*Just Back Report Day 1*
Tee (32 years old) and myself (48) left Perth on a reasonable 8pm flight with Air Asia last week, for the first of 8 days in the sun (or so we thought)
This is our story, in 8 brief parts.
It was both our first time to fly Air Asia and I would describe the overall experience, as I have just done with their online feedback survey, as 'perfunctory'.
That is to say: they pilot that skinny flying tin can with some care and attention, but never more than the bare minimum they need to ensure they arrive, and all the paying passengers are fed, watered and accounted for, without attracting too much attention from the FDA or the appropriate National Aviation Authority.
The on-board announcements are hilarious, with broken English from both the flight crew and pilot not helping to inform you of much of anything worthwhile. Apparently they were delighted to have us on-board though, the flight was incident free, and we did indeed arrive at the correct airport.
Still, for the money (return flight for both of us were just over AUS$400 total), you can't ask for much more.
I've heard plenty of people grump about the new airport terminal, but as it is changing every month, I urge you to consider your own opinion from this time onwards.
Our flight arrived a little early, without another arrival due for some time, and so we breezed through baggage collection and Customs, starting from our front row 1A and 1B seating.
I'd say we were through and out to our driver within 30 mins tops - a record for any trip I've taken.
Gede was easy to find and the car was parked quite close by.
I found the airport arrivals to be large, easy to navigate and with a suitable 'newness' that I thought really pleasant.
No complaints at all for mine.
I hadn't seen Bali in over 2 years, but it was a much quicker trip to the new villa in Seminyak, this time. The spanky new underpass seems to have diverted a large amount of choking traffic away from the Seminyak area, although the caveat is that it was past midnight when we travelled and Bali did seem to be very quiet overall this time.
Anyway, again, no complaints at all on traffic snarls or ease of getting around.
We both noticed how cool it was in July too - normally I'm here in Summer (it was Tee's first time to Bali) and it is much more oppressive. Coming from Perth where we both lived, instead of the east coast, means we are much more acclimatised to the heat now. But I found the island climate really enjoyable and the rain on a few days was very surprising and welcome. More about that later though.
Quick drink of the duty free Bombay Sapphire at the villa by the pool, a Gudang Guram or two (love these things and only every smoke when I'm here on holiday) and to bed, ready for our first big day of exploring together.