First Impressions of Bali

There is nothing that makes you appreciate a place more than having to fly for 25 hours (with 2 kids) to get there. It was 87 degrees when we landed, but not as steamy as I imagined. I kicked off this set of blog posts with this one, in case you want the full meal deal. The first night’s dinner was Indonesian curry and french fries (fries for me, curry for the kids, of course). We selected a hotel on a tourist beach in the city of Denpasar – the capitol of the island, which has several sections. We stayed in Sanur, the oldest and first tourist beach in the city, which feels very much like Kathmandu (except the beach part) for its family-filled mopeds and tiny, minimalist storefronts, narrow roads, fruit stands and the identical (familiar and friendly though not yummy) smell of trash fires mixed with incense and cooking fire, just like Kathmandu as well. It felt tropical and the air was thick with hot moisture even long after dinner.

Plumeria trees were in full bloom everywhere. They’re my favorite tropical flower and in Bali, they appeared endlessly in front of my feet, as though they’ve been dropped just before I step. They smell fabulous, too. 

Some of them were nearly a foot long. They grow lots of things big in Bali. There was a scorpion perched on a painting high above our table and we watched it throughout the meal. It didn’t move, so we asked if it was real. “Yes, it’s real, but not alive. They don’t live here.” Sigh of relief. I know about snakes, spiders, and even Komodo dragons (the Island of Komodo is just three islands to the east, and they have some on Bali) but I have never had to live among 4-inch scorpions. I admit I was relieved when she said that. (We’ll get to the spiders later.)

Crossing the busy road took a little getting used to (crosswalks, yeah, right!) because the scooters were coming around curves, from the darkness on the wrong side of the street. Left side driving.