Bali Solo motorbike ride around the island part 3 of 3

I left the villa to the sounds of the Balinese ceremony happening nearby. After a short day on the bike yesterday, I thought I'd start earlier to give myself more time to explore more things on the side of the road that I came across. Passing through a morning market which was very local and some of them looking at me quite strangely. Then I came upon a cremation ceremony. You'll see these a lot if you spend any time in Bali where the families believe they're sending off their loved ones to the next life. In Hindu it's called noven, to separate the soul from the body, which is done in this ritual through the cremation. Family members prepare a wooden box that is used to hold the body that will be burned. As the ox is carried to the cremation site, family and friends will try and confuse the deceased's spirit by making a lot of noise to make sure it doesn't find its way back home. I came across another large market, this one on the main road, which was causing a bit of a traffic jam. But as we're in Bali there's no rush, it will eventually sort itself out. I saw another dirt track to the beach, well that's there to be ridden. It's this morning heading along the north coast and making our way to that northeast point we'll call it. I've been told the road's pretty cool to ride, it's right along the coastline but to watch out for potholes. I also have been told there is a little surf spot that hardly anybody goes, if I do find it I won't be sharing it as I promised not to. There should be enough swell, I'm just not sure that the wind's going to be in my favour. So there's just one left-hand turn I can't miss, otherwise I'll be heading up into the mountains and I might do that later. But right now it's all about the coast. It seems to come across a dirt track I have to go down it. Lucky I left early, more ocean. I'd seen a few of these along the coast, I think they're fish farms, I could be wrong. I then spotted something across the road. There were a couple of guys creating these structures out of stone. Always a fan of seeing how craftsmen do their work. These guys are making these, you normally see them in temples, even homes. One of the guys was pretty skilled with his angle grinder. Coming from Australia I know that a government department of work health and safety would be having a fit if they saw this, but he has all these fingers and toes so keep it up The other guy was assembling, his support system was next level. You've got to be pretty skilled to get four sticks the same length. A clear case of working with what you've got and to think they're taking this raw material of rock and producing stuff like this. And I saw something come into view on the right, so I pulled over to get a closer look. Coming along the coast and I spotted this volcano. Getting my first real look at it. I think this is Mount Batung. I'll probably botch that, I'll just voice over after. Mount Agung. It's cool how they have their little microclimate where it's probably raining and wet up there and down here it's hot and sunny These ladies seem to be selling the catch from this morning. More winding my way along the coast, keeping an eye out for this left-hand turn I had to make. Found it. Now this is the part I knew I was going to have to slow down and watch out for potholes and cows apparently. The road wound its way in and out of these protected little bays along the coastline. Then I came around a headland to see a crowd looking out to sea. They were watching a sailing race. They look like traditional Indonesian canoes or dungkang boats that are normally used for fishing but these ones had sails on them. This guy was having a little bit of difficulty keeping his outriggers in the water. They did seem to have a few spare boats on the beach. As I rode a bit further I spotted what looked like a valley going up into the clouds. I saw a small road heading up into the valley so I took it as I thought if the road opens up I might be able to get a cool photo. So up the road I went. When I say road I may have been stretching it a bit more like a garden path that turned into a dirt trail. I bet the locals are happy they're fixing some of this road up. Well that's a surprise here. How did they get that here? I'm gathering from the strange looks I'm getting from the locals. They probably think I'm mad coming up here with surfboards strapped to my motorbike. Yeah probably right. It then got so rough it knocked the camera into the timelapse setting. With no opening in the vegetation it was time to call it and turn around. I wasn't going to get the chance to get the photo I was after. The road was so bad on the downhill it vibrated my back off the back of the bike. It was going to be a slow descent. I got back onto the main road and shortly after I reached the most northeast point of Bali as the road turns out. The villages here were perched at the top of the cliffs hanging over the water. Then another block in the road. Ah it was just a random fish market set up on the side of the road on the only through road in the area. The road snakes its way in and out of the mountainside. Bright hot sunshine on cliff faces. Then it would cool down and become overcast as we went into the mountain. Then back out into the hot bright sun again and repeat. As I headed south winding my way along the coast the traffic started to build up again. There are definitely two halves of this island. Busy chaos in the south and then quiet at all. I came across another cremation ceremony but here it had turned the road into a traffic jam. There was no way to get past. So I waited back until the road opened up again. It had become a long day so it's time to find somewhere to stay. I need just a spot not too far down the road. Finally made it to Keramas. Well at least where I'm staying and there's nobody here so just waiting for some staff to rock up. Hopefully they do. I do need a shower that was a bit muddy and dusty and brutal towards the end. More rice paddies. I checked the surf but there wasn't a lot on offer on below tide so I'll check it again in the morning. Now the main priority was food. An interesting walk to get to the restaurant. Through the rice paddies trying not to slip on the mud and fall in. Across the broken surfboard. Past the lanterns. Then across the narrow bridge and again trying not to fall in. To finally make it to the moonlit restaurant on the beach. The staple here is an Aji Goreng. Fried rice with chicken and an egg on top. In this case the chicken and rice are in the egg. Two dollars and tasting this good you can't go wrong. I headed back to the cabin. You wouldn't want to walk through these rice paddies along this narrow path if you'd had too much to drink. I got up early and got a few waves as well that picked up. Luckily beating most of the crowds that came later. It's the only problem with waves like Karamas. Only a small takeoff zone which can only handle a certain number of surfers before it becomes a nightmare. There are a few other spots up and down the beach but they're nothing compared to the main break at Karamas. I do remember decades ago walking through the rice paddies around here along the beach trying to find this wave before all the hotels and accommodation appeared. Times definitely have changed. I got on the bike one last time to finish off the circumnavigation of the island. I just had the peninsula to do at the bottom of the island. I took the shortcut across the Mandarin Coral across the bay. This took me right to Nusa Dua which is where most of the high-end hotels are on Bali. So if you like manicured lawns and hotels that are exactly the same as other hotels and popular tourist spots around the world, this place is for you. But in my opinion you're probably going to be missing the best parts of Bali. Past the Hilton and the Ritz-Carlton and some brand new electric car chargers. Definitely the first I've seen on Bali. I then got on to what the peninsula used to look like. Dirt tracks. But soon after reality struck again. The change on the peninsula has been huge. Seeing it go from dirt tracks to dirt roads to tarred roads and now to new perfectly smooth hot mix roads. It definitely has been a massive change. Seeing people wear resort wear at Uluwatu is bizarre but inevitable I guess as the beauty of the peninsula gets discovered by more people than just surfers and amateurs. Seeing the amount of buildings going up in Uluwatu and Padang Padang even in just the last few years is mind-blowing. The saddest thing of all this progress is now you have to pay to get to the beach at Padang Padang. I remember standing just along the ridge from where this hotel is now and none of these buildings were here. You could walk through the bush along this cliff face just over a decade ago. I guess this is the price of progress. I hope at least the locals are benefiting from this and the profits aren't all going to overseas investors. I made my way off the peninsula and back past the airport into the chaos of Kuta which meant I come to the end of this journey. If you'd like to stay tuned for the next adventure click subscribe and the notification bell. Until next time thanks for watching.