That is one of my bikes here.
I am ready to leave here in my mind, had enough but still have 12 days left.
My love affair is over due to many reasons.
Everywhere I have resided, Denpasar, Singaraja, here in Amed and Tianyar have no footpath, so walking is taking your own life into the hands of some of the most abysmal driving/riding you can imagine.
Every beach is covered in rubbish as are the streets.
That above is a photo from Gily T where I was drugged, left in a strange room and relieved of $280 from my wallet, another reason I want to leave.
There is only so much you can take of being used as an ATM by everyone you meet.
I have met some superb people including the locals, it is the few though that ruin it for the many.......
One of the things I liked was taking photos with my Nikon DSLR, it is half of the fun of travel and why I ride motorbikes, though the bar staff last night took my camera without me knowing and broke the lens so now I have to buy another when I get out of Amed and head to Denpasar and the airport.
That will be sooner rather than later, the only reason I am hanging around is my room is paid for for 12 days and there is a great bar with projector 1 minute walk away with a huge screen for the football world cup.
Nobody likes changing bed sheets here.
I have been in this villa 5 days and nobody changed the sheets or cleaned the rooms.
It is advertised that they do, though every place I have been is the same, you have to insist.
I took my own bedding off today and that above is the vile pillow.
I threw the sheets on the floor, asked for clean one's and asked for a broom/sweeper so I could clean the floor, they obliged and also swept the floor.
Breakfast is also included but nobody was in the kitchen so I made my own in there.
All the little things start to mount up, I am complaining in this article although you can have a great time here but 2 months for me was too long.
Traveling in a pair is also wiser than alone as people do not hassle you then all the time.
The food is very cheap as is the local moonshine which costs little more than a bottle of water.
The people are helpful as in last night I needed something from the shop and the restaurant owner fetched it for me.
I get a free lift home when needed most nights.
Accommodation is cheap too.
There are loads of hippie backpackers here.
If I had a £1 for every time I heard the words "we are having a spiritual awakening here" I would be a very rich man.
The couple in the last photo sat for 30 minutes taking it in turns for one to close their eyes and the other to tell them how fantastic they are because some guru said so.
They (backpackers) annoy the locals by sitting in bars and not buying anything, they sit on the floor legs crossed and enjoy the entertainment with a bottle of water they bring with them.
I have no opinion about them, up to them.
I know I need to get out of Amed that is for sure, booking 17 days here was cheap but too long, maybe Denpasar will refresh me.
Even my brand new bike I hired below, the owner hired it to me, I filled it with fuel yesterday and he tried to change it today for an old knackered bike, I refused point blank.
Sorry about photos, like I said my camera is broken.....
Anyway enough of me complaining, it is unlike me, I am just a little jaded at the moment.
It is one of the reasons I stopped blogging as every day there was a lot of negative things happening so I said nothing.
Have a superb day, stay lucky and happy.
Peace and out.
I did want to point out how dirty the pillow was and you stopped me just in time to explain. I guess the locals over there are used to lying in dirty sheets and rooms. I wouldn't last a day in that place.
Thank goodness you are leaving.
Wait, the bike guy, was he trying to cheat you off your fuel? Why would he want to change your bike after you've fueled it?
I am sorry about being drugged, stolen from, and getting your lens damaged.
I hope you leave sooner and be safe.
"I did want to point out how dirty the pillow was and you stopped me just in time to explain. I guess the locals over there are used to lying in dirty sheets and rooms."
It seems so.
"Wait, the bike guy, was he trying to cheat you off your fuel? Why would he want to change your bike after you've fueled it?"
Yes and also so he can use it and me use a bike so dangerous that I would not even sit on it.
"I am sorry about being drugged, stolen from, and getting your lens damaged."
Thank you, I will be $500 worse off by the time I buy even a cheap lens.
It is very dangerous in Amed with the driving at speed on blind bends they do every day, so I will be glad to leave here.
Back in the day before I had kids and even after I had no qualms about getting in the car and heading for wherever. I came home after a week one time and found my parents in my apartment with the landlord debating whether to call the police because no one had heard from me in over a week. Same when my kids were young, and they loved it too, I'd say load up we're off, they always knew it would be an adventure. I am much more hesitant now a days because the world isn't the same as it was years ago, loaded with unsavory characters to the core. I'd never think of going off alone unless it was just to visit friends or family in another town. There wasn't all the pent of hate you see now a days either, find yourself exiting off the expressway and find yourself surrounded by protestors upset about something or another. Sad really when you think about it. I like reading people's travel adventures, maybe because it reminds me of how nice it use to be to just get in your car and drive off to a new adventure. Stay safe out there.
Cheers, just booked a hotel in Sanur which is a place I like so now have something to look forward to.