Bali on a scooter!

In September 2019, Jacqueli and Joubert Tulleken set off for an adventure in South East Asia. Their first destination was the Indonesian island of Bali.

The Republic of Indonesia consists of thousands of islands home to more than 267 million people – the fourth biggest population in the world. More than half of those people live on Java, the biggest island, but most tourists visit smaller Bali, with its rice paddies, beaches and culture.

You can see or learn something new every day in Bali, or you can just choose a beach and do nothing. The island is popular with surfers, digital nomads, honeymoon couples and yoga fans – there are more than 500 yoga centres on the island.

Most tourists first head for the southern part of the island, which offers something for every taste and budget. The busy town of Kuta is known for its nightlife and is often the first stop on a beach holiday. Family resorts and five-star hotels line the 5 km-long Kuta Beach. The towns of Seminyak and Canggu are north of Kuta. Here you’ll find stylish clothing boutiques and trendy cafés that serve smoothie bowls and vegan ice cream. In the late afternoon, the chic beach bars are packed with tourists drinking sundowners.

The south is where we went when we first visited Bali in 2016; this time we wanted to explore the north, where it’s quieter and the people live a more traditional lifestyle. In the north you can see ancient Hindu temples (known as puras), active volcanoes, waterfalls and terraced rice paddies.

We had taken the whole of 2019 off to travel. By September, we’d finished a six-month overlanding trip through southern Africa and we were excited for a change of scenery. We didn’t have a permanent home at that stage – it was cheaper to live in Bali than to hire a place in Cape Town!We also had plans to travel to Vietnam with friends in October, so Bali in September just worked.