The Bali bikers

So back to the motorbike training - for five of our group of ten, this weekend was no holiday although thankfully we have no school today (Monday) as it’s a Muslim holiday. Instead we spent the weekend doing our motorbike training – compulsory for everyone who wishes to ride a VSO motorbike in Indonesia. On Friday, we were issued with our helmets (provided by VSO to all volunteers in Indonesia whether you need a motorbike or not as hopping on the back of a motorbike or ojek is a very common form of public transport ). On Saturday, we showed up at the VSO office and after a short theory session (the main lesson was “hati-hati dan pelan-pelan” (go slowly and carefully), we sorted out who was going to use which bike from the random collection available, some semi automatic and some larger 160cc machines with a clutch and four gears. Then we started slowly cruising up and down the quiet road outside the VSO office before heading off to a local car park to practice slow turns and other manoeuvres. In the afternoon, we braved the rather overwhelming Bali traffic and started adapting to the local interpretation of traffic laws (I had a bit of an advantage over some of the others as I have been using a bicycle for the last few weeks).

On Sunday, we made a trip to Ubud, about 30kms away in the centre of the island and visited Senang Hati (= Happy Heart), a centre for disabled young people and adults which is one of VSO’s partners/employers in the disability programme. There we were given a warm reception, a geat lunch, and a tour of the facilities and craft shop where I purchased a wood carving made by one of the Senang Hati community before mounting our trusty steeds and negotiating the hills, twists and turns, and tourist buses on our way back to Denpasar. I am happy to report that we all survived the experience with no accidents or falling off and only the occasional stalling at traffic lights !

This morning was spent doing my PR (Pekerjaan Rumah – homework) for tomorrow and this afternoon our group of ten is meeting to celebrate Jenny’s birthday at a restaurant on the beach in the tourist area of Sanur.

Happy birthday, Jenny - enjoy your first birthday outside Holland !