I visited Bali for three days in September 2006 with my friend Linda. We took an Air Asia flight and flew out of the LCCT airport. The flight which was scheduled at 10.55 a.m. was delayed by half an hour. The flight time to Bali is three hours. As we were about to land in Ngurah Rai Airport, we looked out the window of the plane and saw a volcano spewing out black smoke and also a crater filled with green coloured water. It was such an awesome sight. The airport was so close to the sea, too.
When we reached the airport, the hotel was supposed to send someone to pick us up but nobody came. The staff at the airport were very nice, we went to the information counter and a guy there called the hotel for us and a shuttle bus came to pick us up. Fortunately, the hotel was just 15 minutes away.
We checked into the hotel at 4 p.m. and put our luggage away. We had taken several brochures from the airport and planned our itinerary. We decided to take a warm stone massage and a day tour that covered several interesting places. After we made our bookings at the hotel reception, we took a stroll down at Kuta beach which was about 10 minutes walk away.
There were many shops along the way and Linda bought a few table runners and I bought a small handbag for Melissa (which she didn’t like and so I kept it for myself). I wandered into the side alley to look at the homes of the Balinese people. Linda said that the houses were similar to those in Jogjar and Siem Reap.
By the time we reached Kuta beach, it was sunset. The sun sets early there at about 6.00 p.m. We strolled along the beach and then to the nearby shopping centre with shops selling branded goods. We went to McDonald’s to have our dinner. The chicken there is served with rice and vegetable soup.
Later we went back to the hotel for our shower and got ready for someone to pick us up to the spa centre for our massage. The spa centre was very nice and clean and had a calming effect on my nerves. The massage lasted two hours but it was very relaxing. We returned to our hotel at almost 11 p.m. and although it was late, the place was very safe and at no time did I feel threatened for my life. No thefts or sleazy people around.
The next day, we woke up to have an early breakfast at the hotel before going on our day tour. There were only two of us with the tour guide and driver (business was that bad. There aren’t many tourists around anymore).
The tour guide, Nora was a very nice gentleman. The first place he took us to was to see the Barong and Kris dance. It was quite nice. Then we went to a batik factory, silver shop, wood carving shop and an art gallery.
After that, we went up to Kintamani to see the active volcano and lake batur and had lunch there while enjoying the scenery outside the restaurant. Along the way up there, we saw dogs everywhere, I think almost every household owns a dog.
Then Nora took us to a cocoa orchard where they sold Balinese coffee and tea. We had a cup of tea with tourists from several parts of the world and Linda cracked a couple of jokes with them. They thought she was from America because her English was impeccable. After that we went to Ubud for shopping. Linda bought many items and since we enjoyed shopping so much, we decided to skip Tanah Lot.
When we finished shopping, Nora took us to Jimbaran for our dinner and I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw…. rows and rows of tables with lighted candles on the beach facing the sea. We had barbecued seafood and it was very, very delicious.
The following day, we walked to Kuta beach again for some last minute shopping. I wandered into a shop to buy a T-shirt for Joshua. While in the shop, this guy said that I was his first customer and told me that he would give me the best price because the Balinese people believe that the first customer will bring luck and they will have more customers for the rest of the day. So, since he had a T-shirt I liked (but which Joshua later said, “I will 100% not wear it”), I bought it. When I paid him the money, he patted the money against some of the T-shirts hanging there and on his waist pouch.
Then I headed towards Kuta beach and several women came towards me asking me to do manicure, pedicure, tattoo, massage, hair plaiting and buy their costume jewelleries. In the end I did the nail painting.
The Balinese people are very religious. They pray three times a day and everywhere you can find altars and offerings along the streets. I also learnt that in order to get the best shopping deal I should shop in the morning and better still if I was the first customer.
Linda and I left Bali and reached home at 5.30 p.m. with good memories of our short stay in Bali.
