I’m not in a good mood to write a good thing about Bali. Simply because these last few days have been the craziest situation I’ve ever experienced on the road :
– Saturday morning fatal motorbike accident in By Pass Jimbaran that caused 1 man died.
– Big busses from Java start to come and they are everywhere on the street bringing tourists to main tourism destinations and it’s not even a High Season yet! (oh how I miss Bali post-Nyepi Day).
– Traffic jam at 2 same spots all the time, every morning and afternoon during peak hours. That’s on Jalan By Pass, the intersection of Ngurah Rai Airport and at Kuta round about called Simpang Siur opposite Planet Hollywood/Duty Free Shop.
– Road construction along Sunset Road!
And I can say these four facts are the MOST annoying things about living in Bali :
1. Lack of self discipline on the road
Having lived in 5 different big cities in Indonesia : Bandung, Jakarta, Solo, Batam, and at last Denpasar-Bali, I have to say that Bali is ‘numero uno‘, the winner, on how ‘barbarian’ the bike riders as well as car’s on the road. I’m talking about violating the red light (red might means go ahead! for some people ??), changing line without giving signs, overlap from left side (the correct one is from the right side), never ever think about giving others a go ahead-everyone wants to be the first one to lead, and this caused a traffic jam at some intersection because what supposed to a two lines street suddenly become 3 to 4 lines just because some selfish drivers can’t wait to stay on the line and queuing.
These last few days I could spend about 20-30 min at one traffic light and often felt hopeless that I’d make it through in time for an appointment. This is not Bali anymore! This city has turned out to be like Jakarta or Bandung! One thing I was proud living in Bali is the fact that there are no traffic jam at most of areas, only in Denpasar at some business streets or the road to Kuta Beach..starting from Kartika Plaza street to Kuta Square area and Kuta Beach street..
Tips for those of you who are in Bali right now enjoying holiday, avoid these areas (if possible) in Southern of Bali:
– Airport traffic light if you’re heading from Nusa Dua or Jimbaran (from Kuta direction towards airport is fine) between 07.30 – 09.00
– ‘Simpang Siur‘ / Kuta roundabout or also called Patung Dewa Ruci opposite Planet Hollywood,Bali Galeria Mall, from Nusa Dua/Jimbaran direction towards Kuta/Seminyak, between 08.00 – 09.00
– ‘Simpang Siur‘ / Kuta roundabout or also called Patung Dewa Ruci opposite Planet Hollywood,Bali Galeria Mall, from Seminyak/Sunset Road towards Sanur or Jimbaran/Nusa Dua, between 12.30-13.30 and the worst peak hour is between 17.00-18.30
2. Honking anger management
Only in Bali, I found that you can make an enemy with someone blocking your way and to whom you’re honking. Something that made them angry if we do that. It’s like we’re asking for trouble. Contrary with Jakarta and Bandung, when someone honks to you, means you should move aside and give them way, no drama. The funniest and craziest thing I’ve experienced is often these people will give ‘a look’ to you from their bike like or their car like saying “WHATT?!!!! and swearing or screaming back to you, they really take it personal…Aie aie aie…they really should take a ‘honking anger management’ class I supposed…to learn that honking or being honked is OK!
I would personally prefer to honk people who does not know how to drive well rather than have to jeopardize my safety on the road. Those easily get angry people should not get offended when I honk like crazy, because they are really ignorant…
3. Throwing rubbish anywhere, anyhow,anytime
Look, dude…..this island is so beautiful, we do not need to ‘decorate ‘it with rubbish (organic or non-organic). Not sure what the history was, but throwing cigarette butts, mineral water bottles, plastic bags on my blue water beach! or on my Renon Jogging Park that has numerous bins every 10 m around the track! still it wasn’t enough to change this bad cultural habit. Don’t they know Bali lives from its beauty and nature???…No one could answer my question and come up with a great solution. Such a hard habit to break – as shouted by Peter Cetera from Chicago band 😛
4. Smoking & spitting
If only Bali and Indonesia in general apply the penalty rules like Singapore for littering, smoking on public places and…spitting. I would’ve enjoyed Bali much more than now. Can you imagine sitting alone on the beach and enjoy a ‘me time’ and the view, suddenly you got interrupted and cough & a bit choked from the smoke of cigarette someone standing beside you being totally ignorant, or even worse : someone coughing then spitting close to where you are…yukkkkk!!yeewwwwwww……They really should be fined for doing this non-elegant acts in the public. I would never ever do that and none of my family and friends would do such disgusting thing! Speechless..
At last, I could only hope parents will educate their children not to do those 4 bad habits abovementionned taking a good example from our neighbour, Singapore, or our western friends who have adapted these good habits from early age. Cheers to Bali! I really feel the need to leave this island for a while…
Update on 7/7/09 : I did go to Bandung, the capital of West Java for a week, check out my story on this related post link below.
