Cruising through Pupuan Bali

Sunday morning I took off on the motorbike for a cruise in the Bali highlands. My route, Seminyak-Canggu-Beraban-Tabanan-Penebel-Baturiti-Lake Tamblingan-Pupuan-Sanda-Antosari-Tabanan-Canggu-Seminyak.

The main thing here is keeping off of main roads, enjoying the peaceful roads and seeing a bit of Balinese life. The route up to Penebel takes more effort, than just blazing up towards Singaraja, but its worth it. Up in the area of the lakes, I stopped off for one of those tourist buffets. In certain places on the main road, you find large restaurants with a view, serving bus tours. The buffet was 75,000rp, but I made sure I had 4 courses. Looking at the other diners, from Japan and Java, it was obvious the food wasn’t that great. Remind me to avoid these places in future.

Today I feel like I drove the Monaco Grand Prix. If I had a nasi goreng, for every hairpin bend I went through, I’d be rolling in nasi. You should see the route dotted on my sat-nav. Its all hairpin bends in the highlands, and 10km in a straight line on the map, takes considerably more time than you calculate.

Of the few photos I took today, a couple were of rice terraces and another couple were of Sanda Butik Villas, south of Pupuan, where I stopped off for a pot of ginger tea. Almost dozing off in the arm chair, the owner prompted me, to not look so tired. Riding a motorbike takes a lot of concentration. Its fun, but is taxing, especially in crazy Bali, where a pothole, dog or local is coming your way every other moment.

I arrived back home at 5.30pm in one piece. My 100cc bike was up to the task of getting around the mountains and back. I would like a Tiger 2000, because of the suspension as well as the extra power. If you are coming to Bali and plan to explore my motorbike, a Tiger is better for the island as a whole, a scooter okay for downtown.