Best Cities to Live in Indonesia
...or explore the rest of Asia?
...or explore the rest of Asia?
Nomad List
Canggu is great. Here's some pointers you need to know before going: 1) You HAVE TO to drive a motorbike/scooter. Canggu has no sidewalks and walking on the road is very dangerous. If you ride a bicycle you're also just endangering yourself. Drive a bike. Traffic isn't necessarily safe. But if you drive 30km/h you'll be OK. Don't drink and drive, most ppl die because of that. 2) Yes it's very Western. Canggu is essentially a 2-by-2 km resort full of expats, foreigners, nomads and tourists. Locals staff the restaurants, bars and coworkings. It's not unlike a resort in Mexico in that way. Good? I don't know, but it's how it is. 3) Canggu has some of the best international food you can imagine. Italian chefs making Michelin-level food. Amazing pizzas at Crust for $5. Japanese sushi and ramen. Many chefs left their home countries to live in Bali and opened up restaurants here. 4) Canggu nightlife is improving fast. It used to be only Old Man's and then a party on the beach with the same Spotify pop playlist every night. But now we're seeing techno clubs like Volt and many more open. Very good. 5) Traffic is really annoying. There's just too many loud dangerous motorbikes and scooters on too narrow roads driving too fast. And often a giant car clogging everything up in there too. Canggu will kill itself if it doesn't fix this. Canggu needs a ban on petrol bikes, only allow electric bikes, set speed limits that are enforced and promote bicycle usage. Cars should be banned altogether, it's just too small for it. But apart from that it really is one of the most ideal places to be now. I think what I like most is the people that Canggu attracts. It's creatives and entrepreneurs mostly. Visit it, get a bike and explore Canggu. Stay for at least a few weeks before judging it. It's not the easiest place to start off and that's purposely to keep the noobs out. Enjoy!
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"Don't go to Jakarta" is what people from Jakarta tell you. But you do. It can't be that bad, right? Then you arrive. Although "arriving" is a big word for getting stuck in traffic first for hours. When you do finally arrive in your apartment, you open the windows and wonder why you can't see further than 10 meters. It must be a foggy day? No, it's not fog, it's smog, and it's an every day occurrence in Jakarta, a city that is now competing with Beijing for worst air quality in the world. What's good about Jakarta? It's one of the few places in Indonesia (except maybe Bali) that's open-minded. Jakartans are friendly, helpful and warm acting as if Jakarta is still just a small Indonesian village and that's great. It's also one of the fastest growing cities in Asia. It's cosmopolitan. But all that doesn't weigh up to the negatives that is Jakarta right now. Clean up the air, fix the traffic, and Jakarta might be liveable in a decade. "Don't go to Jakarta" is what people from Jakarta tell you. They're right.
