Hitchhiking in Indonesia: Bali with the guys

Hitchhiking in Indonesia: Bali with the guys

12^th of February, 2025.

Andri and Izra are going all the way to Bali to drop off their car, and they will fly back to Jakarta in two days. During this time, they will go around Bali, just visiting some spots. As we start talking, and I tell them all about my travels, Andri invites me to join them, and stay in his family house. I accept!

As we arrive to Ketapang, Andri tells me that he’s paying for the car, so I don’t need to pay for my foot passenger ticket. Yay! But even before we arrived here, when he stopped in a market for some snacks, he bough me so much food, chocolate, vitamin C drinks and a wonderful soy bean drink! And way more than food, he also got me some natural vitamin C pills, a natural oil against mosquitoes, and anti-pain stickers. The great thing is that, I can keep all these food for my few days travelling around Bali alone, because as I will be camping in the beach, these snacks will come very handy!

While we are in the ferry, we eat some delicious rice and eggs, with shredded coconut, and some amazing crisps, which remind me a lot of the Brazilian bolinho de polvinho (tapioca crisps). What surprises me about the ferries at Ketapang is the amount of different companies operating. There are so many! In the ferry which we take, there’s only me and another foreigner. It seems like everybody else is flying! The ferry takes about 1 hour to arrive.

Andri has recently finished his studies in Psychology, so it’s nice to talk about many topics with him. Plus, we have a lot in common, like Jurassic Park is one of our favourite movies, and we also love Star Wars. The three of us are born in 1990, and I joke with them that I’m the oldest, according to my birthday.

When we arrive to Andri’s house, I’m extremely surprised. My reaction is just like Sandra Bullock in the movie The Proposal, with Ryan Reynolds, when she first see their amazing house in Alaska and goes like: “Who are you people?”. There’s this beautiful photo of the whole family in the living room, all wearing traditional clothes. I’m staying in a guest room by the pool, super nice and comfortable.

Another friend of the guys, Yuka, arrives with his friend Rere. The three of them are friends from school, which is awesome! They are all from Jakarta, but as Andri’s family has this house here in Bali, he went to high school here. I tell Yuka about my travels, as this is also his dream, travelling around the world.

I first wash some of my clothes, and then I finally have a good shower! We were supposed to go out for dinner, but as we are all so tired, being on the road the whole day, we decide to just eat in, which is brilliant!

Next morning, after some Nasi Goreng for breakfast, we are going to a lake called Batur. The guys want to go to some hot springs, very famous ones, called Kintamani, but I rather not, so Andri drops me off in this coffee shop with an amazing view of Batur Lake and the mountains. It’s a quite fancy place, and while I’m here, lots of tourists come by. I have a cappuccino only, and it’s my first coffee from Bali. It’s delicious!

We have lunch in a local restaurant, with another incredible view. I tell the guys that I’m happy to eat local and traditional food, even if it’s fish, so we have Nyat Nyat, which is a cooked fish with a delicious peanut sauce, and rice. Then we head South, to a popular beach among the tourists, called Melasti. You have to pay an entrance fee, which pisses me off. Nobody has the right over the ocean, that’s bullshit! Anyway, at least Andri tells me that, both here and at the restaurant where we had lunch, they didn’t charge me the “tourist” price, but the local one.

This beach is surrounded by cliffs, which looks great. The sea is also turquoise and clear, and there are some huge resorts. Andri tells me that they charge a fortune, and that’s explain why they are almost empty. The beach is large enough for a lot of people to enjoy, so why to pay for the pool at the resort?

We wait until sunset here, as Yuka wants to take some photos during the golden hour. He’s a professional photographer for weddings and events, and he takes a great shot of me at the beach.

We go back home for a shower and change, before going for dinner. The restaurant we were supposed to go closes early, and by the time we arrive there, it’s already closed. We were supposed to take the food away, but as the owner is around and knows Andri’s father, he tells we can eat here. I don’t think any of us are comfortable with that, as we understand that the workers are tired and want to rest, but for whatever reason we stay. It’s a very nice restaurant, at the beach, and the food is simply amazing! I try oyster for the first time, and I must say, it’s one of the tastiest dishes I’ve ever had! It’s not fresh though, but flambe.

The guys want to go for some coffee shop after here. We ended up in The Hubble, a way too expensive place. And it’s full of Russians! Apart from me and a South Korean woman, everybody else is Russian. The guys and the staff are the only Indonesian people around. Perhaps if it wasn’t so late, we could’ve gone to a more local place, but as everything else it’s probably closed already, we came here. I have another cappuccino and it’s great again!

The guys are so nice and want to make my Bali experience so great, that they offer to take me somewhere else tomorrow morning, before going to the airport for their flight. I insist that’s not necessary, as we all will catch only a few hours of sleep anyway, so better rest and not taking the risk or delays.

We have a delicious mung beans porridge, with sticky rice and coconut milk for breakfast. The house keepers are a lovely couple, very friendly and kind. After all, I can barely believe on how lucky I am for having being picked up by Andri and Izra, and have had this incredible opportunity to visit all these wonderful places, enjoying some delicious foods and drinks, while staying in such lovely home. That sounds like a movie story, a friendship version of Pretty Woman, or something like that. And if it wasn’t for me hitchhiking, this would, most likely, not happen. Because even though Andri and Izra are incredible and generous people, if the opportunity is not presented, how could they exercise all that kindness and generosity?

Before we leave the house we have a video call with Yuka and Rere, so we can say goodbye, as we didn’t last night.

They drop me off in a good spot for hitchhiking towards North, to Lake Beratan. We say our goodbyes and good wishes. I wish I could be childhood friends with these guys too. But it seems I will have to be satisfied with out adulthood friendship. That’s fine by me.