The Road to Bali

Laurie waiting for one of our many travel connections to Bali

Started with an 8 am check out from our hotel which had helped us secure a train/bus ticket from Sarabaya to Denpasar. We had to make a few late decisions on whether to continue with our travel plans or regroup and fly later. We decided to go for it. We had been unable to get the executive class train we rode from Jakarta so we would travel on a business train with upright seats and fans rather than air conditioning. We were given estimates of 6-7 hours for the train trip to Banyuwangi where we were to pick up a bus and cross by ferry to Bali and continue for a few hours on to Denpasar. We had booked ourselves into the Hotel Okawati in nearby Ubud which is about 30 minutes away. The hotel had agreed to pick us up but needed bus details that we wouldn't have until we boarded so we continued text messaging back and forth with our cute little multi-purpose cellphone (tv, fm radio, camera, flashlight, and much more!). A busy but doable plan. It ended up being a little more complicated than this though.

We had a great train trip with many views of rice fields. small towns and villages, forested hills and intensively farmed lands. The train ride was warm at times mostly while we were in the stations but we would certainly take this ride again. It took us longer than expected to reach Banyuwangi as we got in about 5. There was some confusion but we were eventually directed to a small minivan after giving up our ticket. We crammed in with luggage and all for a very tight fit. It turned out this was just a short ride to the ferry where we waited for further instructions and struck up several friendly and helpful conversations. I was a little unsure of the process and a bit concerned about our lack of a ticket now. We got good help though and soon had lugged ourselves and bags up a steep flight of steps to the upper deck of the ferry with everyone else. Loud music, lots of smoking and trinkets for sale made for a memorable crossing as the sun set on the Java sea around us. We realized later we should have eaten some food then.

The journey continued after we climbed back down the ferry and dodged a line of scooters leaving it too. We watched the only buses in sight drive off just as we got to the terminal but shortly were packed into the back of a 25 person air-con bus located in the dark. We were soon careening down the road to Denpasar and will never forget that ride. The bus driver would often pass several cars, trucks, and scooters at the same time all while negotiating a winding and narrow road at high speed. This continued whenever we were caught behind traffic. Meanwhile we learned that the price for our hotel pickup would be much greater due to our late arrival as it turned out the bus ride would be for 4 hours and we would not arrive until around 11 pm. Hmm, a long day was playing out and we had very little to eat all day. Actually, I had nothing to eat since the night before but that's another story...

The bus ride included a dinner stop which we passed on and people kindly climbed over our luggage stuck in the isle. We did catch a few winks of rest during the ride which was at least in part to avoid the stress of watching all those oncoming headlights seemingly disappear under the bus. This guy could certainly drive but I made a vow then that I would never drive this road! The scene outside was facinating too as there seemed to be small groups of people wherever there were lights and structures. In between there were large dark areas of forest. I was very curious to know more about the routines of people that were out on this rainy night. 

Finally the bus made a few turns off the main road and we were soon in a bus terminal & small shop complex. We quickly became connected with a taxi driver and were loading for the drive to Ubud when another driver came over with his rate sheet showing our ride would cost $150.000 meaning $15 US. Our driver countered that would be his price as well and off we went along mostly dark roads with light traffic. I could tell the driver knew the way and his blue cab was clean and well maintained. I did notice it sounded better when it wasn't stopped and idling. When we reached Ubud and Monkey Forest road we knew we were close but the driver was unsure of the side street to turn out. We dug the address out of Lonely Planet and went down a tiny brick alley until the car could go no farther. A sign pointed towards the hotel so off we went down an even smaller twisting walkway. We were greeted by a nice young man after ringing a bell in a dark lobby. He took our bags and acknowledged we must be tired after a long travel day. We couldn't argue with that or his offer to do the paperwork in the morning. He opened the door to a lovely room and pointed to a pot of tea waiting for us on the patio. After that and hot showers our heads hit the pillows and the day was over. Our travel day totaled about 15 hours including a taxi, train, minivan, ferry, bus, and another taxi before we arrived. 

We are in Bali and managed the whole journey ourselves with some help from the kindness of strangers and probably a bit of luck thrown in.