There’ll be no “Blasting thru Bali”…!!

I arrived in Bali just as the sun slipped below the horizon, its dying rays lighting up the ocean we were skimming over just before touching down in Denpasar… The runaway extends out into the ocean, and coming in so low over the water was a little disconcerting… At one point I thought the landing gear might actually clip the wave-tops…!!

Halfway through the 3 hour flight, I realized that I had just crossed the Equator for the sixth time on my journey around the world… I had crossed it twice in Kenya and twice in Uganda on my way to and from Rwanda and Burundi, and then again at Nanyuki in Kenya, on my way up to Ethiopia…

I was back in the Southern Hemisphere for the first time since June 2010, and would be spending the next nine months in the bottom half of the world before crossing the Equator again in Ecuador sometime in February 2012…

Yeah…, I’m still thinking ahead as usual…!!

Exiting the airport and through the only toll gate on the island...Indonesia at last...!!

The hotel I selected was only a short drive from the airport...

My spacious room at the Bali Segara...

With no check-in luggage to bother with, I strolled through Immigration, paying $25.00 for a 30-day visa, and then waltzed through customs, on my out into the muggy evening air…

I thought it had been overly humid inside the airport building, but once I was outside, I quickly came to discover what “real” humidity was…

Within minutes, perspiration was forming rivulets down my spine, sweat beading on my temple before sliding down my jaw-line… I discovered that it had rained heavily that same afternoon, hence the unusually high humidity…

I have never quite gotten over that strange feeling of arriving in a town or city, and not knowing where you are going to sleep that night… It can be quite daunting at times, exciting at others, especially when you arrive after dark…!! I had put Patti’s address in Ubud on the Immigration card, but would not get there until I had cleared the Big Fella through Customs…

To the right of the main exit stood a line of kiosks offering everything from accommodation to phone cards, so this time, finding a base close to the airport was a breeze… Half an hour after touching down, I had an Indonesian sim card in my mobile, had drawn cash from a nearby ATM, and I had been transported to the Segara Bali Hotel, a comfortable and well appointed little hotel on the southern edge of Kuta…

I peeled off my t-shirt and shorts, (literally, as the darn things were stuck to my skin…!!) and headed for the pool, where I spent the next half hour trying to get my body temperature to something approaching “normal”…

Within minutes of my arrival, I was making good use of the pool...

Early the next morning, the duty driver at the hotel dropped me off at the International Cargo gate on the edge of the airport, and after paying an entrance fee of Rp10 000.00 (about R 8.00…) I walked over to the warehouse, where, through the chain link fence of the bonded area, I saw the Big Fella’s crate standing off to one side… The first of many surges of relief went through me…

Its great being able to point at what you are coming to collect, rather than trying to locate the whereabouts of “a very big box”…

Seeing a sign such as this one at the Customs building was refreshing...!! No "nonsense" here...!!

The fact that it was also aimed at the officials made me smile...!! Double bonus...!!

“Ah… The motorcycle…!!” said the Chief Customs Officer who was lounging in a chair reading the daily newspaper… “We have been waiting for you so we can see why a motorcycle needs such a big box…!!”

He fiddled with a large stack of stapled documents before finding the one pertaining to my shipment, and then advised that I was not allowed to clear the goods on my own, but would need an agent to do the paperwork for me…

One of his officers led me down a wide corridor, and finally pointed at the door to MSA Kargo… Inside their small office, I was introduced to Putra Asmara, who after some gentle coaxing from me, finally got into his stride and made the remainder of the clearing process as painless as possible…

At first there was much doubt in his mind that the bike would actually be allowed into Bali…!! He had never dealt with this type of cargo before, but once I explained that all that was needed was the Bill of Lading and my Carnet, he agreed to assist… We settled on a fee of Rp1 300 000.00, which at first seemed like a small fortune, until my brain clicked into gear and did the math, arriving at the equivalent of about R1 100.00, which was a heck of a lot less than I had paid in Dubai and Delhi…

We went back into the warehouse, where with the assistance of one of the customs officers, we began to dismantle the crate… There were gasps of surprise when the lid came off and the one side was removed… Within minutes, we were surrounded by dozens of people, all jostling to take photos or just to stand gawking at the “parcel”…

I cut away all the bubble wrapping and plastic to reveal the Big Fella, (not in all his glory, of course, as he was still on his knees, a position he does not exactly relish…!!)

Released from his plastic wrapping, the Big Fella gets his first peek at Indonesia...

The customs then confirmed the chassis and engine number, and then informed me that they could not release the bike until the Director of Customs had authorized it’s release… All they could do at the airport was confirm that the bike was indeed the same one listed on the documentation… I tried to hide my frustration at this little hiccup, but from experience, knew that I should keep the smile that was plastered on my face…

“No problem…!!” I replied, “Where do we do that…??”

