Adventure on the motorbike

Another adventure on the motor bike in the rain.....

I wanted to go to a nearby city to purchase a thumb-drive-like device - a modem so I can have internet access anywhere. Noah and I set off on the bike to go to Gianyar, about 10km or so from Ubud, where we are staying. We left after the heavy rains subsided.

I was told there was a certain store that sold this on a particular street in Gianyar. That was all the information I had. Being the adventurous type, I thought I could find the place, purchase the modem and get back within an hour or two. WRONG!

Reading the map was one thing, driving the narrow roads without clear street signs was another. I kept stopping and asking the way, to make sure I didn't take a wrong turn. Once we got to Gianyar, it started raining heavily- well, torrentially -  and we took shelter under the roof at a grocer store. We must have waited a half hour or more. Finally, it let up enough to find the shop. By the time we found the street and someone who could help us identify the shop, it was closed for the day! We got there a few minutes too late.

So, amidst pouring rain, we started making our way back. By now we had purchased rain ponchos, but were still pretty soaked. Thank goodness it was still relatively warm out - about 75 degrees.

At one point we had to go through a road that was very flooded, about up to my knees. The motor cut out and we had to walk the bike through about 1/3 of the flooded part, about 50 feet or so. As we did so, the water was rushing like a river to the lowest point, the point we just passed. My flip flops came off and started floating away - we saved one of them, but who knows where the other will end up?

We went through a number of smaller flooded areas before arriving safely at our guesthouse. The manager and guests at the house were so happy to see we had made it back safely. This whole thing was pretty scary, especially for Noah, who was very brave throughout.

I don't think I will be going for a drive in the rain again! And I thought I had escaped the rains of Eugene!