Visiting Bali is not the same as visiting Indonesia, but to visit Indonesia without visiting Bali would be a mistake. Bali is truly a world unto it own. To be honest, the only thing Bali has in common with the rest of Indonesia are the inviting people and .... the dangerous driving. Bali allows alcohol and nightclubs and when combined with world class surfing and beaches, the State has tons of tourists and their coveted capital pouring in, and it shows in the architecture, infrastructure and atmosphere. Additionally, major companies have invested here, such as fast food, mega-marts, hotel chains, coffee chains and surfing companies. Much of the differences in Bali and the main islands of Java and Sumatra stem from religion. Indonesia is predominately a Muslim country, but Bali is predominately Balinese Hindu. I am by no means saying one is better or worse than the other, but to ignore the impacts of the different religious ideologies would be disingenuous.
In a more practical sense, the appeal of Bali is instantaneously obvious. The beaches are beautiful, a nice villa located in an attractive part of town is $18 a night, a quick meal costs $4, and and an upscale sit-down meal, will run about twice that for food. There are also a number of embassies here, which makes getting visas, like the one I had to secure for Timor-Leste, quite easy to accomplish. All-in-all, it is a nice place to rest up and get documents sorted out.
On the Lighter Side: While in India, monkeys shredded the pillion seat of Greta. At the time, I thought this was an isolated case of wanton monkey destruction I did not want to jump to unwarranted conclusions about our distant relatives, and just chocked it up to a couple of bad bananas. BUT, it happened again. While in Ubud, an overpopulated bohemian hipster/family of four, tourist town, a monkey with intense malice and forethought, shredded my tank bag. As a point of information, the motorcycle was made in Germany, the tank bag, a Givi, was made in Italy. I think it is clear, monkeys have a clear disdain for once fascist WWII countries and their manufacturing. Come on monkeys, get over it already, the war ended 75 years ago.
Leg Distance: 78 mi (126 km)
Total Distance Traveled by Motorcycle: 41,553 mi (67,021 km)
Countries/Territories Visited: USA, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar, France, Monaco, Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, Slovenia, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Transnistria, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, China (for 20 seconds), India, Nepal, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia
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