The Bali landing was a bit scary. Similar to the San Francisco airport, one minute you're just above water, then you're touching down on the runway. But I think the San Francisco airport has a longer runway. When we touched down in Bali, the captain rode the brakes for what seemed like an eternity before we stopped. We had visions of falling off the island. When the plane turned, we could see the water at the end of the runway.
We followed the crowd to the Visa payment area. We thought we'd pay with a credit card, but cash only!! Then on to customs.
Customs agent – You have same bag?
P- (smiling) Yes.
Customs agent – And you have same haircut?
P- (smiling) Yes. We need short hair because we will be traveling for a long time. (with a larger smile) Actually, we were siamese twins, separated at birth.
G- (kicks Phyllis) Don't get smart with the customs agents! I need to SLEEP!!!!!!
Customs agent – (furrows brow in confusion) How long you stay in Bali?
P- 28 days. We leave on December 17th.
Customs agent – Give this card to man at desk.
Handing off our cards, we went to baggage claim and vola! The checked bag was actually there. It was a miracle.
Before leaving baggage claim we had to put our bags through yet another scanner. Walking down the final hallway, we were solicited by booth after booth of money changers.
G- This is weird.
P- I wonder what the poor bastards at the end of the hallway did wrong and how long do you have to work here to get a booth near the front.
When the doors opened................SMACK!!!!!! The heat and humidity hit us like a ton of bricks!!!! This was the first time in 4 days we had been out of an airport and it was definitely not pleasant.
G- OMG! This is just like exiting baggage claim in New Orleans, in August!
P- But this is BALI!
We stood in line to pay for a cab, paid our fee (55,000 rupiah, about $6.) and followed our grumpy driver to his car.
G- (whispering to Phyl) I thought the Balinese are warm and friendly. What happened to this guy?
P- I'm blank. My brain shut down days ago. At least his air conditioner works.
It was 9:30 pm on Saturday night and our first introduction to Bali was not what we had expected. The town was hopping. The streets were very narrow and lined with shop after shop. Not the kind of shop you'd see in Lakeside Mall, but the kind of shops you'd see in Cancun. We passed a woman making a fire on the curb, preparing to cook. Mopeds and motorcycles swarmed the car in either direction. Every once in a while, cars would come in from a side street and would practically hit us. It was like riding the wild mouse. The mopeds were kind've like ants, swarming after someone stepped on their pile.
We began to pass hotels squished in between the shops. We drove through Kuta on our way to Legian Beach. After about 20 minutes, the people on the street changed from Balinese to tourists. We drove to the end of our street and we turned right into a very narrow alley. At the end of the alley was a little courtyard with a reservation desk to the right and an open restaurant to the left. After checking in, we were lead through a wall, past the pool, into a sparse, but very clean room. The hotel, Sinar Bali, was built in a traditional Balinese style with bungalows on 2 sides and a 2 story hotel, only 9 rooms long on the 3rd side. We were paying $35.00/night and had a/c and hot water.
Once in our room, we dropped our bags and looked longingly at the beds. After 4 days, 12,000 miles,
4 different flights, 7 time zone changes, and a total of maybe 12 hours of sleep, we had finally arrived!
P- I'm going to take a shower.
G- I'll shower after you.
P- (exiting the bathroom and finding me asleep) Wake up. Are you going to shower?
G- No. I'm not getting up. I can't take it anymore. I'll shower tomorrow. Turn off the light.
And then we fell into comas.
