Bali

After two years of planning and many changes along the way we are finally in Bali.

October 1, 2022 . Our journey begins with a flight on a small float plane from Nanaimo to Vancouver airport on one of the most beautiful days of the year. Flying low we were able to see at least half a dozen humpback whales breaching and spouting which was just an added bonus to a short 20 minute but fantastic flight.

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We checked into our airport hotel and met up Lana, all of us coming a day early to make sure we were on the right side of the water for our flight tomorrow.

October 2. Our economy class flight on Japan airlines was lovely, smooth and uneventful. After 11 long hours we arrived in Tokyo to connect on JAL to Singapore. We had a 1 1/2 hour connection in Tokyo, which we needed to get to our next gate, it was a long walk
Another 7 1/2 hour flight and even though I took a sleeping pill did not get much of any kind of sleep. But again no complaints about Japan airlines.

We were very happy to arrive in Singapore just after midnight on October 4 th, losing a day in the process
While checking in for the flight in Vancouver the gate agent said we needed to download and fill in the health and Covid info app for Singapore. It was long and cumbersome but we managed to complete it just before boarding the plane so arrival in Singapore was easy. A scan of our passport and the official had all of our information in front of him, Covid vaccines etc, and in no time we were off to collect our bags.

Yotel was a very short walk located in the Jewel terminal and although each of our two rooms were very small, they were clean soundproof and the beds comfy. Money well spent
The Jewel is an area in the Singapore airport much like the blodel conservancy in Queen E park Vancouver. Lots of lush greenery and a waterfall that flows upside down but was not turned on yet. A very calming place

Day 1. October 4. We woke after a wonderful few hours of sleep and made the short walk to terminal one to find Scoot airlines. Checkin was very slick and easy, all done electronically. A bit of a walk and another electronic security and passport check and we were off to our gate , after a short caffeine stop at Starbucks

Our gate was the very last one, quite a long walk but we made sure we had lots of time. Good thing because when we got there I went to use my phone and it was nowhere to be found.
Panic set in. I retraced my steps and ended back at the security checkpoint but naturally could not go to the other side . There was an info desk so I asked the young woman to phone and see if it was found on the other side, which she did and told me to wait ten minutes
No. Nothing fitting that description

I hoofed it back to the gate, dug out my iPad, connected to Internet and signed onto “find my phone’ which I should have done to begin with but had decided to panic instead.

The app took me back to the info desk and showed that it was actually indeed located just a three minute walk on the other side of passport control. I showed the young man, he phoned over and lo and behold it was there. Apparently the first girl was checking at a different check in point. Gotta love technology. Another young man came through security and handed my phone to me, a very relieved and grateful woman I must say
I did my best impression of a fast speed walk back to the gate and arrived just in time to board the plane, a sweaty breathless mess, but a happy one. Thank goodness I allowed an hour to check in. A good lesson there.
Our Scoot flight was on time and uneventful, arriving in Denpasar a bit early.

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Photo is of Singapore harbour

I really don’t remember the order of the series of events as they happened, but after deplaning we came to an area where many tourists were gathered around an information board about how to fill in the PenduliLindungi arrival app. We tried for about five minutes with no success, I remembered that trip advisor folks said don’t worry about it, so told my crew to just forget it and we set off and found a woman sitting at a desk with a sign that said ‘ health check’ or something. I showed her the app on my phone, she just shook her head and said to pass her my passport and copies of my vaccine. Bing bang boom, and we are good to go

Another fellow directed us to the lineup for old people and families with children to get the Visa on arrival which was great cos the other lineup was huge

I think we picked up our luggage after that, then the customs form was filled out and after just over an hour and a bit we were outside the terminal. I may have missed a step but it was not too hard to figure out in the end

I have been to many airports in the world where you see folks holding up signs as a meet and greet but nothing like Bali. There were hundreds, eight deep in a long line of smiling faces holding up small signs and the passengers arriving doing the slow walk eagerly searching to recognize their own name

I finally saw mine, “Mrs Debbe” and after a smile and nod from me a lovely young man approached us and took one of our bags and whisked us away to the car park.

I booked this transfer last week with Klook ( again thanks TA) for only 200,000 IDR, ( $18cdn)

The drive to Tanah Lot took over 3 hours, traffic was especially bad he said, but we didn’t mind as we looked out the windows enjoying our first glimpse of Bali and all the buildings and temples along the way. We were finally here!

