My journey through southeast Asia continued with my arrival in Bali, Indonesia. This island, now hyped by social media and cheap air fares, was presumably at one point a beautiful tropical jungle with white sand beaches and a vibrant green volcano rising slightly east of center. These days, it is a great destination for residents of the wealthier Asian countries, Australians, and a smattering of Europeans and South Americans. One can also find the odd U.S or Canadian citizen if they look hard enough.
I immediately felt out of place because I certainly did not fit the target demographic. My hostel for the first night, being cheap, had it’s view of the ocean obscured by beach-side resorts and expensive restaurants. Thus, I was presented with an excellent view of the street vendors and litter of the narrow alley beneath my window and the dirty white walls of the backside of a resort above that.
Nevertheless, I was excited. I was finally fully on my own and, with no ticket out of the country, free to do pretty much whatever I wanted until my visa ran out in a month. I had done a bit of research before my arrival so I wouldn’t be flying completely blind, however, I only had lodging reserved until the third night so I was still very flexible.
I spent one night in that resort-side hostel near the airport and then took a cab to a hostel in Canggu, where I expected to find good surf, mellow vibes, and good food. I figured I would rent a surfboard there and maybe a scooter as well. However, I was not quite prepared for what I found once I arrived.
Canggu, unbeknownst to me, is the major party hub of Bali, from what I can tell, only the Gili Islands rival it. This was not at all what I was looking for during my time in Indo, I was there to chase surf, period. The surf gets alright in Canggu, but the mellow beach-break was just about as flat as can be when I arrived; good for lessons but not anyone with serious wave-chasing intentions. I resolved to abandon the place as soon as my hostel reservation ran out and head south to the Buckit Peninsula where I was told it’s mellower, closer to nature, and heaps of good waves abound.
Indonesia is an interesting study in tourism management. Because it is a country made up of 17,508 islands, it’s quite a different feel than say Costa Rica (another tropical tourist destination). While you are in Bali, it seems as though that’s about all that exists along with the neighboring island of Lombok. Nobody really talks about any of the other islands except for maybe Java. For the most part though, Bali is the center of the universe when you are there.
There are three distinct levels of tourism there; the low, middle, and high end. The high end never interacts with the low end but the low and middle ends seem to mingle fairly regularly. I would consider myself to have experienced the low end. I was paying 7 USD a night for 4-8 bed hostel rooms and buying the cheapest items off the menus at western restaurants or dining in local warungs. All said, it was pretty easy to maintain my budget of 33 USD per day as long as I was careful to take the 10-15% service fees into account at restaurants.
All in all, one can travel Bali with an exceptionally small budget if they are willing to endure a bit of discomfort relative to those spending more. My beds were comfortable and I ate well, however my rooms were typically dirty and the local food I ate regularly was a health inspectors nightmare. I was even able to afford my own means of transport while I was there, a 125cc scooter with a janky surfboard rack clamped on. I was stoked to have this as it gave me a vast amount of freedom and was far cheaper than taking Grab (Uber) rides everywhere. I was paying about 4 USD a day for this deathtrap and it was the best bang for my buck I’ve ever gotten.
Over the next posts I’ll go into more detail regarding the adventures my scooter and I had, but for now I’ll just say that without that thing I would’ve had an exceptionally different Bali experience. The experience I did have was one of self-discovery, adventure, and a fair amount of painful gains.
