Until relatively recently, sidewalks/footpaths were a foreign luxury for Bali’s poor, panicked pedestrians. Vehicles were not commonplace on the island until the 60s and village streets were so narrow that they was no room for footpaths or even large vehicles. For those blessed roads that were equipped with them they were (and many still are) in a sorry state – you literally risked your life as you walked along sidewalks peppered with gaping holes which exposed deep storm water drains and festering rubbish. So it really shouldn’t surprise you that many folk resort to walking on the road – I guess at least it’s smoother, albeit slightly! Even today, due to the state of many sidewalks, they are treated as mere decoration. One thing’s for sure – a Balinese zebra crossing is a decoration.
Talking about crossing, beware when you do. Very rarely will vehicles stop, and it seems that motorists are not obliged to. Basically, the unspoken law is: ‘survival of the biggest’, i.e. pedestrians have no rights. So, under no circumstances walk out expecting people to stop for you. If you do need to cross a busy road with no traffic lights or crossings (think in front of Ramayana Mall in Denpasar), try to stop the traffic yourself. Indonesians are very good at this. Just follow what they do: be assertive and make your crossing look important but swift!
Another thing that makes being a pedestrian a bit of a chore in Indonesia, especially if you are obviously a tourist (the confused look normally gives it away), is that people will call out to you trying to either sell you a variety of different things or offer you any service under the sun. For some, this can make concentrating on the holes, hazards or traffic a little difficult...
