After our recent bad experiences during a temple visit on the Indonesian island of Bali, we had hoped to arrive in Ubud today without being ripped off by locals. However, we hadn't even been 5 minutes from the hotel (Sunari Villas & Spa ResortWe were removed from the road when we drove into the first police checkpoint. With his five words of English, which included "Good Morning" and "Driver Licence," the policeman tried to explain to us that our EU driving licence wasn't valid here. He kept demanding to see our international driving permit. We talked to him for so long that after five minutes he didn't know what else to say and simply let us drive on. But this wasn't to be the last checkpoint we encountered that day.
Batur volcano
After about a two-hour drive, we reached Mount Batur (1730 meters). We had actually wanted to get a little closer to the summit, or rather, the crater. After wandering around for a few minutes looking for a road, we passed an office for guided hikes. They explained that it was possible to drive to a higher parking lot and hike up to the crater from there. However, they wanted $45 USD per person for this tour. Clearly too much for what was offered. Just as we were about to leave, they saw this as their last chance to convince us. They explained that we would have to pay a fine of tens of millions of rupees if we hiked without a guide.
We decided to find the second parking lot on our own anyway. However, we hadn't counted on the guide following us on his moped. When we spotted the access road as we drove past, he used the time it took us to turn around to simply block the way. So we drove around the road and "hid" in the next side street. When we drove back about five minutes later, the road was clear again – like something out of a kindergarten. Unfortunately, we still didn't find the second parking lot, so we just took a few photos in a field of lava rock with the volcano in the background.
Rip-off, Part Two
On our way to our second destination of the day, the Besakih temple complex, we encountered our second, and thankfully last, police checkpoint. The "game" was the same again, except this time the officer immediately mentioned a fine of 100,000 rupees. We tried our tactic again of simply chatting him up in English, and it worked with the first officer. He sent us to the next checkpoint, to his colleague. When a police officer with a gold watch, a huge ring, and Ray-Ban sunglasses peers through the side window, I personally don't get the impression of him being trustworthy anymore. And we've read quite a bit about the police here in Bali ripping off tourists. Convincing him to just let us continue was a bit more difficult than with the first two officers. But we succeeded again. I'd venture to guess that the fine would hardly be that high for locals.
Pura Besakih
I've already reported on the pushy, and this time even somewhat aggressive, tourist touts around the temples. Pura Besakih, the supposed "mother of all temples," was no different. After lengthy discussions, we rented two more of those fabric shawls to tie around our waists and climbed the temple. The complex is truly vast, consisting of 30 individual sections, and beautifully laid out. Access to the inner courtyard of the main temple is prohibited during ceremonies—which, as a guide explained, unfortunately last all day. However, for a small "donation," he would be willing to accompany us, thus making it religiously acceptable. But on the path around the complex, one is allowed to look over the perimeter walls.
We would advise future Bali travelers to buy their own sarong.
Lunch break at a beautiful rice terrace in Bali
We stopped for lunch on a generously wide bend in the road on the way to Ubud. From there, we had a view of a beautifully terraced rice paddies. The stop seemed to be popular with tourists, though, because there was already a man sitting under a wooden shed with parking tickets. In Bali, we'd always been charged after parking. So, while we ate, we hatched our escape plan. It went like this: We packed all our things into the trunk, Bodo got into the car and unlocked my door from the inside. Meanwhile, I pretended to take some pictures of the rice paddies with my iPhone. With a sudden leap, I went to the driver's door and was in my seat within seconds. The key was already in the ignition, and with loud laughter, we drove off. It was hilarious!
Dinner in Ubud
At dinner in Ubud, we finally met a sensible Balinese woman. It turned out she was the owner of the restaurant. We sat together cross-legged at low tables, the kind I'm only familiar with from Japanese restaurants, and chatted. From her, we learned quite a bit about the particular Hindu religion practiced here in Bali. We also found her name, "Putu," interesting. In Bali, it's customary for every first child to be named Putu. This name is independent of gender and can be supplemented with another name if desired. The second, third, and fourth children also receive traditional names. After that, the names repeat. For dinner, we ordered Balinese specialties such as chicken in coconut milk with local vegetables and rice.
