to four our ride and it was already, four o'clock. So, I doubled back and managed to find a nice cabin hotel that wasn't too expensive. Checked in, bought a few snacks and headed to the beach. Again it is not the greatest beach and there is coral and rocks in the water out front. So, I sat and read for awhile and tried to relax. I'm frustrated, in that Bali has always been a dream of mine, and in some ways I am finding it disappointing. The culture and the scenery are very nice but the beaches aren't what I hoped for. Either I'm missing the best places or they aren't here. However, I did really enjoy the scooter ride, that was a lot of fun.

Now I'm going to have dinner at a tiny restaurant on the premises and then try to do some computer work, but you have to pay for wi-fi. Oh well. So, I bought a card for an hours access and explained I didn't want to start in until 10:30. No problem she says. Then when I went access it the password didn't work. So, either she gave me the wrong password or a card that had already been used. So, I read for a bit and went to bed. While having dinner I talked to a French Canadian couple and their two teenage boys who are travelling for six months. She is a teacher and is on a half year sabbatical and he is a college instrument in Radio and Television Arts. We had a good talk about travelling, teaching and the TV business. They are home schooling their kids as they travel. It would be interesting to see how the kids fair when they get back or did they miss something. I'll never know.