And we're off! - Bali blog 1 - Getting there and airline travel.

Wednesday 4th and Thursday 5th February

Today begins our trip to Asia. This will be the first time I've been to Asia or anywhere on that side of the world, so it’s quite exciting.
I booked this trip only about a month ago, just after New Year. I wanted to go somewhere totally different, a different climate, a different culture, just different. Asia seemed the best choice, as I have travelled many places in Europe, mainly because it is so easy to get to and flights are usually fairly cheap from the UK. Therefore, I needed to go somewhere else and although the flights may be expensive, the cost of living in Asia is generally quite cheap. So we chose Bali! I do not know much about the island but I have friends that have been and they loved it! I think it is exactly what I am looking for with good weather, good food, beaches and a totally different culture. So it was booked!

The extent of my organisation was booking return flights from Manchester to Denpasar (with a few connections) for me and Rob and booking a hotel room for the duration of our stay in Ubud, in the centre of Bali.

Tired! Why did we get up so early!?

So getting back to today, I miss read the flight times and convinced myself that the flight from Manchester to London (our first connection) was due to depart at 6:55 am, its actual departure time was 7:55 am. Therefore, we arrived at the airport an hour early at about 5 am after getting up at 4 am for nothing. Not realising my mistake, we tried to check in only to be told that we were too early for check in and to come back in 30 minutes to an hour. The check-in assistant must have thought we were idiots! I only realised the error once we had settled in café Nero with a hot chocolate Milano waiting for the 30 minutes to pass! Oh well, at least we arrived early and not late for our flight! Oh we can laugh at it now! :P

We flew with British Airways to London Heathrow and then had to wait about 2 hours before flying to Hong Kong. The wait was a little boring but we passed the time eating and using free WiFi, so it didn't turn out too bad!

Rob playing on Facebook whilst waiting for our Hong Kong flight.

We flew with Cathay Pacific from London to Hong Kong; upon entering the aircraft you are directed through business class, you walk through thinking “oooo this is nice!” then you realise that this is not for you and when you arrive at your seat in economy class you end up rather disappointed.
Yes, compared to the business class the seats in economy are rather small. They’re not too cramped and they are actually bigger than I expected. I guess it’s because we were on a long haul flight and not an Easyjet flight. ;)
This leg of the journey took approximately 12 hours. Twelve hours is quite a long time to spend on a plane but we managed to keep ourselves occupied. We briefly chatted to the lady next to us, who turned out to be a university lecture and Australian. She was making her way home after a business trip to Europe and the UK. Rob passed the rest of the time alternating between watching movies and sleeping. I on the other hand just watched movies, a lot of movies.

I find it very hard to sleep on transportation. I have to be very, very tired. Cathay pacific took very good care of us throughout the flight; meals were provided, drinks were offered and even snacks such as ice cream, dried fruit and mini Toblerones were served throughout the night. It was great! Even better was the fact that if you opted for a specialised meal (I asked for vegan meal) you were served before any of the other passengers. It was great, no waiting and I got to eat my food about 30 minutes before Rob. Poor Rob! I got to sample such delights as bean salad, ratatouille, vegan yogurts and fruit. Okay, okay you got me; it was just simple airline food, nothing fancy!

More waiting! 

The next day we arrived at Hong Kong Airport a little before 8 am and had two hours to kill before our connection to Denpasar, Bali. We grabbed a little food and wandered round but for the majority of our wait Rob slept and I sat staring into the abyss. I had little else to do. This final connection was somewhat shorter than the last at 4 hours. I maybe slept a little on this flight. :)

Arriving in Denpasar airport we bought a 30 day tourist visa for $35 dollars and then waited an impressively long time for our luggage, before heading out into the arrivals section of the airport. And it was hot! I should have changed on the plane, it must have been about 30 degrees and I should not have been wearing jeans and a jumper! Big mistake! So after exchanging some money we booked a taxi to Ubud costing 350,000 idr.
The airport taxis are the only taxi that can be arranged at the airport, so there is no negotiation on price, and after dodging offers of help from baggage boys we were in our taxi and with some difficulty arrived at our hotel approximately 1 hour later. 

Thank god! :)

Sam x