Motorcycle training in Denpasar

Vehicles in Britain tend to avoid each other. Perhaps it's something to do with our reserve, valuing personal space, or just a natural desire to not crash and die horribly every time we take to the roads. Bali's different - lane discipline is along the lines of "the more the merrier", drivers see the slightest gap in traffic as an opportunity for faster progress, and your blind spots are likely to contain at least one motorbike, a couple of dogs and a taxi.

To get us used to the slightly different road conditions here, we've done a weekend's training with VSO staff and guys from the Bali Riders' Club. We've done the usual pootling round a carpark avoiding traffic cones (you never see a traffic cone in Denpasar), riding over dirt tracks, and along a 30cm wide plank as slowly as possible. All very useful - I'm looking forward to the time that I'll have to negotiate a bridge formed from a scaffolding plank slung across a ravine. I hope I'm joking.

But as you might expect, it's the traffic that was most entertaining. For a biker used to European roads, it's disconcerting to be overtaken on either side by a scooter carrying two adults, two kids and possibly the dog too. There are some consistencies though - everybody obeys traffic lights, everybody ignores zebra crossings, and everybody wears flip-flops. I'm surprised you don't see more severed limbs and blood on the roads - but everyone seems to get along fine.

Takes me back to the feeling of negotiating Bristol's ring road when I first learnt to ride. Can't wait to get back out there though.