When you read about the public transport system in Bali, you learn about bemos that are too crowded to use and Bluebird taxis that are reliable and reputable.
I still don’t know what a bemo is.
We saw bus stops that seemed impossibly high, and I never saw a bus stopping at any of them.
Taxis are often awkward too if you don’t know how much something ought to cost. You need to persuade the driver to go by meter, and then you still end up paying more than you would if you have a local SIM and download an app like Grab or Gojek. And coming from a city like Pune, Gojek bikes are the best!
In any case, when you begin to bargain (unavoidable in Bali), the prices are confusing. One INR is equivalent to about 200 IDR, so we’re all millionaires in Indonesia.
Taxi ride? 40,000 IDR.
Cycle tour? 500,000 IDR
Extra bed in your hotel room? 150,000 IDR
It takes a while to figure things out, but I would say that you typically pay as much as you would pay in India or a little less. If you’re paying a lot more, you’re definitely getting fleeced! And that’s why the Bluebird taxis, though reliable and all that, are certainly not the cheapest option, especially if you’re travelling alone. The taxi fare, by meter, was about 40,000 for the same journey that I did in 10,000 IDR by bike. It’s fun, too, to be on a bike weaving through traffic quickly and whizzing past lines of cars at signals!
Oh, and here’s a pic of a roadside petrol pump! Isn’t it cute?
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