Posted by Another Canuck on Thursday, 18. February 1999 at 06:11 Bali Time:
In Reply to: Thanks! How was the flight over? posted by David and Carol on Thursday, 18. February 1999 at 05:25 Bali Time:
We flew Singapore Airlines, and boy are we spoiled for Canada 3000 now!! My understanding is that Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific compete head-to-head and are considered the best airlines in the world. If that's so, then you are in for a wonderful flight, all things considered (12 hours from Vancouver to Seoul, 1 hour stop, then 6 more to Singapore for us. A long haul no matter what.)The seats were quite comfortable, fresh steaming towels to clean your hands and face as you taxi on the runway (really refreshing!), free champagne in the air, very good meals, multi video audio and computer stations on your individual tv entertainment screen. All this plus freebie kits (shaving, tooth brush, socks) in economy class. You'll still be wiped out when you arrive, but you will have travelled in comfort and style!!!
One thing to consider. I don't know where you'll be staying or what you expect to see when you're there, but since the package is so reasonable, take the names of a few of the places up country (Ubud) or in the north (Lovina) and think about bailing out of the south for a few days. We found that although our hotel was wonderful (Radisson in Sanur) the general environment outside the hotel was very harried, noisy and polluted. We had visions of quiet streets and rice fields that we could walk in, hawkers that would take no for an answer, and beaches where we could hear the surf break. The streets near the hotel were major thoroughfares that were very scary to cross, and everything including the beach was very crowded. It seems from the other postings that people who stay in the less populated areas and especially away from the heavy tourist zones in the south have more relaxing and enjoyable visits. Good luck in any case - it's a great chance to visit an exotic part of the world and encounter some truly gracious and beautiful people. It was a real life and learning experience for us.