Life in the Jungle - Escape From the Airport

Escape From the Airport

So we hop in Matt’s car and start driving towards Ubud. We maneuver around a crowd of protesters having a sit in and get out on the road. Immediately I notice something different, things are so built up compared to years ago. There are real hotels and real stores on the way out of town. Matt! What did you do to Bali! You infected it with civilization! And the traffic, Geeze, this is actually sane! I could drive in this traffic. Paris and Taipei are worse then this. What’s the matter Matt? Did you kill too many of them? Got ‘em all scared straight? As we drive through Kuta, my astonishment continues. The sidewalks cover the drainage ditches, and they are even. No more up and down at extreme angles that are sure to make you slip and break your neck if they are wet. This is a depressing turn of events. Here I was hoping to return to technically simplistic culturally rich Bali. Land of motorcycles, cremation processions and traffic gods.

Instead I am smack dab in the middle of another city. Well, this is Bali, there is still plenty of it left, and Matt did warn me that it was not the same as before.

As we get farther from the city, through Kuta and out through Sanur, things start to look more familiar. A student driver is moving very slowly and cautiously. I learn a new Indonesian word, L A T I H A N! the word for student driver which Matt also uses as a joke with the locals. Later on I learn more incisive forms involving monkeys, dogs, animals, and questions of lineage. You Monkey! Yeah you you Dog! You’re a Dog because your Mother was a Dog! Matt has become quite proficient at Indonesian expletive phrases. I am truly impressed. (Or at least ammused). Bangsat!

We arrive in Ubud. Things look more familiar but it is still built up compared to last time. It is now pretty late so Matt deposits me at the hotel. I fill out the forms and look at the room. Once again I am faced with the amazing Balinese toilet.

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