Bali Goodbye
Trip Start
Mar 08, 2011
1
14
Trip End
Mar 25, 2011
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Our pickup for the airport is not until 12:30 p.m., our flight leaves at 4:00 p.m. for the 6 hour flight to Taipei. We enjoy our last meal at the breakfast buffet (Al is really going to miss this, and I am going to miss heaping plates of exotic fruit). We head back to the room to do our packing, as we did not buy too much this is an easy job. I brought clothes that Aedyn had outgrown as well as colored pencils and I leave these and all of my pocketbooks along with our tip for the cleaning staff that have done such a good job on our room (towel service 2 and 3 times a day). We have a little time to enjoy the beauty of our patio and the exotic flowers. I checked the weather report and it is cold and still snowing in Calgary, this is going to be hard to go back to.
All too soon it is back to the confusion of the airport. Our ticket agent tells us our bags are going right to Calgary (which proves to be wrong). Once through ticketing we have to find the booth to pay the departure tax. When checking the web I found much incorrect information about this so here is the scoop for any of you planning on going to Bali. It is $25.00 US each to enter the country (purchase a Visa when landing). This can only be paid in CASH (either US dollars or Rupiah). When departing the fee is $20.00 each US (or equivalent amount in Rupiah). No Credit cards, CASH ONLY so make sure you have enough US cash to get out of the country and spend all of your rupiah before leaving the country. Credit cards are welcome at most restaurants, larger stores, at your hotel, for excursions etc. I thought I would be using my US cash more, but most times I was quoted in Rupiah and this seems to be everyone's first choice for payment. At your hotel you can just sign anything to your room (Internet charges, meals, drinks etc) and pay at the end of your stay. All the rooms have a safe so it was nice not having to worry about carrying too much cash and we got by with just photocopies of our passports when out for the day. Taxis are very cheap in Bali, and it is easy to rent one for the day and they will take you wherever you want and wait for you until you are ready to head back. The Blue taxis are metered, many other taxis are available but are not metered so make sure you settle on the cost before getting into one of these. If I was to return to Bali I would rent a driver for a day or 1/2 day to take me to other areas that I would like to spend time in: like Ubud for shopping or Kuta for Dining and night life.
Our flight to Taipei is long and agonizing. It is a full flight, with many Taiwanese returning home. The Taiwanese are great shoppers so the overhead bins are stuffed to bursting. I have the worst flying experience I have ever had. The two people seated in front of us have the strongest body odor imaginable and there were no other seats to move to. I am fortunate that I do not have a strong sense of smell but Al (who has the nose of a bloodhound) really suffered. Before we determined where the unpleasant odor was coming from Al made me take of my sandals so he could check the soles as he was convinced I had stepped into manure. Al turned our air conditioning on so that it blew in their direction which made the two of them very unhappy but Al refused to relent. By the end of the flight I was sitting with a napkin over my face trying not to breath deep - it was so unpleasant.
We arrive in Taipei with a couple of hours to spend exploring the Duty Free which helped to kill the two hour wait. Our Taipei flight was a connection for people flying from Delhi to Vancouver so it was packed to overflowing and I am sure there was at least a 100 kids on this flight. Our flight departure was delayed so you can imagine the state the children were in by the time we finally got on board. Once again the overhead bins were jam packed with luggage that I am sure must have been over the limit. People were standing on the arms of the seats cramming stuff into the bins, I have never seen anything like it and I was just praying my camera would make it though undamaged. Not a single seat to spare on this flight either, and much grumbling about the lack of TVs and the stingy wine service. Eventually most fell asleep (the beauty of a late night flight) and I managed a few hours of sleep as well. When we arrive in Vancouver we must go through customs but they have a new automated system in place which really speeds things up. It is at this point that we discover that we have to find our luggage and recheck it for our flight to Calgary. By the time we finally do this and find the Westjet counter time is running short on our connection time and there are only two Westjet employees on duty and a long line of people in front of us. When it becomes apparent that we will never get through this line in time I go to the front of the line and beg the employee to let us jump the line. I am sure I am looking pretty travel weary by this point so he takes pity on us and lets us in next. Even so he warns us that we have to haul it to the gate as we still have to go through security and we have about 10 minutes before our flight loads. Of course our gate is about as far away as it could possibly be and Al and I look like we should be on the Amazing Race as we run up escalators and down hallways looking for our gate. Fortunately at this late point there is no lineup at security so that is quick, we pick up our carry on and once again start running. I can only imagine how I look when I run up to the counter and ask if we are in time. After this mad dash through the airport we find out that our flight is delayed and our plane has not even arrived yet (would you not think they would know this in the ticketing area). For sure Al will need knee surgery after this run through the airport. Al is off to look for water as we sit panting, grateful that we did not miss our final flight. It is after 2 in the morning by the time we drive through Calgary snow and arrive home, grateful to climb into bed to dream of beautiful Bali.
Things I would do differently:
- We had 12 nights in Bali. For a first time trip I would have preferred 14 or 15 as with our many side trips we could have used a few more days to just relax. We met many people who had been to Bali before and were now returning for a shorter visit usually 5 days as a stopover after exploring South East Asia.
- Although we had a lovely garden view I think I would have preferred an ocean view as we had many rain storms where we spent time on our balcony
- No skimping on the heavy duty sunscreen, and nice smelling bug repellent as the mosquito's ate me alive, especially during the evening dining outside
- More spa treatments, this is the true bargain of this island
- Bring a candle holder and nice smelling tea lights (or buy them in Bali). Because of the high humidity even in newer resorts rooms have a moldy smell. This is dissipated somewhat when you turn on the air conditioner but it still smells.
- For sure bring more than one bathing suit as nothing drys fast in this humidity
- We bought travel underwear and I wished for more as it was much cooler than regular cotton underwear and dried faster.
- Pack light, laundry service is available everywhere and is inexpensive.
- Bring a nice sundress from home, as sundresses here are of poor quality and are ill fitting. A gorgeous dress to purchase here is of hand make lace, available in many styles from very plain to wedding dresses, available in long and short styles. This lace style is also available in jackets, blouses, tank tops, all of it gorgeous and considering the quality very reasonably priced.
- Buy Balinese silver jewelry - it is unique and well worth the money
- Buy duty free wine and spirits to bring with you, worth carrying as you will not be able to afford it in Bali. If you have room (and enough weight allowance) pack boxed wine from home into your suitcase.
- Eat outside of your hotel as much as possible. There is a huge variety of restaurants to choose from and all are very competitive and most will pick you up and take you back to your hotel.
- Internet is reasonably priced and wireless available everywhere. Next visit I would buy a SIMM card for my phone.
- If at all possible include a stopover as this is a very long flight. We enjoyed our stopover in Taipei, next time I would make the stopover two days. It breaks up the journey and helps you start to adjust to the major time change. We met many people that had planned a stopover in Hong Kong or Singapore (both on my list of places to visit).
- Bring more than one credit card in case the ATM eats one
- Rainy season does mean rain. If you are going in the rainy season try to time it for the end of that season. High season (more expensive but less rain) is June - Sept. Bigger crowds during these months but the temperatures go down to the mid 20's versus the above 30 everyday that we had. There are drawbacks to both seasons so decide what is important to you. We were surprised how many people where here in the rainy season, I can only imagine how busy it would be in high season.
Comments
Wonderful blog Jillian! I enjoyed my trip to Bali (via your writings) and I'm very glad you are both home safe and sound!
Cheers!
L