Arriving at Tanah Lot the car was stopped by an official to have us each pay 60,000 IDR as our hotel was very close to the temple and this was the entrance fee

A lovely young woman greeted us at Natya Tanah Lot hotel with a delicious and welcome glass of cold ginger, mint and lemongrass drink.
Both of our rooms were lovely very clean, spacious and a five minute walk to the temple. It was a great decision to spend the night here.

It is now 5PM, we are starving but decided to head to the beach right away before sunset. There were many people there of course but we were in awe of how beautiful it all was and hiked around to many different vantage points to take a lot of photos and enjoy the different views. We are all just so grateful to be here.
Dinner at the hotel and then an early night

Day 2, October 5
Woke to torrential rain so went for breakfast before heading back to the temple. This turned out to be a great decision because when we were done the rain stopped and we enjoyed the views with a different light with less people.

A car was arranged through our next hotel to pick us up at 11 to head north to Pemuteran. It was a very narrow twisty road through many hills with rain happening on and off throughout the journey. Seeing the many small towns and lush vegetation made the almost three hour drive very enjoyable. A welcome stop was at a small warung ( restaurant) on the way for some tea. It was located high in the hills overlooking a rice field and we took the opportunity to stretch our legs and walk on one of the terraces for a bit taking many photos
It is all so beautiful

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A couple more stops at some fruit stands to pick up papaya little bananas and mango and finally some 0 percent beer for me and regular for Lana at a small grocery store before we checked into our home for the next four nights
Amertha Bali Villas.
I had booked this almost two years ago Hard to believe it was only $128 a night

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It was just what I thought a villa in Bali should look like. We were so happy to be here
Two large bedrooms facing the private pool and patio area. There is a living room kitchen area between the bedrooms and two outdoor showers. The landscaping is gorgeous.
We were happy to spend the rest of the afternoon in the pool and lounge on our patio. Pure heaven

Dinner was at the hotel. It was okay. Not great but handy. An early night for us again

Day 3 October 6. Swam ate swam and ate again. Lunch consisted of fresh fruit, beer and taco chips. Dinner at the hotel was better tonight
A lovely relaxing day in paradise. Wifi is great. Weather was hot then wind cooled it down. It was sunny and rainy
A wonderful day

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October 7, day 3

What a great day. After breakfast we went on a snorkel tour to Menjangan island on a small motor boat with Karang divers who left from our resort There were four staff and the three of us who snorkelled with our own guide and there was also a guide for two divers who were from Germany.

We had two stops for an hour each with a break for lunch in the middle. Lots of coral, although disappointed the colors were not that bright, many colorful fish though. We also saw a few turtles and a couple of smaller sharks.

There was a bat cave in the cliff as well with hundreds of small fruit bats who were flitting about being very vocal.
The dark fringe around the mouth of the cave are the bats hanging upside down

It was around 1 pm when we returned and all had a nap for a couple hours this afternoon. After all that swimming we were tuckered out

Timo, one of the guys from Germany is staying at our resort so we invited him to join us for dinner at ‘Joes’ a small place close by that advertised live music on Friday nights.

The food was wonderful, great conversation and the band was fantastic. Four young Balinese men who had such a huge library of music and the lead singer had an amazing voice with incredible range. Their name was ‘Fly’ and their set was two hours or more.

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October 8 day 4

On the beach next to our place is Biorock coral reef structures. Doug and I walked over and I snorkelled around while he swam. Interesting place. They are trying to build up the coral reef again which has been destroyed both by man but mostly by global warming. They have built a hundred metal structures and domes under the water and have them connected to electricity powered by windmill and solar. The chemical reaction to the metal is a good environment to have the coral grow. There are 16 projects in Indonesia so far and it helps keep the beaches from eroding when you have coral reefs. This is all run as an NGO and by volunteers.
This is me dressed to snorkel so I don’t get fried in the heat

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Later a lunch of fruit, ice cold zero beer, peanuts and taco chips on our patio. Yum
Followed by Swimming and relaxing at our pool.

Tonight we went with Timo to D’Buco for dinner and it was fantastic. Down some back alleys, hard to find but worth it. Appy ,main ,dessert and beer or soft drink for around $15. Tomorrow we say goodbye to this amazing villa and head off to Ubud.