Although this was our forth trip to Bali...This is our first JBR. When I say we, it is myself , my wife (Penny) and daughter (Paige, age 8).
This first installment is a bit long...I promise to make the next parts shorter...
November 9th - San Diego to Singapore (...)
Let me tell you, it is not easy for a Yank to make the trek down to Bali. Over all travel time for us to get to Bali from our home town of San Diego was about 35 hours...from the time we stepped on the plane until we stepped off the plane in Denpasar. Yes, there are a few faster ways, but they only cut off a small portion and usually require a longer lay over. We flew Southwest Airlines from San Diego to SFO (2 hours), had a few hours, then we chose to fly on Singapore thru San Francisco. (Being an Airline Employee, we travel 'space available'... so, SQ seemed to have the best routing for us.)
We traveled SFO to Seoul (13 hours) had a 1 hour lay over, then to Singapore (7 hours) arriving at 1 am in the morning on November 11th.
We knew we would have at least an 8.5 hour lay over, so we pre-booked a room a one of the Singapore Airport's Transit hotels. It was nice to be able to take a quick sleep and shower. The rooms were very basic and cost about $70 USD for 6 hours.
November 11th - Singapore to Denpasar (...)
$1 usd = 10,800 rupiah
Being space available, you never know what the day will bring when you travel ...however, the Staff Travel Gods were on our side this morning as we go the last 3 seats in the back of the plane on the first flight in the am....so off to Bali!
Before I continue, I need to tell you that we were visiting Bali and planned to meet up with our good friends from Sydney. Due to the alcohol shortage and high prices of wine, we were asked to bring a few bottles down with us for our Aussie Mates to drink. We ended up with 5 bottles (750ml) and a box (3 Liters) Knowing we were allowed 1 liter each...we planned to claim and pay duty on the other wines.
Being near the back of the plane, we didn't rush past anyone, the lines for the VOA were only about 35 - 40 minutes. This allowed for our bags to be waiting for us. In our bags we had 5 bottles of wine in one bags, the box was in another. I grabbed the bag and noticed a '5' written in chalk on the bag....sneaky little buggers! I headed to the line to declare my excess alcohol. Was asked by the Customs Agent to open the bag and to open the stryrofoam containers that protected the bottles. (the 3 liter box was in a different bag and was never shown to them....hehe)
He waived over his superior who asked me if I knew I was breaking the law...I told him that I wasn't, that I didn't try to sneak it and I was prepared to pay duty on it. The Supervisor took my passport and told me to follow him. He took me into a little room by the baggage claim had me sit down and closed the door. At this time, I was getting a bit nervous.
The Supervisor read me what was on the form stating that any alcohol above the 1 liter per person would be destroyed. Told me I was almost 2 liters above the limit. I asked if I could pay a fine or duty and take it with me. The asked me my nationality...having my US Passport, I found it an odd question, until he said I could pay a fine of $20 USD. Knowing not to have too much money in my wallet (Thank you Bali Travel Forum), I only had 10 Singapore dollars, $4 US Dollars and $25 AUD (from a previous trip). I told him that I only had the $4 usd and offered him $20 AUD...he thought about it and asked me for the $25 I had. I quickly handed him the money, grabbed my passport and ran out of the office. My wife was waiting with the bags and told her to go.
I do have to admit that I felt a little awkward going straight to the money changers right by the Customs tables, exchanging my $100 US bills, but never looked back to see if they were watching me. I am sure they were busy doing paperwork to notify everyone of their find and my fines....hehe.
After exchanging some money, we went straight out and saw a sign with our names for our hotel -- The Puri Raja. Oh my goodness, the heat and humidity! We were escorted to the van...which did not have air conditioning until we made it to the hotel.
We arrived at the hotel about 1:30p and was told that our room would not be ready until 1:45 and to go to the pool bar for a beverage. We obliged as we were dying for our first Bintang (...) About 20 minutes later, we were escorted to our room. We unpacked, changed in to our swimsuits and went to have some lunch and cool down. Our original plan was to stay there 5 nights, then move down to the Tuban area to be closer to our friends who were staying at the Kartika Plaza....that would all change soon...more on that tomorrow.
We decided to hold off on lunch and wait to eat until dinner. We went swimming and then changed to go to IndoNational for dinner. We love this place because we can get Aussie Beer there...for the longest time, the only Aussie beer we could get in the States was Fosters....now we get Toohey's New as well.
But the IndoNational was closed as the owners were on a Holiday and would open on Sunday. So we ended up at Wayan and Friends a few doors down. We did a bit of shopping and then retired early.
More to come...