Bali’s Classic Driver License scam

The best way to get around in Bali is by motorbike. Renting a motorbike starts as cheap as 60.000 IDR a day, with often even better weekly rates. It is therefore no wonder many travellers make a motorbike their main means of transport in Bali. And the police loves it…

Come into our office…

We all heard the classic scam stories where corrupt police tries to fine you until you draw your wallet. But I never experienced this myself. Until then…

After a relaxing tanning session on Dreamland Beach in Uluwatu we hopped on our motorbikes to go back to our hotel. All of the sudden, out of the blue the police appeared, demanding us to pull over…

They asked us if we had our international driver license with us. Since both my friend and I could only answer this question with a big fat no, we were doomed to go into the police office across the road.

Smiling & smelling money…

The police asked us to take place in a small room. Anoher officer welcomed us with a big smile, already smelling our money. He told us we weren’t allowed to drive without an international driver license, but not to fear! He had the perfect solution for us. We could BUY one right then and there, on the spot. And it would “only” cost us 500.000 IDR. A bargain, right?

My friend mumbled to me in Dutch: “pretend you’re the only one who has money, Eef!” She had her money safely hidden at the bottom of her bag. I then showed the police all the money I had on me, which was around 500.000 IDR – only enough to “buy one license”. The officer, still smiling, then lowered his rates and told us we could buy two for 300.000 IDR each. I then showed him my wallet was literally empty, so he agreed to taking all the money I had on me.

Here’s your license!

He then gave us a piece of paper, and told me to write our names on it. “Evelien & Desiree”, I wrote. “Okay! This is now international drivers license. Next time you show this. Okay bye“. And that was that. We were allowed to leave again.

Moral of the story: always hide the majority of your money when you’re on a motorbike, and only leave a little bit in your wallet 😉

Don’t be afraid to get scammed because if it happens, it happens. Smile, play along and accept that this is also part of traveling in Southeast Asia. Then order a cold Bintang, eat some gado gado and enjoy the rest of this gorgeous part of the world 🙂

❤ Eef

PS: if you’re traveling around Bali, don’t forget to check out my quick guide to Ubud! 🙂