In Reply to: driving in bali posted by lynda_victoria on Tuesday, 25. April 2006 at 20:29 Bali Time:
After the first nightmarish couple of hours behind the wheel I actually enjoy driving a car in Bali to the point that I sometimes have to concentrate driving on the right hand side back home in Norway.
I must confess I still will not be anywere near Denpasar with a car, but I have been doing the Ubud - Amed - up the east/north coast to Lovina and over the mountains to Ubud again a couple of times, and didn't encounter any problems with the faithful old "Jimmy."
Be careful. Let traffic pass when apropriate. There are rules, but you will have to get a feel for it. Larger vehickles have (take) right over smaller ones. Meeting traffic stay in the middle of the road until the last second but *will* eventually give you space. Horns are a way of helpful communication, *not* a sign of agression.
Insist on getting to see the actual car before renting (*the* car, not *a* car just like the one you will get). Rear view mirrors and blind zone checking are essential as motorbikes pass on both sides.
On smaller trips (around town and f.ex. Ubud - Padangbai) we use a 100ccm.
I have never had any encounters with the balinese police, but this year I *will* remember to get a international driving licence. You should probably get that too.
I am used to horrible mountain roads in Norway so I find the roads in Bali quite exellent. A lot of people disagree with this I guess.
Jan Tore (back on Bali 28. may)