Ballin' in Bali

Our exotic holiday in Bali started with our first experience on Dutch Royal Airlines (KLM). Without fawning over the exceptional service, nicely prepared food, and free cocktails - I will say it's one of the best airlines I've ever flown on and the best part is that we got Delta SkyMiles for it!

Now, as an American, I have found that many have heard of Bali, but some might not know exactly where it is. We may know it's exotic and tropical and on the other side of the world and, thus, assume it's in the South Pacific, like Fiji or Bora Bora. Well, I realized I haven't embedded a map in a while and this may be the perfect opportunity, so here it is:

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Bali is one of the many islands that make up the rugged and geologically active Indonesian Archipelago and is the first stop Jen or I have ever made south of the Equator. It's got volcanoes and beautiful beaches and was a great place to relax and get away from it all. However, getting in and out of the country can be a little hectic.

Bali is a place that is making the most of tourism. Having said that, for anyone reading this that may be planning on going, there are some things you might want to know before you get on a plane. After landing and before reaching immigration, you must pay $10 US to get a coupon that then allows you to get an Indonesian visa. We were not aware of this and waited in line for immigration twice - once without the coupon and once with it. The thing literally says that it's "$10 US". We were pretty much the only white people without an Australian accent and found it a little strange that they use the USD as a benchmark on the other side of the globe. Does every culture carry greenbacks around when traveling internationally? We're Americans and we didn't even have any US Dollars. I remembered I gave my last $3 to our driver/porter in Vietnam as a tip (he was the little guy in the picture)... but luckily they let us pay in Singapore Dollars.

Once you're out of the airport, there's a very long taxi queue where you pre-pay for a taxi - the price depending on what town you're staying in. For us to get to the Westin Nusa Dua, it cost 95,000RP ($10 US). Again, since it was our first time in Bali, we didn't know any better because everyone was in the queue. Had we known, we would have flagged down our own cab because it cost only 75,000RP to get back to airport from the hotel - and that was WITH a decent tip. We did get a little even, though - the first taxi driver outright asked us for a tip and we gave him the equivalent of 30 cents (he scoffed at this, but we were too tired to care). I figure, if I have to pre-pay for a cab ride... you don't get a tip. If I don't see the meter running, fuggedaboudit!

So, despite the frustration with transportation and more crazy SE Asia traffic, paradise awaited us. The Westin Nusa Dua Resort is spectacular! Great food, amazing service, friendly staff, and a bed you could sleep for days on end in. So what would you guess was the first thing we did after checking in? Well, being south of the Equator, we immediately went into the bathroom and flushed the toilet to see which way the water swirled. I kid you not! Unfortunately, the toilets they have don't swirl, so I guess we'll just have to plan another trip somewhere in the southern hemisphere to get our empirical proof.

The resort wasn't packed, but it was definitely a very popular spot for families. It's also very popular with people from Russian-speaking countries. Normally, I would assume that all people who speak Russian are from Russia; however my new friends Zoia and Zhanar at GSU who are from Moldova and Kazakhstan, respectively, have enlightened me (Privet, ladies!). After some thought, it became clear why Bali would be popular with Russian-speaking tourists... can you imagine what the weather is like in THAT part of the world right now?? Brrrrrrrr! There were also a large number of Aussie tourists, but Australia is relatively close so it made sense.

The beaches of Bali are gorgeous, you just have to heed the warnings not to swim past red buoys due to sea urchins and jellies - which was a first for us, so we spent most of our time at the humongous Westin pool. The pool and ocean were as warm, if not warmer, than bathwater. We actually got OUT of the water to cool off, but most of the lounge chairs are cooled underneath tiki huts or umbrellas - each with a flag that can be raised to signal the waitstaff you need a drink. Speaking of libations, the main beer in Indonesia is Bintang Pilsner, which seems to be very popular (considering the number of Bintang labeled tank tops I saw for sale) but I didn't think it was very good. However, I discovered another beer that is brewed in Bali - Storm Ale - that I enjoyed immensely and wish I could find in the States.

The Bali weather is hot and humid under the equatorial sun, but it never rained until the day we left... however,when it rains in Bali, the droplets are so large its deafening. It rained so much water in a few hours that the carp ponds near the pool actually began flooding into the open air restaurant where we were eating lunch.

On Saturday, Jen and I went to Kuta, the main tourist and entertainment district of Bali. Overall, Kuta is not a quiet place and it was packed with shoppers perusing the local shops. There were tons of surfers and high-end surf shops, but we were left wondering why as we stood on the sands of Kuta Beach and gazed upon gently toppling waves that a body-boarder could barely love. However, it was nice to get off the resort and see something new to the island. While at Kuta, I made my obligatory Hard Rock Cafe stop and the attached hotel with its massive pool and real sand beach.

Bali itself is an odd mix of ancient traditional architecture and contemporary buildings.There are many beautiful, ornate temples and statues, but it seems little is being done to preserve any of it. Jen and I had seriously considered booking some sort of excursion to the larger northern portion of the island to see the volcanoes, but the traffic is so crazy that it takes an hour to only go 8 miles to the airport from where we were staying. So we decided to just make it a lazy Christmas by the pool and on the beach - a decision that turned out just perfectly.

Unfortunately, the journey out of Indonesia was as frustrating as the journey in. It started with an oddly curious ticketing agent who lingered with our passports and wanted to know when we were going back to US... like it was any of his business. He actually asked to see our tickets back to the US and kept speaking Indonesian to a security agent behind him who was also eye-ing our passports. Talk about unnerving! Then the agent proceeded to spend more time looking at our (used and expired) Vietnamese visas than the one his country issued us on the next page.The fun didn't stop there, though. As we proceeded through immigration on the way to the gate, we were asked for 150,000RP each to be allowed to leave. The last time I saw this kind of racket was in St. Kitts as Jen and I were trying desperately to get off the island and they wanted something like $45 US. Not that I'm interested in finding this out personally, but what happens when you don't have the money to leave? Our Indonesian visas said that we were not allowed to remain in country past Dec 29, so what happens if we don't have the money and that day comes and goes? Are we cast off into some tourists purgatory to await judgment? Point is, if you go to Bali - have US$ on you for the way in and a couple thousand Rupiah for the way out. Regardless, if you find yourself on this side of the globe, Bali is worth a stop-over - especially if you want to relax and enjoy the sun.