Considering the cultural capital of Bali, Ubud, has really only one large artery – the main road – and that is, from sunrise to sunset, utterly crammed with every type of vehicle you can imagine, from smoke-belching coaches to swarms of mopeds, knowledge of Ubud’s roads isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity.
Even when traffic isn’t chugging up a smog to rival Beijing’s, there’s always the issue of myriad ceremonies, impromptu street-dog road blocks, and the fact that very few of the roads that run parallel off the main road actually join up. So in order to help you avoid the situation in which you’re roasting in 33 Celsius heat, dining on a menu of exhaust fumes, and frazzled by a rising road rage, here’s a guide to five of the niftiest shortcuts that will swiftly get you out of even the most tragic of impasses.
1. THE TOURIST TRAP TRICK
Often it’s not just the main road that’s blocked, it’s the tourist traps that feed it (such as Monkey Forest Road) too. So if you’re stuck round the nether regions of Hanoman Road and want to go west your best bet is, after swinging round the corner, is to take the first left just before Kopi Bali House down what looks like a pedestrian path but in fact leads almost immediately on to Bisma road. This takes you all the way up to the main road without any of the traffic and spits you out by Miro’s. Be warned though it’s got more craters on it than the moon so drive safely.
2. THE UBUD ENTRANCE/DEPARTURE TRICK
If the main road is chock-a-block all the way down towards Rondji over the bridge, try to swing up the hill to the left that sits next to it. Half way up there’s usually a polite notice to ‘stop’ but as locals don’t seem to have ever heeded it, there’s not much reason to either. Be careful on the other side of the hill though, it’s steep, it’s not a proper road, and can get rather slippery in the rain. But, taking you all the way to where the Gunung Lebah entrance lies, if you pull it off you’ll save yourself at least 15 minutes.
3. AVOIDING THE CENTRE TRICK
Almost all traffic lore around here springs from the ability to get around Ubud without hitting the centre too often. A popular circumvention that takes you to western Ubud without having to work your way through the treacly nucleus, is to turn right off Hanoman Road on to Singakerta, then right again at Campuhan III, and right again where it forks, taking you to Penestanan.
4. THE HEADING EAST TRICK
Every now and then, usually when you need to head east to Padang Bai or somewhere like that, Arjuna’s roundabout and its main tributary, Cok Gede Rai, is largely stationary. Get back on track by performing a prompt u-turn and heading down Hanoman road before turning left at Teges road. This feeds Goa Gajah, the best road on which to head eastside.
5. THE HEADING SOUTH TRICK
Lots of people trying to leave Ubud ultimately attempt to do so by going south, taking the big road that sits slightly to the west, the Sayan road. The main routes that link Ubud to the Sayan road: first, north up Sanggingan, second, south along Singakerta, and third, the western option that takes traffic along the conventional Penestanan route, can all get congested. Avoid these queues by initially heading to Penestanan but turning off at Moksa and then taking the tiny but relatively straight road across to Sayan road.
Reader Interactions