DAY 1 - Monday 5th November
My Sister (R) and I travel to Bali at least once each year as a necessary break from the Melbourne cold. We had 3 lovely days there in July, and went back again in early November for 8 nights. We usually fly Jetstar, which has its own list of flaws, but this time the price was just as cheap on Virgin so we gave it a whirl.
On the plus side, the Virgin plane appears very new and spacious overhead. Check-in process was quick. That's unfortunately where the positives end.... our 9.20am departure time becomes 10.20 thanks to a late arriving passenger. Having watched 'airways' I didn't think any plane waited for a late passenger. Amazing.
The plane is on the smallish side and feels like one that would only fly between Melbourne and Canberra, as in it only has one centre aisle, not the two aisles that most others seem to operate. Almost the entire flight this single aisle is blocked with the drinks cart either going one way or the other at the pace of an elderly snail with a walking frame. The only toilets are at the very back of the plane, so getting there from row 8 whilst hurdling the trolley is a minor miracle. At one point they actually make an announcement asking people to sit in any spare seats to allow the trolley to get past. This is not the ideal aircraft to be locked inside for 7 hours. Someone didn't really think this one through I suspect.
I look around the plane, and open the inflight magazine to see how they plan to entertain us. There are lots of TV and Movie options listed, but I must have missed something here... there are no tv screens at all. Anywhere. Not overhead, not in the seat backs and not being handed out by the hosties. Despite the claims in their magazine, there is not so much as a set of headphones on offer. I don't get this at all. There must be a mistake. I understand not paying for the optional 'Entertainment pack' where you get your own ipad, but even Jetstar offer overhead screens showing you how long till you arrive, the outside air temperature, how to fasten your seat belt and a few old episodes of Seinfeld. This does not bode well. They actually do the whole safety speech the old fashioned way like a game of charades. How charming.
Thankfully we have packed our own lunch and downloaded a heap of e-books to read as this will be a long flight - an hour extra on the plane after our late departure, no audio visual and a slim chance of a toilet stop. I slept for the next 4 hours with a very full bladder.
On arrival, we get on 'The Bus'. I don't know why this is, but for some reason Virgin are parked at the very back of the airport and we are shuttled to the terminal. There is not a single soul from any other arrival in the immigration area, so we have our visas, and passports stamped within about 3 minutes. This time gain is soon lost as it takes at least another 30 minutes for our luggage to come out, by which time another plane has landed and the line for x-rays is huge. By this time I'm fanning myself with paper and taking deep breaths. This has been a very long day.
We walk past the airport money changer all offering the exact same rate as each other - 9600, and look for our driver and friend, Kadek. Don't see him anywhere. He did confirm he would be here so we buy a local sim card and ring him. Oh my god he says... I thought you meant 12.30 at night. Not daytime. Given that our usual Jetstar flight arrives about 10.30 pm I can see why he thought that. I tell him not to worry, and we head off to get a taxi. Nothing is worth getting stressed about now that we're in Bali.
The trip to Benoa is relatively good, we see the first signs of the new roadways which are due to be completed in the next couple of years, and lots of signs about a huge convention being held in Nusa Dua in a couple of days.
Hotel #1 - Benoa
Arriving at the Novotel Benoa is like coming home. Really. Its one of those 'aaaaah' moments. You are welcomed with a smile, a cold towel and a cool drink. Within minutes we are in the same Tropical Terrace room we have almost every year. We've stayed at a lot of different hotels in Bali, but this one is one we cannot miss. We will have a few days here and a few in Seminyak.
Given that we are an hour late, I'm not in the pool until 3pm local time (or 12 hours after I got up this morning). We order nasi goreng from the bar and watch a massive lizard slink out from under the pool deck to scare the sunbathers. Ah Bali. We're back!.
There is a welcome fruit basket in our room from which I remove and hide the apples as R has just discovered she is Fructose intolerant and apples are the one thing she craves and cannot have.
The Novotel have taken the hint and installed free wifi at the hotel now which makes a huge difference. We call home on the iphone using Viber for free, or Skype, and I can use Imessages as well. I'm keeping the simcard in my other old Nokia phone for times when I'm out of wifi range. I can read the news at breakfast on my ebook reader. Loving the wifi.
Once we are unpacked, we get a hotel car to drop us at the Bali Collection in Nusa Dua which is really the only local shopping area around. We buy the basics - milk for tea, waters, soft drinks and a 35cent Oral B toothbrush. Love a bargain. I can't get over how cheap it is and keep checking the receipt and doing the currency conversion in my head. Seriously... 35 cents!
We are told that the conference being held in Nusa Dua is the Asian Democracy Conference, with all the heads of government from Asia arriving in town. Security is unbelievable. Our car stops at no less than 4 security checkpoints within the Nusa Dua Area, including CCTV which shows the underneath of our car. There are at least 2 navy patrol boats cruising back and forth along the beaches and police stationed about every 20 metres all the way to Kuta.
We always manage to miss the free shuttle that goes back to our hotel, so we agree to the exorbitant rate of 40,000 ($4) for a taxi back. As luck would have it, the driver is a lovely young guy, who speaks great English, and knows a lot about world affairs. Dedy is polite and genuine. We take his card and tell him that although we already have a regular driver, we may just need him sometime.
Our compulsory first night dinner in Benoa must be at La Scala. It is R's favourite, and the staff remember us every time we go there. Dinner is always exactly the same - free prawn crackers, garlic bread or spring rolls, calamari, satay and nasi goreng. Free cocktails and cold hand towels top it off. We'd be lucky to spend over $22 total for the two of us here.
Our mixed up driver Kadek drops by to see us at La Scala, and brings his lovely 8 year old daughter too. Kadek's drink of choice is always a Vanilla Milkshake. We ask him why always the Vanilla Milkshake and he says if he was paying he'd order something more practical like water, but if we are paying, his idea of a luxury is a Milkshake, which we are happy to provide. He remembers every single time he's had one with us too!. His daughter orders a mixed juice, and then promptly eyes off his milkshake which he kindly swaps with her. I know how much that would hurt !!
Kadek passes on an invitation to dinner with his Uncle, Ketut, who is the first local we ever really made friends with in Bali and who has introduced us to Kadek in recent years. Between the two of them they handle all our transport, shopping, sim card and dvd needs and give us a lot of local understanding. Knowing them has really made our Bali experience that much richer.
Kadek reminds us that Ketut and his family are vegetarians, and wants to make sure we are ok with Vegetarian food. He laughs about Ketut's cooking skills and basically tries to lower our expectations before the meal. I'm sure he thinks we have quite western requirements, which we probably do, but we try to be open to new experiences.
We say goodbye and head back to the hotel. Kadek will pick us up for dinner tomorrow night. Its been a very long day and its only day 1.