Bali, Indonesia - Part 1

Sheila and I departed from the Kuala Lumpur airports (yes, two, because she flew through the cheaper airlines, so they have a different airport). Our flights only left 20 minutes apart, so I was going to leave and arrive in Bali 20 minutes before Sheila. We decided that we would meet where we had to get our visas. I don't like traveling to countries that require a tourist visa because they are a lot of work to get and often expensive. But in Indonesia (in certain airports) you can get a 'visa on arrival' and Americans qualified for that, so that was a good thing. I didn't know Sheila's flight number, but obviously I knew she would be flying in from Kuala Lumpur.

 I was hoping we were to land in the same area of the airport. I figured the airport couldn't be that big because the island itself isn't that big. So I asked one of the guys working if a flight from Kuala Lumpur was supposed to land again, and he said yes, so I knew I just had to be patient. I was waiting and finally saw Sheila come through the gates and line up for the visa. I hadn't bought mine yet, just because I had US dollars and I know that is probably the easiest way to buy one. The visas were $25 each, and I had four types of currency on me, so I knew I would be able to get it somehow. After that, we grabbed our bags and headed out to catch a cab to our hotel. 

It was a mess outside. Cab drivers screaming everywhere that they are the cheapest. In this country you can bargain a lot, and I'm not very good at it. So one guy approached us and said 200,000 rupiah, which is about $22. We got him down to 150,000. We thought that was OK. It was about a 20-30 minute drive, so it's not that bad if you think about it. But when we arrived at our hotel and checked in, we asked the front desk guy how much a cab would be to or from the airport. He said about 60,000-70,000. Yup, we got ripped off. But we learned quickly, so now we knew that if we heard a price, to cut it in half and go from there. Cheapskates.

After we unwinded for a while, we headed out to find some food. We found this cool restaurant called The Smiling Frog. It looked very tropical and relaxed. Just what I needed. Everyone also got a free shot of something when they came. It's a way for them to say welcome..

The restaurant also takes pictures of everyone and puts their picture up on their Facebook page. We though that was kind of cool.

And after that, I think we just went to bed. We planned on going to the beach the next day, so we wanted to be well-rested.