These motorbike/welding stations are very useful. They are every 500m and this time I used one to weld together a metal bar that supports my saddle. It just snapped in two. My stay of several days of rest and recreation in Kuta has come to an end, and what better way to get back into cycling than to climb a mountain?

Bengkel las
I realised again in Kuta what I already knew. I am not a disco party person. I went with some guys from the hotel to a big 8-in-1 disco/party complex in the main drag in Kuta. Six euro entry got you all you could eat from a buffet and all you could drink for 4 hours. Then the party started in the multiple rooms with stunning walls of screens and lights, thumping music and (becoming) drunk people gyrating to the music. I sat there just admiring the logistics and planning that made this show run like clockwork. The staff had colour-coded shirts depending on their role – green for the ‘clean team’, white for security, red for servers etc. The glasses were removed the second they were empty. The security swooped within seconds of me taking off my shirt. There will be none of that here! I never feel like drinking more that one or two drinks, and I felt no connection to the people on the dance floor (although the friends from the hotel were cool). I caught a motorbike home at 11 and went to bed.

Sky dome
I saw the site of the Bali bombings in 2002 – the monument where all those people (mostly Australians and Indonesians) were killed. Its already 14 years ago, although it feels like only yesterday.

Bali bomb monument
As my trip continues, more niggling little problems pop up. This time it was my dynamo that stopped working. Thanks to the guys at Rodalink in Denpasar who did amazing work fixing it – quite a bit of hammering done.. ☺ Thanks to Yudi for introducing me to the cycling community and for the new cycling jersey, and to everyone for making my time in Kuta memorable!
Today I passed 34000km, and now find myself enjoying the cool air at 1200m camping next to a lake. Tomorrow down to the hot coast again.

34000km

Camping spot
Hello Mathew,
Good to follow your progress. Thanx for taking us as passengers.
Is that a new cycle-computer we see in the pictures above?
Old one just could not cope with the numbers getting higher and higher with not a single “reset” in sight?
Keep on pedaling; keep up with keeping us informed.
Hi there. The cable from the old cycle computer was ripped out on a boat trip from Koh Yao Noi in Thailand and I bought a new one in Krabi.. So this one is already 8000km old.. 🙂