This, my first JBR is supposed to be in six parts, so here we go.
I had an approximately 10 hours flight (thank you winds, for once you were blowing the correct way) on Thai from Stockholm to Bangkok in the half full and thus rather spacey 18 seats business class, then a few hours of waiting at Bangkok Airport. So what to do there as I had been eating and had been 'watered' quite well during the flight? The solution was some shopping. After browsing to pass time, I bought a 1 GB Memory Stick for my Sony Cybershot at approximately 1.500.000 Rupiahs and that was a good decision, since the largest Memory Stick I came across in Bali was 512 Mb at almost the same price (Kartika Mall). A Memory Stick, however, tends to follow some sort of 'market price' (like lobsters) but for the size of the memory, I think it was quite a good price although not marvellous. Besides that, I received some stamps in a card. They were a kind of a bonus that I saved and collected on the way home, making substantial savings on My Bottle to bring home.
After another 4 hours in a 25 percent occupied, much larger business class cabin I arrived in Bali on the 18th of May, walked through the airport amazing maze down to Immigration and found that they were still processing the Malaysian Airlines flight that was already taxiing to take off when my Thai flight landed. Not until then did I realise that I should be pleased with the slight delay in Bangkok as I prefer to sit in the comfort of a plane rather than standing in a never ending queue. As a Swedish citizen I had my visa already in the passport but the processing was still longish. I, however, quickly picked up the speed at arrival, as with only hand luggage I just went past the surprised man at Customs who merely said 'Hello' and smiled at this fast moving traveller and out I went to the waiting driver, who had been there for quite a while as he wanted to be on time. Despite the delay he was all smiles and remained like that through all the travels I did with him.
I normally test my driver on the airport - hotel run. Quite a few have failed already on the short stint (for instance in June 2004 one managed to stop in such a way that I was near falling into an open sewer with lots of black liquid, once probably water) but this guy was a real exception. Throughout my stay in Bali he proved punctual, extremely well organised and providing lots of information. When travelling alone it is absolutely essential that the chemistry between the driver and the passenger works extremely well and this driver was an absolute gem. Since he is heavily booked to the end of the year, his name shall remain my well kept secret as I want to keep his driving skills for me only to have, then and there. Am I selfish? Of course I am, but I think we all have our secrets that we do not share.
Well, I arrived without hiccups at the Ramada Bintang Bali Resort. I was very surprised that the car was not stopped at the gate for the normal check. After having signed but not checked in, the real hiccups started - hiccups that lasted for a week until I eventually left prematurely. The Ramada story shall be a JBR of its own, as the file is too extensive (and too sad, for that matter) to be included here. Do, however, beware as the Ramada is not what it seems to be from brochures, previous visits of other Forumites and travel agency promotions.
The remainder of the first day was spent unpacking, taking a long, brisk walk along the beach to successfully get rid of the so called jetlag and saying 'Hello' to friends among the hawkers. It was also necessary, I felt, to have a curious look at the inside of the Kartika Mall and my only comment is that it is huge, somewhat out of place in Bali to say the least, full of shops for all tastes, prices quite on the expensive side as well as noisy. That there is an amusements area as well as an indoors stage does not help as to noise, especially not if there is some sort of a musical (?) band enticing and entertaining (?) customers. One of the escalators touch down where one can buy Hatten wines, and the staff is very helpful as I was offered to taste before buying. One can also get wine and stronger drinks in the supermarket in the basement, although prices are on the expensive side. The Mall is, however, an oasis as the air-con is good despite the heat outdoors. And the restrooms are still (in May) in mint condition despite the hordes of youths trying to find out if it is possible to wash a T-shirt with the liquid soap provided and then dry it in the hot air from the automatic hand dryers (yes, it is possible but it is time consuming). These very young (mostly) boys seem to have a joy of a lifetime and thus the restrooms attract as much people as the amusement area on the top floor. I am sure the mothers are happy to meet their children in clean T-shirts despite a full day of play in the wet sand on the beach. Thus the Kartika Mall must have an unexpected but important role to fill in the Balinese society. Well, there was an older (at least not a teenager) guy trying to wash off a temporary tattoo, however with no real success. It was all very entertaining. Simple people enjoy simple joys.
Anyway, after all these thrilling impressions as well as the long flight, I went to the Impala Restaurant for a slight dinner, a dinner which was not really necessary as one gets well fed and 'watered' during my flight. So the dinner was more about lots of mutual smiles, small talk and 'welcome back' from the ever friendly staff at the Impala, than about eating although I managed a mixed satay and some brown liquid, i.e. beer. Lots of food makes during the belly roomier, doesn't it? And after three weeks in Bali I discovered that there is the same wood in the wardrobes as at home because the clothes do shrink in them in Bali, too. Eventually I made it back to the hotel for what I had hoped to become an early and good night's sleep which did not really materialise, again because of the miserable standard/layout of the Ramada.
To be continued.