Part 1
A Lion aeroplane on the runway, Lombok
My friend, Kevin and I have been speaking about a trip to Bali over the last 5 years. Finally last autumn we arranged flights and accommodation.
On Thursday, February 20th, we travelled to Manchester Airport by train, and spent the evening having a drink in the Ibis Budget & the Holiday Inn bars.
It was an early start on Friday, February 21st. We had continental breakfast, cereals, pastries, toast, & in the hotel lobby bar.
We walked to Terminal Two and checked in our suitcases and waited for the 10.05 flight to Shanghai..
Our aeroplane was a Boeing 787.9 "Dream liner" a wide body airliner, operator Juneyao (a Chinese airline)
We were given meals and drinks. We also watched some films and documentaries during the 11 hour flight.
We arrived in Shanghai Airport at 5.25am, and we had a four hour layover before our next flight to Denpasar, Bali. Unfortunately there was an hour 5 minutes delay.
The second aeroplane was a smaller Airbus, and although we had a meal, there were no films or other entainment.
The plane was also full and seemed overcrowded. Unfortunately due a storm in Bali we were re-routed to a nearby airport in Lombok island and as a result were further delayed.
Eventually we took off and arrived in Bali around 8pm. We found "getting through" immigration and passing through customs very chaotic, but eventually we arrived and met West, who took us to our hotel.
West is a Balinese tour guide and had already shown Kevin and his family around the island during their previous visit in 2019.
We had separate rooms in the Saka Village Hotel on the outskirts of the town Ubud.
We unpacked, had a shower, and had an evening meal chicken Quesodilla and local Bintang beer in a bar called La Luz.
The weather in Bali was hot and humid, but luckily our sleeping room was air-conditioned.
