Bali - 1

Ah! Bali. How do I even start writing about my whirlwind trip to the charming island? A place which is special to me now, for various reasons. 

I have been meaning to visit Bali from almost the time I came to Singapore. I had heard much about its beauty, exotic locales and the beautiful people. Needless to say, I was itching to see for myself this paradise, which conveniently is just a 2.5 hour flight from Singapore. Its things like these, which makes me feel very happy about staying in Singapore. Singapore is located in such a strategic location in South-east asia that any place is just a short flight away. You name it - Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Hong Kong & China. Even the western parts of Australia also for that matter. Strong presence of three budget airlines - AirAsia, Tiger and JetStar serving most of these destinations ensures that it is not hard to clinch a good deal on the airfare from Singapore.

So when my friend sent me an message informing me of 70 dollar (all inclusive) return fare to Bali, I jumped at the chance and booked tickets almost immediately. Initially I was a bit apprehensive about going on a trip with people whom I did not know all that well, but then isn't that how friendship grows from a formal "Hello! How are you?" to a casual "Stop eating me head you ass!" :P Anyway, I am so glad I did go on the trip.

I love traveling with AirAsia. I haven't had any problems with them so far and I think the combination of Red with Black upholstery inside the cabin looks very classy. Yes, that is how I choose which airline I want to travel with - choice of colours :P

Anyway, I am digressing. Lets get back to Bali. It looks like the runway of Ngurah Rai international airport at Bali has actually been built on reclaimed land. The runway almost entirely juts out into the sea. So, when our flight was approaching the landing, it looked like we were going to land right over the water. Its just at the last moment, I spotted the tarmac below. Perfect landing. The buildings of the airport have been built in the typical Balinese architecture. Infact most of the houses and old buildings in Bali have a conical roof. A unique thing I noticed about these conical roofs is that the base of all these  cones were squares. I hardly ever spotted a rectangle. Err.... I just reread what I have written and it sounds so geeky. No wonder things like this happen.

Indians are eligible for an on arrival visa to enter Indonesia. I was already mentally prepared for long queues at the immigration. Surprisingly it was super fast and very efficient. Btw, do you people know what is the coolest thing in the whole wide world? Its the automatic immigration machines at Changi airport. Oh dear lord! God bless Changi  airport and Singapore. It took me less than 10 seconds to clear immigration.

We had already booked our accommodation. Our hotel was very conveniently located along Jln Legian, which has shops and restaurants on either sides, is a very charming place. It has many famous brands lined up alongside quaint little shops selling artifacts and other cutesy stuff. I would personally love to walk along Jln Legian on a day just randomly looking around and wandering around such shops at my own pace. Perfect for a relaxed day with nice weather. Speaking of weather, Bali has a very tropical climate and is quite hot during the daytime. But the humidity is much less when compared to Singapore.

The first day was spent just roaming around our hotel, visiting the beach and restaurants. Actually, Bali is a great place for surfing. One will find lots of people doing that. Kuta beach is the place to be to see people surfing. Infact, many famous surfing brands have a presence in Kuta/Legian.

More in the next post. In the meanwhile, here is a teaser.