The Uber Bali Tourist Hustle

I’ve been in Bali for 2 weeks now, and from various local and expat sources, I’ve learned that Uber is a strange situation here.

The app works — and I’ve taken Ubers as I’ve moved between various places I’ve stayed in Seminyak, Canggu, and Ubud. The cost is between $2–10 a ride, which takes 15 minutes to an hour.

However, there are signs everywhere that show “No Uber. No Grab. No GO-JEK.” No ride sharing apps, taxis and local transport only.

I’ve heard various explanations as to why, ranging from Uber being illegal to it being strongly discouraged because of local… “neighborhood groups”.

You can book and take rides, but they won’t pick you up or drop you off in certain areas because it’s not safe or “allowed”.

Uber drivers frequently accept rides, then contact you via Whatsapp to renegotiate an offline price (or “better deal” via cash). They’ll say they can’t take you to your destination because of these “rules”, but they still happily use the app to find customers and try to get you to call them for future rides, which is a practice that is both annoying and unethical.

But Uber does work here, in a way. The cost is typically 1/3 of what a taxi will charge you, which incentivizes tourists with the app to NOT want to take the local transportation — especially because at least with Uber we have a route to file complaints when necessary…

I took an Uber from Canggu to Ubud on Saturday, which took the expected hour drive and cost the anticipated 100k IDR ($9 USD).

On my way back, I was picked up by an Uber that was a taxi — the driver explained that he does Uber, Taxi, everything, and then insisted I take his card (which, among other services listed, included “romantic dinner”).

The moment I got in the car, he said he didn’t have cash for petrol and asked me to give him a tip so he could buy some.

Like maybe you just give me a tip early — miss Katherine, I don’t have any money, I need money. Please help me.

I awkwardly (yet attempting to be firm) explained that I was paying him via credit card in the app and didn’t have any cash. Thus booking an uber.

For a few moments, he was quiet, so I allowed the ride to continue and we got to the edge of town.

He took a phone call, which was fine, and when he finished, started asking me if I was single and traveling alone. Any solo woman traveler will likely confirm that this is a frequent line of questioning by drivers and guides.

Annoyingly (and a bit threateningly), they continue to ask, multiple times each question:

Are you traveling alone?
Where are you staying?
How many days will you be there?

You might want to argue it’s regular tourist inquiry, but they’re not interested in anything but your relationship status and itinerary.

I’m honest and independent, but I also care about self-preservation.

So I say that I am traveling alone (instead of defaulting to the safety net of “no, I’m with my boyfriend/husband” because men respect other men’s property), and then I fudge a few details, keep things vague, and loosely agree to call them if needed.

He told me he was single too because his wife died four months ago, so I offered my condolences, which seemed to make no difference as he was not markedly concerned and continued to ask me about my travel plans and insist that I needed to give him cash for petrol.

As I watched our progress on the map, I noticed we kept staying to the left instead of going right towards my destination — imagine a triangle, where you’d obviously take the diagonal to save time but instead drive around the other two sides. It’s a longer ride.

45 minutes into the trip, what was supposed to be an hour drive still had an hour to go. We begin to enter Denpasar, which is the main city and airport area for Bali.

At 6 pm, I didn’t want to get stuck in traffic or drive all the way back down to the bottom of the island — not solely out of inconvenience and cost (which is a reason unto itself), but because I had a work call with a client that night and needed to prepare for it.

I start asking if we’re going the right way, and he keeps assuring me that we are, though I can see signs that we’re clearly turning away from.

What can I do?

I’m a woman alone in a car with a man, driving through a foreign country. I have my computer and passport with me. I don’t want trouble to come to my person or belongings. I don’t want to get taken further off course or dumped in the middle of the road. I’m at his mercy, unfortunately.

So I let my stress and anger turn into the one thing men will universally heed in a woman: tearful upset. I get ready to start crying, let my voice quiver, put my face in my hands, and semi-wail:

I just want to go home! Please just take me home…

Instantly:

Okay, miss Katherine, don’t cry, I’ll put on Google Maps.

However, he proceeds to ignore her prompts to turn right until I make another comment and insist that he follow the direction home.

I start texting my (male) roommate because, for once, I am not going somewhere alone. I ask him to be home and waiting for me in case my arrival doesn’t go well. I keep him updated with my progress and send a screenshot of my app with the driver’s name and license plate on it.

I get out my computer and hotspot my phone and begin to work because I realize I won’t have enough time to prepare later. When we are 10 minutes away, I pack everything up and am ready to jump out of the car at any moment.

He begins to ask me for cash again. He insists that I give him a 5 star review.

We arrive to my street, and he moans and says he can’t drive his car down the road. I’m irritated, but I’m also grateful to be close enough to escape within walking distance and not have to pay any money to get away.

A side-by-side comparison of my two rides and comparative prices ($5 difference). The first took an hour, the second took 2 hours.

It’s not about the money, of course. It’s about the discomfort. It’s about wasting my time. It’s about the reality of being a solo female traveler. It’s about the complexity of tourist-local dynamics.

Update: I had submitted a complaint to Uber, not about the money but to make sure they knew how the driver conducted himself and that he repeatedly asked me for money. They refunded me 70k IDR based on the difference from the price quote and the final receipt.

Katherine is a digital nomad, working remotely while she travels the world — on the road since June 2014.

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