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Why I Will Not Visit Bali Again
I have just had the opportunity to visit Bali for the first time in my life. Everyone told me about this paradise of culture, quality, mindfulness and the sweetest people in the world.
We arrived at the airport on a flight directly from Sydney in Australia. We had done the visa application online and more or less walked straight through immigration with only a short stop to get our passport scanned.
It was surprisingly fast and when we came to the luggage area we only had five minutes to wait before all the suitcases started rolling. We had booked a driver who would pick us up at the airport and drive us to our hotel — he was waiting outside. He was the first person we spoke to as nobody had talked to us while going through the airport.
He was sitting as the very first person in a very long line of drivers all holding a sign with the guest’s name. He greeted us with a huge smile and a warm welcome. He was not fluent in English but asked a few questions, pointed out things to look at while we drove by, and was very open to any questions we had.
The traffic was awful. Tiny roads, many cars and at least four times more scooters or motorbikes. Nobody seemed to care about basic traffic rules — at one point the driver crossed over a one-way road against oncoming traffic to get down another road.
We arrived safely at the hotel and were met by the most positive and smiling person I think I have ever met. The reception was in the open just behind the house to the street. The hotel has 18 rooms that are small cottages that are all located next to the Water Palads in Ubud. Our house was a two-story building with only two rooms, we had the ground floor room. A basic room with the A/C turned on as we walked in — Indonesia is very hot and humid so it felt wonderful to get inside something cold.
It had a large bed and basic elements. The bathroom was big and included an elegant bathtub that we never got to use. We had a small terrace that had the perfect view over the Water Palads and the pond with the lotus flowers. Romantic and beautiful.
