Getting to Canggu from Bali International Airport

I’ve been thinking about going to Ubud, Bali, for years. Now that I finally made the leap to go to Bali, I somehow ended up booking a place for a month in Canggu, instead.

(bali-indonesia.com)

I’m going to blame curiosity for that one. And also my occasionally poor impulse control because I refuse to take my ADHD meds (I don’t like pills, but that’s for another day).

You can get a direct flight to Bali from Kuala Lumpur, where I am now.

I know it seems just as simple as getting to the airport then taking a taxi to your destination. And it is! If you want to get charged double the price of what you SHOULD be paying, that is.

Now, I’m the proud owner of the “I’ve gotten ripped off” award. I’ve won this award more often than I’d like to admit.

But now, I’m on a personal mission to put an end to all of that. I’m fighting for fairness. I refuse to be a pushover anymore. But I also think it's important to pay a fair price to locals, as well.

When you live in foreign countries for a long time, it always comes to a point where the pushover inside of you just snaps. I remember a taxi kept trying to take me somewhere I didn't want to go, and he instisted because he got a commission for taking me there. But, I had a reservation for someplace else, so I opened the car while it was moving and hopped out, like a certified psycho.

I’ve even run away from taxi drivers who lied to me. Once we got to the destination, he said I owed him literally 10x what we had agreed upon, once I'd already taken the ride. Even after I ask about putting on the meter, he just made up some excuse about it.

So, I figured I could outrun him, so I tossed the original amount we agreed upon with him and then ran. Fast. 'Cause I was kind of nervous about that one.

You also have to be careful because, in some countries, there are fake taxis. And they WILL kidnap you.

It happened to my best friend in Nicaragua. My intuition was obviously taking a nap when that happened because I watched her get in the car and literally NO red flags went off. Anyway.

When you live somewhere and become friends with locals, you find out what the REAL fare is supposed to be. Or what the REAL taxi is supposed to look like. Or, even if you don’t live there…you can ask a local so that you know.

But don't try to pay them less than what is fair, because that's not cool, either. No one should be taking advantage of anybody, here.

Honestly, there are LOTS of good taxi drivers, too. You just have to be careful and vet them out. You don't want to get into a fake one or one that will rip you off.

For all of those crazy experiences, I've had great ones, too.

I've become friends with several taxi drivers in the same countries that these bad experiences were happening in. I had one of the most amazing trips around Ecuador with a taxi driver who just took me around and showed me local life all day. I absolutely loved it. All because we started talking in the car, and then I ended up canceling my original plans and told him to just show me the villages he knows instead.

So, I’m going to Bali tomorrow, and I already know from reading blogs that they charge 350k Rupiah for a ride from the airport to Canggu beach. I also already know that it’s the same old overwhelming mob of people that attack you, trying to dupe you into getting to their over-priced getaway car.

I’ve also found out that there’s some kind of taxi war going on against Uber. That's typical in several places. I think they fight like this in the streets:

(pic from reddit)

Get out your popcorn.

(taken from tenor)

Uber drivers will cancel on you a lot in Bali before one actually shows up. They did it in Thailand, sometimes, too.

(Not sure why they don’t just all quit being taxi drivers and become Uber drivers instead of fighting. If ya can’t beat ‘em, join them?I just want everyone to get along, lol.)

So I figured for all of those reasons, I'd skip the airport taxis, and skip the uber as well.

You could just book a ride through your hotel, but they also charge about 350k.

My advice is to do one of the following things:

Get a grab.

They sit outside the airport. I spoke to a girl who is there now who said they’re about 80k (sounds too low though...I'd double check to make sure that's a fair price for the locals. But, if an app says that's the rate, then you're good).

You just half to walk outside the airport past taxis. You’d have to buy a SIM card at the airport though, so you can call one through the grab app.

You can get a SIM card for the month at the airport so you’ll be able to call a grab (they’re cheaper in town, though, $10 vs. $30). Or, you can just use the airport wifi. It's free and you don't need a password.

Hire a private driver.

I just wanted to know my ride was arranged and I wouldn’t have to deal with finding a grab or someone at 1:30 am.

So, I turned to the trusty Facebook Group “Canggu Community.”

I thought I’d ask for a recommended driver there and I found one in 5 minutes to do pick me up for $150k. A recommended person, as well! And according to him, he said it was a fair price for him as well and that it was worth her time to get me. So, it seems like a win-win situation.

And I have a nice backup driver just in case. I’ll update this post in a couple of days once I’ve ridden with the drivers, that way I can add their contact info for anyone who’s traveling and needs a ride.

Or you can just ask the question in the FB group like I did. You’ll get LOTS of responses, fast.