Posts
Bali Bound
11:16
'Post Arak Punch Paul' was a sight to behold, breakfast was a chore and the speedboat to Wakai wasn't a fun endeavour. The plan following the cancelled ferry was to head back to Ampana where we would jump in a car to Palu to catch a flight to Bali. Simple! After an uncomfortable slumber on the Captains floor on the ferry, we jumped in our car in Ampana which was more than a little snug. The driver tried to tell us another person would be joining us which raised a great deal of protest ad between us we paid for the seventh seat in the car!
We began our 11 hour drive with little to report until quite far in our driver began to close his eyes, slightly worrying at the best of times but more so when he is meant to be navigating winding mountain passes bordered on one side by a sheer drop! To help him stay awake we let him put his music on, an interesting assortment of 80's classics and the Vengaboy's greatest hits! We arrived in Palu at 4am where we dropped Pascal and Gégé and made our way to the airport which didn't open until 5am - I found myself sleeping on the second floor of the day!
Despite the actual airport opening at five o'clock, the ticket offices didn't open until seven o'clock - more waiting! More bad news came when they finally did open, there were no available flights to Bali that day - slightly enraged, we bought flights to Makassar with a connection to Bali the following day. Unfortunately, flight number one wasn't until 2:30pm which meant another five hours of waiting on a fly infested floor, I was less than impressed! When the time came, the flight was fairly painless, we whipped through the airport, hopped in a taxi and head to Hotel Lestari followed by pizza and an attempt to organise my life back home online to no avail! Bed beckoned and I said goodbye to Audrey, Julie and Karine and settled down to watch some TV!
The next morning I littered around and made the mistake of watching a National Geographic about 'BA Flight 9', a flight almost brought down over Indonesia due to volcanic ash - winning plan pre-flight! I checked out and made my way to Makassar Mall where I planned to catch a bus to the airport, unfortunately, the mall was engulfed in flames and pandemonium filled the streets. After some struggling I managed to through myself on a bus airport bound where I was the highlight of the locals journey - one woman asked me to marry her! Awkward! After some more pottering and potentially the worlds shortest flight, I was in Denpassar, Bali with a return ticket to Luaban Bajo, Flores. From the airport I grabbed a taxi to Kuta and ended up ini Poppies 1 in search of a hotel. I finally settled in Berlian Inn where I got there version of a penthouse! First impressions of Kuta aren't good, it's full of obnoxious Bogan Australians and scummy families, I might as well have been in Benidorm!
I spent the evening roaming the streets and got massively lost! The streets are ridiculously confusing and there are no landmarks to base yourself on, any sense of direction counts for little in the claustrophobic backstreets! One striking thing about Bali is that despite Indonesia's apparent loathing of drugs and severe penalties for anyone caught with them - they are worryingly available on the streets. In about 40 minutes I must have been offered a small plantations worth of marijuana! This place just oozes class...
Day two in Kuta was spent looking for a cheaper hotel with limited results, high season cometh! I also booked a car for when I return from Luaban Bajo so I could explore a little more of the island at my own pace!
We began our 11 hour drive with little to report until quite far in our driver began to close his eyes, slightly worrying at the best of times but more so when he is meant to be navigating winding mountain passes bordered on one side by a sheer drop! To help him stay awake we let him put his music on, an interesting assortment of 80's classics and the Vengaboy's greatest hits! We arrived in Palu at 4am where we dropped Pascal and Gégé and made our way to the airport which didn't open until 5am - I found myself sleeping on the second floor of the day!
Despite the actual airport opening at five o'clock, the ticket offices didn't open until seven o'clock - more waiting! More bad news came when they finally did open, there were no available flights to Bali that day - slightly enraged, we bought flights to Makassar with a connection to Bali the following day. Unfortunately, flight number one wasn't until 2:30pm which meant another five hours of waiting on a fly infested floor, I was less than impressed! When the time came, the flight was fairly painless, we whipped through the airport, hopped in a taxi and head to Hotel Lestari followed by pizza and an attempt to organise my life back home online to no avail! Bed beckoned and I said goodbye to Audrey, Julie and Karine and settled down to watch some TV!
The next morning I littered around and made the mistake of watching a National Geographic about 'BA Flight 9', a flight almost brought down over Indonesia due to volcanic ash - winning plan pre-flight! I checked out and made my way to Makassar Mall where I planned to catch a bus to the airport, unfortunately, the mall was engulfed in flames and pandemonium filled the streets. After some struggling I managed to through myself on a bus airport bound where I was the highlight of the locals journey - one woman asked me to marry her! Awkward! After some more pottering and potentially the worlds shortest flight, I was in Denpassar, Bali with a return ticket to Luaban Bajo, Flores. From the airport I grabbed a taxi to Kuta and ended up ini Poppies 1 in search of a hotel. I finally settled in Berlian Inn where I got there version of a penthouse! First impressions of Kuta aren't good, it's full of obnoxious Bogan Australians and scummy families, I might as well have been in Benidorm!
I spent the evening roaming the streets and got massively lost! The streets are ridiculously confusing and there are no landmarks to base yourself on, any sense of direction counts for little in the claustrophobic backstreets! One striking thing about Bali is that despite Indonesia's apparent loathing of drugs and severe penalties for anyone caught with them - they are worryingly available on the streets. In about 40 minutes I must have been offered a small plantations worth of marijuana! This place just oozes class...
Day two in Kuta was spent looking for a cheaper hotel with limited results, high season cometh! I also booked a car for when I return from Luaban Bajo so I could explore a little more of the island at my own pace!
