Firstly- as i posted a few days ago- i thanked the stars EVERY day that I had found BTF before I went.... would have really found it hard without the info and suggestions from you all.Now.... Mitch (16yr old) and I are NOT seasoned travellers to anywhere- so there were a lot of things about travelling that were new to us- not just Bali things.
Well, the excitement was not diminished by Garuda being all up 3 hrs late arriving- nor did the hour in Aust. departures area... thought it would give us a taste of the visa lines in Bali. Found Garuda fine and very friendly- spent the flight looking out the window at the marvel of Australia's changing colours (flew from Sydney), then reading BTF info.
Was the 2nd last in the visa lines at Denpassar- laughed with those we were racing with not to be the last line out- most in the lines were taking the wait calmly- I was just getting ready for the baggage guys I had been warned about! And, of course, being the 2nd last people out, there were about 10 guys almost fighting over the last few bags there and boy did they have a tight grip on our bags!!! Oh well, sent the son into the deep end to retrieve our bags and try and get them all together- but went and saved him and just thanked the guys and said we were being picked up- was so worried as the bags were all going different directions!
The "smell" was not as bad as I was prepared for- in fact found it rather "exotic"- sort of warm and spicy. The warmth was lovely. Picked up by Nyomen from Freestyle and driver- nice guy and informative on the trip to Puri Raja- felt a bit rude trying to gawk at the sights and not giving him eye contact as he spent the whole trip turned backward in the seat to talk to us. THE DRIVING- now that scared me.... like being on the road with a million learner drivers- nearly wore a hole in the floor braking!!