|
|
||||||
| Author : GEORDIEandVIRGINIA | Diary name : Gullibles_Travels | ||
| 27 Mar 2004 : Bali - Indonesia | |||
| Shipwreck | |||
| Well, after so much planning we finally made it! Nathan and Sue run this site and it’s actually partly because of them that we are here in Bali today. We first met Nathan and Sue at a resort in Bandusia in the lower Hunter Valley. Over dinner they and another couple were sitting there talking about all these amazing places around the world they have been. After dinner Virginia said to me "that’s it we're going". Myself always up for a good argument said "OK". I mean, this is something we have always wanted to do but somehow it is easy to find reasons to put it off. The new gym membership you have just taken, the job opportunity. Reality is perhaps that there will never be a perfect time to go. You will always leave behind great friendships and couch bum grooves that you almost had perfect. Our dilemma had been, do we pay an extra $800 dollars each to fly Singapore Airlines instead of Goober Indonesia. I thought it was an easy choice - that’s 1600 chocolate bars at stake here which is a serious matter. Think of the starving people in Africa I said. We asked around, First 2 friends Virginia asked said "They're all crap flying economy class but Garuda is less crap than some others...". Another friend I asked said "Their planes still have wet paint when they crash". I forgot to tell that one to Virginia till after we bought the tickets. Well, the flight was great. The plane started and finished in one piece, food was good and landing perfect. In flight entertainment was good too. Couldn't see what the movie was but there was a very large woman who made repeated attempts to fit into the toilet cubicle opposite us. Cubicle 5, Lady 0. Bali airport was interesting. First you paid your 25 dollars for a receipt. Then you took your receipt to another window and swapped your receipt for a visa. Then you took your dignity to a third window where a man checked that you had played the shell game successfully. I heard an American lady in line next to us say "Why can't we just do the whole lot at one window?". Americans. They just don't get it. Then on to baggage collection. Virginia by this time had to pee of course so left me in charge of retrieving our bags. A large group of us waited and waited. I entertained myself by watching this rather wide kid like the one that went for a swim in Charlie and the Chocolate factory poke his head through the end of the conveyor belt to see what was on the other side. Dormant chainsaws probably. All of a sudden he said "Dad, I can see our bags, they're loading them back on to the cart. Oh look now they're driving away." Pandemonium ensues as we all rush the door to the conveyor loading area. We couldn't find anyone that would understand what the problem was so we charged on in. All of a sudden a guy in a uniform turned up and tried to tell us off for being there. The fat kid’s dad protested about his bags driving away and the uniform guy said "Too late they are going on the plane to Jakarta." More pandemonium. The Fat kid is running off down the runway after his bags. Fat kid's dad starts yelling. More Aussies crowd into the hangar asking for their bags. Uniform guy suddenly decides we have a point. We retrieve the bags. I wait for Virginia. She gets back - "Did you get the bags ok?" Hotel we are staying at is nice and close to the beach. We walked down to the beach and it was covered in rubbish. If it wasn't for the surf crashing I would have thought I had arrived at the tip. While at the beach there were about 7-8 Balinese people who came up to us trying to sell watches "cheep cheep very cheep" and all sorts of trinkets. I was trying to figure out how to say no in a language they could understand when Virginia broke the ice by letting her sarong fall. Or at least she says it was the safety pin. Anyway, better go and have dinner. Miss you all. G | |||