Bali - took a few crazy adventures to get here!

So, we're in Bali now!

Not sure how this happened! hehe!
We were loungin around in Ko Lant (Thailand) one day reading the good ol Lonely Planet - and we suddenly realised that Bali's wet season begins in November. So...here we are! :o)

me outside the legendary MBK

Getting here was an absolute mission!
Adventure 1 - it starts off mild
First - took a van to the harbour in Ko Lanta. This took us to Phuket Town.

We spend one night in Phuket Town. Went to this rather posh Indian restaurant - oddly out of place in Phuket Town - and met the owner, Billy Chima. (I think we'll do a separate post for this)Preet posing outside the national museum, Thailand

Adventure 2 - add a bit of spice
Anyway, we took a flight to Bangkok the next day. Stayed one night.
We had enough time here to pay a visit to a good friend - MBK shopping mall! This is a mall like no other - you can find EVERYTHING here! ;o)

Adventure 3 - next come the chilli!
Then another flight to catch to Jakarta, Indonesia. This is where the 'fun' started. As none of our trips are planned, we hadn't booked an onward flight. We thought we'd just leave when we'd had enough of Bali. But when we got to immigration at Jakarta the guy made it out that we couldn't enter because we didn't have an onward ticket! He just needed an excuse cos the next thing he said was 'I'll help you and you help me!' basically he wanted a bribe. It was midnight, we were tired and hungry, so we gave in.

Adventure 4 - somebody order it X-tra Hot?!
Next - the transport to the hotel was a nightmare. We got harrassed and overcharged. Again, too tired to mess around at midnight in a strange country.

Adventure 5 - now the heat's kicked in!
Then - this takes the prize - we got to the hotel and realised I had booked it for the wrong day! The hotel was fully booked so he couldnt even offer another room. So we took a taxi to a nearby hotel which turned out to be a dump. Plus we needed to withdraw money in the local currency. Easy enough right? NO! the taxi driver spoke no English whatsoever! Finally managed to get to an ATM. Got the driver to take us back to the original hotel - where they offered us a 3 bed appartment which was the only thing available - and we gladly took it. It really wasn't our day - everything went wobbly. Must be something to do with the mars and venus alignment or something! hehe! ;o)

Adventure 6 - mission accomplished...I like a good ending!
The flight the next day was to Bali - we finally got to our destination in one piece! The hotel was much much more fantastic than we thought it would be. Which kinda made up for all the crazy mission of the journey.
Its low season in Bali so prices are theoretically more attractive. We have been lucky with the weather - it only really rained yesterday. And boy did it rain! But as all tropical showers go, it only lasted a little while.
It has been a nice stay here in Kuta beach - a bit too touristy for me though. Can't imagine what its like in the high season.

We'll be moving to another beach soon - hopefully something a bit more secluded.