On the road again

It shouldn't still be raining. Rainy season was supposed to finish weeks ago, but the last few days have seen very heavy rainfall. Not all the time, but certainly a lot of it. The weather is now a lot cooler, too. Cool enough to enjoy a blanket at night. If you can dodge the showers, it's a very pleasant time to be here.

Rain notwithstanding, over the past few days we have been looking at our transport options. Much as we like to give work to local drivers, there is a certain lack of freedom. If one takes you beyond Ubud, they want to know what time you are coming back. We tend to be vague and say that we don't know, but if they see you returning with another driver the displeasure is pretty apparent. Prices are going up too, legitimately in some cases as the price of fuel has risen, but we have also noticed an air of contempt and dismissal if we offer what we know to be a fair price. There is a little bit of 'taking for granted' going on that we are not enjoying.

As with everything we seek recommendations. We happened to mention to Geraldine at Melting Wok that we were thinking about hiring a car, and she immediately produced the card of her go-to man, Ketut. (There will be a certain resonance with Australian readers with this name, and yes, this Ketut is also very charming).

He has offered us a great car at a great price. We are road testing for a week and if we feel comfortable driving in the conditions will keep it for the rest of our time here.

I don't think there is much doubt, though. The feeling of freedom as soon as we got in it was akin to being young again with a brand new licence. It means that we can take off whenever we like to wherever we want and explore parts of the island that we haven't yet seen, and have bought a detailed map to that end.

Now we just need to be able to understand the signs!

Transporrrt?

It hasn't rained for a few days. Everyone was commenting on the length of this year's rainy season, predicting that it would go on until the end of June. For most of our time here we have had some rain every day. Never for long, not always torrential, and usually predictable. Mornings have started fine and sunny but by about noon banks of clouds started to gather with the downpour at about 2pm. Then, it's all over quickly, with the resultant humidity and running drains the only evidence.

But not lately, so maybe we are moving into a drier, cooler spell. At night now we even need a cover, which seems a bit odd in the tropics. June, July and August are the tourist months, because of the marginally cooler days, lack of rain and the northern hemisphere summer. The transport drivers can't wait. Each vehicle we take anywhere has a tale of woe, and we are always the 'only customers' for that day, no matter what the time. The tourists will be here in June they tell us. And the signs are that they are on their way. Unfortunately for the drivers, however, many are Chinese tour groups* and they come in buses. Big buses. Buses that barely fit in Ubud's narrow streets, and buses that take their occupants where they need to go. Transporrrt? Not for these tourists, which is a pity for the clusters of young men who are desperate for a few dollars. And a pity for Ubud. There is no place here for big buses.

*The Chinese provide the second largest number of tourists to Bali these days. After, of course, the Australians.