Last month Pippa and I spent two weeks on the delightful tropical island of Bali.  It was a golden opportunity to escape New Zealand’s winter, the coldest we have had for about forty years. (there was even snow in Auckland).

Leaving the island’s airport we looked for our pre arranged ride to the hotel but it was nowhere to be seen and so we took a taxi; by booking at the taxi office there was no haggling involved and the price was better than quoted on the website!  After less than pleasant experiences in other countries, this was in fact a good start.  Driving through the mass of Denpasar, the capital – it does have an extremely good bike shop as I discovered later - we went straight to Ubud where we planned on relaxing for a few days before exploring the island to see just how suitable it is for biking.

Ubud is the heart of Balinese culture, it is also an excellent place to indulge yourself with a massage or a yoga class, and yes we did succumb.  Most people arise late and stay up late:  we decided to buck the trend by getting up early(ish) and walking the 300 m down to the Monkey Forest.  As long as you don’t carry food, which will attract undue attention from the monkeys, it‘s a delightful oasis in a busy town. 

A must do in Bali, whether a ‘true’ cyclist or not, is the downhill mountain biking.  It might sound daunting but in fact it’s sedate and most enjoyable.  We were picked up at 7.30 from our hotel and driven to Kintamani for breakfast.  The restaurant has a superb view of Mt Batur and its lake and at 1700 m ensured lots of downhill.  Our group consisted of 16 cyclists from several countries, plus two guides.  We were told to chose from the large motley collection of well used bikes on hand and from there we set off on a gentle downhill on minor roads and tracks which took us through rice fields and villages.  We stopped frequently to regroup and be given a little information on the area.  It was an excellent introduction to Bali.

Back at the hotel it was time for a swim in the pool before trying one more of the very many restaurants in town – some good, some not too good. (My other hat is as a restaurant guide)

Next morning we met Wayan from Bali Cycling who had arranged to show us the island. It was only later that we discovered why Wayan is such a common name: all first-born, whether boy or girl, are called Wayan.

The brief was to get us off the beaten track and on to the smallest roads with the least traffic, in other words, those best for cycling.  Because Bali is small (5,632 km2) and has volcanoes to over 10,000 ft it does mean that there are some steep climbs to get from one side of the island to another.   Our first stop out of town was at Tanan Ayun temple.  Whilst impressive, there are about 20,000 temples on the island and we soon decided not to see them all. The
World Heritage Jatiluwih rice terraces at 700m, however, are well worth the climb, as they are quite spectacular.  Lake Bratan at 1,300 m was our lunch destination – perhaps just as well we were in the car today.  At least the afternoon was all downhill to the coast at Lovina Beach where we enjoyed the luxury of a very comfortable resort by the beach – with an excellent bar for those with a thirst. .  

We missed the pre breakfast boat trip to see the dolphins in favour of a lie in.  Just 20km along the coast is the biking temple, so named because of its biking relief designed by a Dutchman, a must see. We then headed inland taking a minor road, passing a wide range of crops: bananas, rice, coconuts, tomatoes, chili, beans, etc. on our way to Kintamani, in fact where the mountain biking started. 

This is a starting point for the sunrise trek to the summit of Mt Batur but a 3.00 am start didn’t appeal.  We did however, bike around the volcano by mountain bike.  Our guide thought the day was cold at 22c/ 71 F but for us it was just right.

Bali is known, among other things, for its snorkeling and this we had to experience and we headed to Amed.  By standing just waist deep in the water we experienced the most amazing coloured fish and coral, it really was quite an experience and the water was bath warm.

Close by is Tirta Gangga Palace which seemed a sufficiently regal place for lunch, overlooking the pools and gardens.  Next time we will stay there and really get ideas above our station.

After lunch we took a single track road back to the coast which was scarily steep and extremely rough – we’ll give that a miss for our bike tours. After our scouting we had a very pleasant few days at the beach at Sanur, trying not to think of those at home in the cold.

We’ll be back, why don’t you join us.

Bali cycling 05 – 14 May 2012 (web page currently being developed)