Minutes later, Putra and I were seated in the reception of the main customs building across the road from the airport, and after explaining to the Director exactly where he needed to stamp my Carnet, headed back to the warehouse, where I re-assembled the bike in double quick time, the sweat pouring off me in sheets as I worked…

Followed by a cheering crowd, I rode out into the sunlight an hour later, and parked in front of Putra’s office, intent on paying the clearing fees and then heading out to Ubud…

"Locked and Loaded" and ready to "Rock and Roll" Bali... Hopefully without running over a few ardent supporters...!!

And that’s when things stopped going so smoothly…

The Chief Customs Officer came hurrying over to say that before they could release the bike, they needed to see my “Recommendation Letter”… This document was apparently required to allow us onto Indonesian roads…

I tried to convince them that this was unnecessary, but they were having none of it… We then set off on a three hour sojourn, first to the police station attached to the airport, where we were informed that we needed to go into Denpasar, then after an hour’s drive through hellish traffic, were bounced from one office to another, before being told that this was “a traffic Control issue” and the police could not help us…!!

We located the Traffic HQ, and were instructed to wait for the Assistant Chief of Traffic in Bali… Through it all, Putra wore a worried look on his face, which did not inspire any confidence whatsoever…!! I was beginning to picture the bike back in it’s crate and on its way back to Malaysia…!!

The Assistant Chief proved to be a very friendly man, who laughed when told what we were there for… He had a lengthy discussion with Putra, in which the word “tourist” cropped up many times… Finally he looked at me and said in halting English, “Recommendation not necessary for you…!!”

I also discovered that he was a biker himself, and also rode a 1200cc motorcycle, but he never made clear which make or model he rode…

He wrote his name and mobile number on a piece of paper, and told me to show this to any policeman or traffic officer who might hinder my progress through Bali and the islands to the east…

Back at the airport, the relieved Customs Officer smiled broadly when Putra told him who we had seen, and wished me well…

The MSA Kargo Team gather for a final photo with the precious cargo they had helped clear through Indonesian Officialdom...

By now it was late afternoon, and in my full riding gear, with humidity well into the nineties, I decided to spend another day at the hotel and head to Ubud the following day…

Putra Asmara handled all the formalities... Great job...!!

At the pool that same afternoon, I met Paul Cripps, an Australian Merchant Seaman, who was an “old Bali hand”… He had been visiting the island on and off for the past thirty years, and knew his way around like no other…

He was a few years older than me, and had visited countries all over the world… To say we had a lot in common, would be an understatement…!!

We went for a walk into Kuta, and he showed me where to buy the best pirated DVD’S and CD’s in town;where to get supplies; where to get a leather jacket made; introduced me to many of his Balinese friends; and told me which bars and clubs to avoid…

“That’s where the young Australian shirtless wankers hang out….!!” He had told me, pointing to one such place… “Bloody embarrassment… That’s what they are, Mate…!!”

By the time the sun went down, we were like old friends, and I accepted his invitation to join him and his partner Wyann for dinner at their favourite restaurant… They piled onto his little scooter, and I followed on the Big Fella…

After a delicious dinner of grilled fish and vegetables, Paul and I set out to see Kuta by night… We ducked and dived our bikes down narrow lanes, through hectic traffic, with Paul stopping every so often to explain where we were and what to look out for…

Back at the hotel, we ordered a pot of coffee and sat around the pool, chatting until well after midnight…

With Paul around, I could see that doing some work on my website was not going to be a proposition worth considering…!! He had so many interesting facts and stories to tell about his time in here in Bali and Australia, and listening to him gave me a much better insight into the people and places I would be coming into contact with, than if I’d sat paging though a guidebook…

All in all, apart from the time wasted trying to find the so-called “Recommendation Letter”, my first day in Bali had been a success… Almost all the people I have come into contact with have been friendly and helpful… I can’t remember when last I have been greeted by so many strangers…

During the past few months I have searched for a place to REALLY kick back in, a place I could rent an apartment in for a month or so, just so that I could relax and take my mind off what I am doing for a while…

This magnificent centre-piece stands on the main traffic circle close to the airport on the road out to Denpasar....

I thought I had found that place in Koh Lanta, but my desire to ride with Trevor and Chenty all the way to Singapore canceled out that idea… I wanted to say goodbye to them at the end of their ride on the continent, rather than some place along the way… Weird, I know, but that was what felt “right” to me…

Even though I have been here in Bali for only a few days, I think I might have found the place I am looking for… A place I can “JUST BE” for a time… I have been on the road for a long time now, and have almost reached the halfway mark of my three year journey… Maybe that has something to do with my choice… Or maybe it’s because the people here are so friendly and quietly spoken, gentle even…

Whatever the case, my charge and I are ready to roll on to Ubud…

And from there, who knows…

©GBWT 2011