Indonesia, Day 1 Bangkok to Denpasar

Saturday May 21st.

Today was a travel and organization day. I was up early for an included breakfast and a shuttle ride back to the airport. My flight left at 8:30am and arrived in Bali by 2:00 local time (one hour ahead of Bangkok). I am now exactly half a day ahead of everyone back home. The flight was half empty and I had three seats to myself. I read a lot and listened to music.

I was picked up at the airport and taken to my new hotel. It is a beautiful modern resort type hotel. Denise and I booked it not really knowing what was in the area or what there was to do in Bali. So we just booked two nights here. I'm glad that's all we booked. The hotel is great but the area is so-so and not what I expected here. The nearest beach is about five minutes away and not really nice. The next one is about a twenty minute walk and again, not really scenic and full of locals.

I walked around exploring and checking out the beaches before heading back to the hotel to read the brochures I had picked up at the airport about things to do in Bali. There are lots of tours, but most don't appeal to me as they include crafty type things like jewelry shops and batik making and wood carving. Or things like a zoo, or marine park or river rafting. I want to visit the cultural sites and see a couple of famous local dances. So, I went back to a local travel agent man that I had asked questions about earlier in the day, about renting a scooter and where the best beaches were. I have arranged to hire a private guide and car to take me to five or six sites that interest me, temples, caves, bats, dances, things like that. So, tomorrow should be a good day. After that I'm going to hire a scooter again and explore the island by myself for four days. Looking forward to that.

After booking the tour, I came back to the hotel and swam ten lengths in there beautiful long swimming pool and then had dinner in the restaurant here. I asked the waitress what was a good Balinese meal and tried what she recommended, but I didn't like it much. Updated, read and bed.