In the past few days we have hired a motorbike and driven around Bali. The traffic in the south of the Island in horrible. The mix or cars, motorbikes and narrow streets makes in very dangerous. Once you get further north its lots nicer.
We drove to a place call Ubud which had some lovely rivers, palm trees and rice fields. There was also a monkey forest which was relaxing and entertaining.
We also went to some places in the south which had cliffs, temples and other beaches. I also got stopped by the police for going a meter over the white line at some traffic lights.
Policing in Asia is very different to the UK. Instead of issuing a ticket they tell you what you've done wrong and then you can haggle over how much money you give them until they let you go after listening to threats of taking your bike away if you don't pay. We started haggling at $100 (my crime was apparently twice as severe as that of not wearing a helmet which was $50 as documented on a scrap of paper I was shown) and closed around $10 (Its not my first time playing this game). You don't get a receipt. I think we have a word for this in the west. I can't remember what it is but I'm sure it begins with a 'b'.
Bali is a very nice Island. Its much bigger than it looks so we only got to see a small amount but were happy with what we did. Tomorrow we fly back to Vietnam and I go back to work on Monday.
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