Revenge on The Grumpy Taxi Driver
Kuta -> Ubud, 8th March 2002
 Stinge and I got up at the slightly earlier time of 8am (yes, we've
been getting lazy) to pack our things. Once we were ready, we
grabbed a quick breakfast at the Good Luck Cafe (Stinge was
distraught, though, they'd run out of bacon!)
You may remember the dodgy looking taxi driver who charged us
20,000Rp to drive us down the road. Well, Stinge didn't seem to hold
it against him, even though I kept pointing out he blatantly took
advantage of us being newbies to Bali. We kept running into him,
sitting on a box by the main road, shouting "Hello friend! You need
transport? Transport?" Waving his arms in the air like he's steering
some huge imaginary steering wheel. I'd smile and say 'No thanks',
while cursing under my breath. Stinge, on the other hand, liked to
get chatting with him. We'd run into him yesterday, and Stinge told
him that we were going to Ubud, and of course he insisted that he
should take us, at the special price of 80,000Rp. Ah ha! Not this
time, we've been here for a while, and now I know my stuff! I'd
found out that we could get a tourist shuttle bus for between
18,000Rp and 20,000Rp each. In the end, I managed to get him down to
40,000Rp (i.e. 20,000Rp each). The same price as a tourist shuttle
bus, but the comfort of our own taxi and guaranteed to leave
(sometimes, shuttle buses won't leave unless they are full). He
agreed to meet us at 10am in front our hotel the next day. Woot!
But by 10:05am he wasn't there, so assuming he'd forgotten, we began
to walk to a booking counter for the tourist shuttles. However, 2
minutes down the road, we passed a white van with his beaming face
poking out.
He parked up, and we walked over to him. I reminded him that he was
taking us to Ubud. He say 'Yes', but he said the price was 60,000Rp.
No, no, no! You said 40,000Rp yesterday, so that's what we want, or
we're going to find a shuttle bus instead! Eventually, in between
his pleading for 'enough money for petrol', we settled on 45,000Rp
(only 5000Rp or 30p more) so that was close enough. We quickly
loaded up his taxi, and off we went. In case you're wondering, in
Kuta there are metered and un-metered taxis. Generally, unless you
know your stuff, metered taxis are cheaper. But this time, the
un-metered taxi was definitely cheaper.
The journey was about an hour, and we passed through the grayness of
Denpasar, before entering the greener, heart of Bali. As we got
closer to Ubud, the manic motorists got fewer and the surroundings
got lusher and greener. We noticed that the driver didn't look too
happy for most of the drive, but we didn't think too much about it.
I'd picked a hotel, that looked good, out of the Lonely Planet
guide. It was called The Frog Pond Inn, and was about the same cost
as our hotel in Kuta. The driver knew where it was, and we got to it
with no problems. We unloaded the van, thanked the driver (who was
still a bit grumpy), then heaved our bags down the driveway leading
to the Frog Pond Inn.
In no time at all, we were met by a man in a white T-shirt and
worn-blue, cut-off trousers, who took us to a room. Opening the
door, we stepped inside and, wow! The room was very spacious, much
bigger than the girls' room in the expensive hotel. The place was
sparkling clean, the bathroom was also pretty good, clean & it
didn't smell like the one in Kuta. Still basic, but very good,
especially at the price of 44,000Rp (22,000Rp or US$2.20 each!).
We checked everything, the toilet, the shower, the sink, the fan,
they all worked. However, we found that one of the bedside lights
didn't work. But in no time at all, the guy had found a replacement
bulb, and hey presto! It worked fine! This place was fantastic! I
expected to have to check out at least a few places before finding
an acceptable one. But, luckily, we'd managed to find this gem of a
place.
The guy gave us the key and then disappeared. Soon after, his
brother came along and introduced himself as the owner. He said, "My
name is Ri, like the English word 'Dry' without the D". He was a
very friendly & happy guy and chatted with us for a while. He also
showed us his tour leaflet and explained a few of the tours we could
do. The tours actually looked pretty good, one of the tours was a
full day that incorporated just about all of the sights we wanted to
see! At only 80,000Rp (US$8) it was really good value. He also
explained that we could decide how long we wanted to spend in each
place. If we liked it, we could look for longer, if we were bored,
we could move on. Examining his tour sheet, he explained that this
sheet actually belonged to another company, but he had photocopied
their tour list & descriptions & placed his own header at the top!
