Whoooo-whee that was a really nice little vacation but Jesus Fried Chicken is it stressful on those roads. I shot some video from the W175 I rented that I'll post later, but I spent the ride to the airport thinking of some things I wanted to share, and now's the time to share, or I'll forget too much.
If you get the chance to travel to Bali, do it! It's a nice place to spend a vacation. If you get the chance to rent a two-wheeler here, rent a scooter. Motorcycles are super impractical because so much of the traffic is stop-and-go and so much of the stopping is ABRUPT. Oh, but don't drive a car here, that's something I wouldn't wish on anyone, not even [politician you hate].
If I did it all over again, I'd have rented a 125cc scooter after arrival rather than a motorcycle in advance, because rental shops are a dime a dozen and you can kick the tires. I booked a bike in advance because I wanted it to be one fewer thing to think about during the vacation, and they delivered to our Airbnb, but that meant I was put into a take-it-or-leave-it position with a deposit already paid.
If a driver flashes his headlights, it doesn't mean "Please proceed, good sir, I wish to yield," as it might in other parts of the world, it means "Ready or not, MFer, here I come." If a vehicle has blue flashing lights, it's so you'll pay attention to them, not because it's a police vehicle.
Generally there are basically no rules about who has right of way unless there is a light. This leads to all kinds of gridlock, with cars trying to creep through without colliding with anyone and bikes squeezing through on all sides. On the shoulder. On the centerline. On the sidewalk sometimes.
So yeah, go to Bali, it's really something!
