The first 20 minutes of the ride from the Seminyak area take us along quite a busy main road with the usual mix of trucks, buses and small motorbikes. But then the road opens out across wide expanses of rice fields with the mountains as a backdrop.

Winding through sleepy villages (often colourfully decorated in bright ceremonial trimmings) we start to gently climb the mountain through Sangeh, home to Bali's most famous and largest monkey forest temple. The forest itself is covered in "Pala" trees with hundreds of monkeys living in and around them. Interestingly, these trees cannot be found anywhere else in Bali.

From Sangeh the road carves its way higher up the mountain through Petang and on to Pelaga. At 800 meters above sea level Petang and nearby Pelaga are at the northern most point of Badung Regency. Both villages and the surrounding countryside are prime examples of what life is like in Bali away from the normal tourist traps with field after field of vegetables, coffee, vanilla and corn and superb mountain vistas.

The road to the bridge at Pelaga is fantastic with very little traffic and a great mix of tight mountain hairpins which open out to The Bridge! Pelaga is where we find the longest and tallest bridge in Bali, which is 360 meters long, 9.6 meters wide and the highest pier is just over 71 meters high; a great photo opportunity stop.

From the Pelaga Bridge we head towards Lake Batur and Kintamani. Home to five volcanoes, including Bali’s holiest and most sacred mountain, Agung, Kintamani and Batur must rank among the most dramatic and accessible live volcanoes to be found anywhere. Literally a volcano within a volcano, we ride along the rim of the 8 km wide caldera with stunning views to the volcanoes and lake. The first 10 – 12 kms from The Bridge cover lumpy and pot-holed roads but it’s worth it as the road sublimely opens out over wide cambered bends and through high mountain pine forests. Simple a stunning way to arrive at the volcano and probably the most significant temple in Bali at Ulun Danau Batur.

Lunch is picnic style on the shores of the lake. After lunch, we head towards Bangli, a very picturesque small town on the slopes of the mountain. The ride is relatively fast with long, empty stretches until we hit the main roads on the east coast near Gianyar.

The final leg of the ride takes us along the new East Coast Highway back towards Sanur. It is a good idea not to be dragged into overly aggressive riding on this stretch as it is busy and very different from the serenity of the hills and mountains.

Total ride time is approximately 5 hours with at least 3 stops along the way for light refreshments, lunch and photo stops.