Sneaky and illegal at home, but I guess it's ok here in Bali!
We said we were interested, and we'd get back to him. We'll probably
do it on the 10th March. It's quite likely that it'll only be Stinge
and I on the trip, but if more people turned up, he'd charge us less
per person. But there'd be no more than 5 people on the one trip, so
we wouldn't be cram-jammed.
He also asked us how much we paid for the taxi to Ubud. When we told
him we paid 20,000Rp each, he couldn't believe it! He said the
standard price was much, much higher. I told him we were good
hagglers, but he still couldn't get over the fact we'd got the taxi
so cheap. That explains why the driver was so grumpy!
His brother soon brought over a thermos of hot tea for us and
insisted we had a cup. However, it tasted foul, so the minute he
left, we chucked most of it down the plug-hole so it looked like
we'd drunk it.
After disposing of the tea, we headed out onto the main street to
have a look about. Ubud is much quieter than Kuta. There are still a
few people asking you to look at their stuff, but generally there
isn't much hassling and the whole place has a much more laid back
and relaxed atmosphere. There are less cars and motorbikes on the
road and the air smells much cleaner. It's a really nice place, and
I quickly came to prefer it over Kuta.
Walking down the street, we soon came to the huge covered market and
entered it to explore. Stinge and I were both looking for nice,
carved chess sets. I wanted a small, compact one that I could carry
around Asia with me. I've noticed that lots of people around here
play it, so it would be great for breaking down barriers if I were
to whip it out for a quick game on a train or somewhere. Stinge, on
the other hand, just wanted a nice set to take home.
Walking around the crammed market was a colourful experience! Dozens
of stalls selling all sorts of handicrafts all squeezed into a small
place! There were quite a few choices for chess sets, and we both
eventually got one, of course with the obligatory haggling.
Just as were about to leave, suddenly the heavens opened and it
began raining. Hard. In fact, it was absolutely pelting it down! We
decided to hang around in the stalls for a while. We dashed up some
stairs to a different level. We were out of the cover for about 2
seconds, but we still got drenched. Shaking the water off, we walked
around the covered walkway. We saw some really cute little children
running around in sarongs. One of them had a long, red, paper tail
pinned to him!
We stood on the walkway, watching the rain. The roads were quickly
getting flooded. Muddy brown water was rising fast. Car's pushed
slowly through it, splashing anyone silly enough to be standing
near. The occasional nutter, waded through it, trousers rolled up &
sandals in hand.
It seemed like it wasn't going to end, but after about an hour it
did ease off and we quickly left.
We spent the rest of the day just looking at the shops and seeing
the more relaxed side of Bali. We also tried some of the local
cuisine. For lunch, we ate at a restaurant recommended in the guide.
I had some nice 'Sate Ayam' (Chicken satay & rice), Stinge had a
very strange version of chicken curry. Not impressed, he had another
dish, and ended up with an even less appetising pizza. And for
dinner, we tried our luck at a different restaurant. I tried the
traditional Indonesian 'Gado-gado' (steamed bean sprouts & veg. &
other bits in a peanut sauce). Quite yummy. I also had my first cup
of proper coffee in ages! Now that, was refreshing. Unfortunately,
when Stinge tried pizza again, it was still pretty poor. I guess it
wasn't too bad for people who've probably never been to Italy
before!
Wandering back to our hotel at the end of the day, we discovered the
only con about our hotel. It was right next to a pub. Tonight, was a
very loud Indonesian Karaoke night and our room was backed up right
next to the pub. With the bass turned up extra high, our room was
practically thudding along with the music. Doh!
As I turned over to try to get some sleep, I thought to myself, as
the dance music thudded even louder, "I wonder what time pubs are
licensed to around here?"
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