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View all search resultsHoliday rush sparks 36-km traffic jam at Bali’s Gilimanuk Port
Vehicle lines leading to the port stretched up to 36 kilometers on Sunday and 15 km on Monday, forcing many travelers to wait up to 20 hours to cross the strait, with some even spending the night inside their cars.
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Vehicles crowd the road leading to Gilimanuk Port on Sunday in Jembrana, Bali. Increased traffic six days before Idul Fitri 2026 has caused vehicle waiting lines on the Denpasar-Gilimanuk route to reach 30-40 kilometers. (Antara/Budi Candra Setya)
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surge of travelers heading to Java ahead of the Nyepi and Idul Fitri holidays has overwhelmed Bali’s Gilimanuk Port, triggering severe congestion over the past two days and causing at least 16 holidaymakers to collapse from heat exhaustion.
Vehicle lines leading to the port stretched up to 36 kilometers on Sunday and 15 km on Monday, forcing many travelers to wait up to 20 hours to cross the strait, with some even spending the night inside their cars.
Hours of waiting under the sweltering sun and swirling dust caused 16 travelers, mostly motorcyclists, to collapse from heat syncope, a condition in which heat causes blood vessels to dilate, sharply reducing blood flow to the brain.
Authorities said the affected travelers were promptly taken to the nearest healthcare posts and resumed their journeys once they had recovered.
Muhammad Ridwan, 53, traveling from Denpasar with his three children to Jember in East Java on Sunday, described the traffic at Gilimanuk Port as the worst he had ever experienced.
“At first, I thought the congestion was normal, but vehicles were stuck for hours. Traffic leading to Gilimanuk stretched up to 36 km. We managed to take an alternative route and avoid the worst of the traffic. Even so, we spent nearly 12 hours just to enter the port,” Ridwan told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
He said the sweltering heat made the situation unbearably uncomfortable, forcing them to keep the car fully closed with the air conditioning running until sunset. Several travelers were seen fainting and even experiencing seizures.
