I want my Bali!!!
April 25, 2008
48 hours of real travelin’. 40 minutes on the back of a truck. We get the boat, see the fans and cushy mattresses and think it looks sweet. We then find out we are sentenced down below, to sleeping on grass 
mats, sans fan, 4 foot overhead clearance. Trying to sleep was a waste of time so I sat up on the bow half the night watching the stars, small rocky islands and bright lights of the squid fishing fleet. We arrived at the docks of Surat Thani in the morning, and were gently-form fittingly packed into tuk-tuks which drove us thru town to a tourist office. From there we were picked up by a minivan and driven a few hours to the Malaysian boarder. We crossed the boarder, loaded onto a bus, and road the next day through Malaysia to Singapore (the bus was actually very nice, air conditioned, and we watched I Am Legend dubbed in Malaysian(It was better). We arrived in Singapore as the bars closed, and fought for an expensive taxi to the airport. Our 150 dollar flight somehow turned to 300 each, and another 12 hours of sleeping in the airport. We thought we were in sheitesville, BUT THEN WE DISCOVERED SINGAPORE AIRPORT!
- free computers and internet at every turn.
- two free 24 hour movie theaters
- free swimming pool (also 24 hour)
- TV lounges with tons of channels
- free coffee
- free arcades and on-line game rooms
- free, free, free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Airport empolyees actually greeted us and asked how they could improve the airport. The only thing I could think of was free beer and Mexican food. The 12 hours melted away, and we caught our flight to Indonesia.
We got into Bali late, haggled the taxi drivers for a bit less then an hour, and finally got a decent price for the 16 km trip to Sanur. Getting in late is a gamble, it means either a buyers or renters market. That night went to the renters, and we paid dearly for our mold crusted walls. We found much happier confines the next day at Julia 2, and began the final lap of our travels. Indonesia proved the perfect choice…
Again, we were tavilin’
D and B