Related post :
– Bali Riders
– One week in Bandung – Parijs van Java
you know, that honking anger management class should be available on every elementary school here. and oh, you missed writing about how 10 y/o kids are already riding motorbikes here! that’s soooooo annoying!
anima’s last blog post..Seasonal Fan Hate
The number of road accidents in Bali has been increasing year after year! one of the reasons is because there’s so many new motorbike with matic transmission, like #anima said “10 y/o kids are already riding motorbikes here!” – off course kids will love to ride a matic motorbike! its similar with riding a bicycle .. Police Dept who issued the driving licence and Motorbike Dealer like mio, kymco, etc are responsible of those newly crazy bikers
Hi, salam kenal.
Somehow I stumble upon your blog, and the memories of Bali came rushing back. I couldn’t agree more after reading “4 ANNOYING THINGS ABOUT LIVING IN BALI”. I left Bali a year ago, after a short period of 3 months (followed my husband who worked there), and now I’m back in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.
The traffic…oh the traffic. Horrible, I must say. Especially in most crowded traffic lights. I realized this chaotic traffic by only 2 weeks. Since I lived in hustling Denpasar (Gatsu) and to reach Kuta I had to face a long way down of topsy turvy Denpasar roads. Could the authority do something about it? I almost got road kill by a barbaric red light violator. Huh.. 🙁
Well anyway..I really enjoyed reading your blog. Despite the chaotic traffic, me and my husband has planned a short getaway to Bali soon. 🙂
hummm…. kaenya kalo di liat satu2 hampir keempat hal di atas itu terjadi dimana2 jeng, ga cuma di Bali aja
Saya sendiri harus merapal mantra mrukutukutukutuk setiap pagi di dalam angkot menuju tempat kerja ‘menahan diri biar ga emosi dan menyumpah serapah ;p ‘
ansella’s last blog post..Mie Djokdja Dapur Djawa
sometimes it is worst.. i think we are the one who getting anger management from them.. hihi
sabarrrrrrr *elus-elus dada*
dah gue baca niiii…..
@Ginny : Hi! Salam kenal juga! OK,come back to Bali dong!
@Ansella : emang sama, tapi like I said, Bali is No.1 dalam hal2 menyebalkan tersebut diatas,karena saya udah tinggal di Jawa pernah, di Batam pernah.
@Ilunamanna : Thx 4 stopping by,my lovely twitter buddy friend! <3
@Rainy : is that what you call 'leave a comment'? gee...Rainy BT-in!
Hi,
My sister resides in Bali….in Seminyak, I spent a couple of months there a about two years ago. About a week ago my sister had an accident and broke her leg….luckly my mother is visiting her and she is been looked over. Today I learned a friend of mine died on a motorcycle accident on Sunset Road on Saturday (07/11/2009). I am heart broken by his loss but angry by the lack law enforcement to ensure the safety of people on motorcycles or moppeds. What is missing there is courtesy…..common courtesy……….respect each other…….this will reduce accidents.
Hi Gabriel! (I guess your friends call you Gaby too? 🙂 ), I deeply sorry to hear about the loss of your dearly friend in Bali. There’s definitely something wrong with the system here, on how the law enforcement should react to these ‘barbarians’ on the streets..
And sadly I have to say, I feel so powerless, but hopefully with more and more people writing about this concern, somebody ‘powerful’ enough would pay attention to this and DO something real.
Thanks,again for stopping by and raised your concern. Be blessed.
weheheh mo komen ahh,
dari ke-4 poin diatas tuh poin 1 ga bgitu stujuu.. poin 2 setuju! hahha. poin 3 ama 4 ga bgitu spesifik yah, soalny itu umum bgd sih. dmn2 jg bnyk yg gitu.. hhe
poin k 1 tuh bneran deh klo Bali dbndingin ama Sby ato Jkt beda jauhh loh dsiplinny! coba deh prhatiin d Bali tuh rata2 pada pake helm standar smua loh! jarang bgd liad orang yg pake helm ‘ala kadarny’ model topi gitu kan? mngkin krna d Bali tu bnyk buleny kali y? jd pada jaim, jd lbih keren lah dbndingin Sby ama Jkt.. hhe. ur statement “for some ppls red might means go ahead” really make me laugh out loud! LOL. iye abis emang enak loh nerobos lampu merah tu, polisi d Bali kan baek2… wkkwkwkwkwk.. no komen ah :b
Soal d bel2 tu emg ga nyaman bgd sih. d Bali krasa bgd klo ngebel2 tu annoying bgd. jrang bgd loh orang2 d Bali ngebel.. nyadar ga tuh? soalny emg bgitu ad yg ngebel psti lsg diliatin.. wkwkwk. pada ngerasa ngebel tu ga sopan kali y? iy bgitu deh keany. kcuali kepepet bgd emg paling males ngebel, kesanny kok ga sabaran ama caper aja seh :b
soal poin 3 ama 4 no komen deh.. hhe
emg sharusny rokok tu ga blh sma skali d Bali baru keren yah? pulau internasional gini kan mstiny standarny tnggi bgd soal gtu? y tp masih serba permisif sih.. hihi.
