Breakfast was provided by our friendly airport cafe and consisted of Nasi Lemak (for myself) and toast with runny eggs (for Lean). Now normally the time taken to be served isn't really much of a concern but having timed things to perfection it was definitely NOT the time for the service to be slow. With about 45 minutes to eat and get to our departure gate I (naively) thought this would be plenty of time. Half an hour later we only had our drinks, needless to say the food was eaten at a speed approaching some kind of record. On a plus side, it was the first time hearing my name being called in an airport informing me that it was the last call.
Swallowing masticated egg and toast we raced (waddled, we were wearing flip flops after all!) to the departure lounge. As we reached the security check we tried to move as quickly as possible without rousing any suspicion of ulterior motives; would have been just our luck to have a 'random' screening...
Sitting comfortably in our seats we set about sleep and digestion. The trip was several hours and it flew by (pun definitely intended :) ). As we got closer to our destination of Bali we saw a cheeky mountain top peaking through the clouds; a pimple on the clear heavenly landscape of clouds outstretched before us.
Coming in to land in Bali I got the distinct impression we were going for a water landing and the pilot had neglected to inform us, but apparently the runway was right next to the sea and we touched down just shy of the end of the runway; at least thats how it looked from our position. With a nerve wracking landing we disembarked to the wonderful hot and humid weather of Bali. Strolling through the tiled airport we were greeted by a constant supply of guards who guided us to the visa queues (yay!). Having been unaware of the visa I needed to pay I was less than thrilled when it turned out to be $25... with this visa in pocket I set about the long task of making my way through immigration; I really shudder to think how much of my holiday was spent being given the once over by immigration staff :).
As Lena patiently waited for me to appear, bleary-eyed from security, she had proactively collected the luggage so we could just stroll straight out of the arrivals lounge into the waiting masses. First thing we spotted was Lena's friends driver, Made (pronounced mar-day) who had been waiting for us for around an hour. Having been quite delayed coming out of arrivals our first port of call was to pick up auntie Denise's son Rudetia (I know for a fact I have spelt this wrong, Lena, when you see this chastise me and correct the spelling :p).
Straying out of the airport we got our first taste of life in Indonesia, and let me tell you, its dominated by motorcycles. With the roads being what they are in Bali it is far, far, far (far, I tell you!) easier to travel via motorcycle. No sooner had we ventured out of the car park, we were surrounded by all manner of motorbike, with all manner of rider; the easiest ones to spot were the backpackers who had their bags as their riding mates... For around half an hour we travelled the roads, encountering few vehicles with more than 2 wheels. Upon reaching Rudetia's school we picked him and his friend up and headed back off to what would be our home for the next few days.
On our travels back to our accommodation we dropped off Rudetia's friend who kindly invited us in to see a traditional Balinese house; the best way to describe the style of house is open plan. The house was spread across a large area with rooms separated by grass and open air. The dining room was completely open with a roof; must have been amazing in the summer evenings but an absolute pain during the rainy seasons. Despite this little niggle it was an amazing house and was SO different to anything I had seen before I was quite taken aback; it also raised questions about where we would be staying...
With anticipation and excitement dancing through my head as we made the decidedly shorter journey to our final destination the trip seemed far longer. Pulling into the garage I couldn't quite figure out what I should expect. Coming through the adjoining door we were greeted by a pool separating 2 buildings. As we were to decipher, one of the buildings was for guests; more specifically, us! As we came in we were greeted by Denise and her husband Silvio who showed us around our private little building, with its own en suite and the only air conditioning unit in their whole complex (score!). Their house was impressive, but a lot more centralised than the more traditional house we saw earlier in the day; it had 2 floors but felt as breezy as the open plan house.
In addition to being shown around the house we were introduced to the 4-legged family members, a collection of 4 female dogs; 95, Ski, Ski's mum and a 4th who's name eludes me at this time. As we were being introduced we began talking of the evenings activities; having spent such a disproportionate amount of time travelling and queueing meant that most of the day was already gone. With Silvio providing us with maps and advice we decided to head down into the nearby town of Ubud to see what the nightlife had in store for us. With a traditional Balinese dinner waiting for us when we got back it was hard to resist our hunger pangs as we walked down into the town centre.
As we trekked from the house (called the 'BALI PATHFINDER') we came across 2 temples as we came to the main road. Something we noticed as we walked was the abundance of small, square, plates that seemed to adorn almost all houses, temples and stores. Note to self: find out what they are.
Having made it to the main road we managed to make it about 100m before the allure of Bali satay enticed us in. Buying 10 sticks we stood tantalisingly close as the boy grilled the skewers to perfection. As I tucked into the satay I noticed a distinctly different taste and texture to those sampled in Malaysia; thinking it was a difference you would expect to find I continued eating. Shortly after finishing Lena informed me that it was almost certainly not meat but rather bits and pieces of the animal (which animal, she refused to elaborate on) that you would't normally define as meat.
With my appetite now set to cautious we carried on down the road. Having not made it too far down the road I was quite surprised at how quickly the night had drawn in around us. Finding ourselves standing on the dark street with a slew of motorbikes flowing around us we decided that venturing outside of the lights was probably a quick way to get ourselves lost. With weary legs we called it a night, not before grabbing a grape yoghurt smoothie thing from outside one of the convenience stores.
Oooh, that reminds me: Circle K. Like the Pepsi & Coke wars the 24hr convenience store battle was being waged in Asia with Circle K taking the title in Bali. To be honest the difference between the stores is visual alone, with both offering what you would expect in the respective countries. Aside over, back to the main narrative!
As we came back to the Bali Pathfinder on the less favourable uphill slope we had to fight the tiredness and lethargy that plagued us. Beds called us with their inviting song but first, dinner. A nice traditional meal was prepared when we got back and we tucked into some very fragrant and flavourful dishes. Sadly my favourite piece of food was fried, curse my love of fat!
With dinner over we retired to our bed, preparing ourselves for the long day ahead!
No comments:
Post a Comment