ahh tumben2ny ni gw komen spanjang ini! sumpa prtma kaliny! wkwkwkwkwk. abis topikny mnarik sih mbak.. hhe. slama ini dari kcil ngerasa pngemudi2 d Bali tu sangat JAUH lbih baik dbnding kota lainnny, mkany jd tergelitik nulis pnjng gini :p
oia lupa komen komenny si anima, stuju bgd tuh! kok bisa2ny deh anak2 bocah gitu dah pada bawa motor! only in Bali tuh gw liadny! ughh… stupid parents
that honking anger management class should be given to supir angkot here in batam 🙂
.-= asrita´s last blog ..Turut Berduka Cita…ingat, pilih saya! =-.
what’s wrong with java tourist? in fact, they’re become one of Balinese peoples income after the bombing, and even they’re look like cheap tourist but after all they are big spenders, open your eyes more wisely and you’ll see
@teja Hi! thanks for stopping by at my blog.Teja,when I mentioned ‘big buses from java” I was speaking specifically about a particular group of tourist who often being referred to ‘mass domestic tourist’ here. Having been living in Bali for quite some time, I’ve received so many stories from my friends in Bali either those who work in travel & tourism industry or beach warung owners,for example.
They talked about some interesting facts of this type of group tourists who came to Bali specially on holiday seasons :
1). This type of tourists stay in a hotel with supposedly for 2 persons occupancy,but with their ‘special trick’ they tried to fool the hotel by snuggling other 5 pax even more into the room & thought the restaurant staff can be fooled with 7 pax breakfast request! These people using the electricity & water exceedingly from what the room fits for 2 pax only for – Complaint #1
2). The ‘big buses tourists type’ would ‘attack a hidden beach for example,then go annoy some western tourists who are enjoying their peaceful time sun bathing on the beach, taking picture of ‘bule in bikinis/topless’, asked the ‘bules’ to take a picture with them! Another group just comfortably sitting on a rock,next to a topless girl and starred at the ‘view’ without blinking, causing the girl felt really uncomfortable and she had to leave the beach right away, imagine having a pervert eyes guy starring at your sister/gf like that. – Complaint #2
3). The balinese warung owners on the beach SPECIFICALLY saying this to me : “1,000 domestic tourists in those big buses bring 0 (zero) rupiah to us,because they don’t hire our beach benches¶sols, nor they order any food, they didn’t want to pay anything but they dare to sit comfortably on our day beds, We gave them a cheap rupiah price though, only Rp 30,000,- for hours of parasol hire! And the way they scream,laugh & playing around the beach really bother my guest that they decided to leave earlier – Complaint #3
and many others things have said re.this (again) particular type of tourist.
Now,remember, that not ALL javanese or domestic tourists coming to Bali with these behaviors. Many of them staying in a nice 5 starts hotels with the proper attitude, they even have a business in Bali,ie.restaurant, shops, etc, and amazingly they purchased an expensive private villa as their holiday home. And yes! they’re the ones who also helped our balinese friends during the difficult time post Bali bombing.
And I’m not against javanese tourists AT ALL, I’m javanese myself..So Teja, if you notice these facts mentioned above “wisely” 🙂 you would understand what I was talking about and sharing here.
Again, thanks for your comment!
for those who miss NYEPI day at Bali cek >> http://www.worldsilentday.org/
Pretty good post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts. Any way I’ll be subscribing to your feed ^_^
keep spirit about Bali ^_^
Well, don’t come to Manila if you don’t want to experience all these things because Bali and Manila have some negative similarities. I hope you can adapt.
Wow…that’s so sad… We’re always proud of Bali but looking at the condition right now… I think it should no longer be called island of paradise. I’m surprised by the way you described the people habits and characters… Guess Jakartans aren’t that bad… at least they have heart…
Hi Cherry, I think you took this blog post the wrong way. If you read it again carefully, you’ll see that I was talking about how people IN Bali behave on the road, and that they should’ve actually look up to Jakartans for instant, on the “right honking on the right time to the right person and not taking it personally”. I came from the Jakarta-urban culture as well, and represent the tradition & habit as well in this island. And yes, Jakarta people has a heart, like all Balinese do 🙂 Cheers
Just reading Bali comment, and cant help myself for not typed this: the point is not to adapt, but simply breaking this habit 🙂 *singing LinkinPark’s song*
i’m a newcomer in Bali and yea, point number 4 leave the strongest mark in my mind. Just imagine, alone in ur room, ready to eat nutrijel melon that u made, but then.. ohok ohok!
dear lord….