Advertisement
Published: November 30th 2010
Hello Everyone, (from Mona)I finally have time to update this blog! The trip has been so busy with excursions that I haven't had time! It's been so much fun! The women in the group are all fantastic, we all get along and laugh a LOT!
I did write a long blog a the beginning of the trip about the flights but it got deleted! To summarize, we were an hour late leaving Calgary and then in Vancouver our flights left about 2.5 hours waiting most of that time on the tarmack while they cleared the runway! They had a big blizzard there and the snow was falling faster than they could clear it. We finally took off and the loooonnng 13 hour flight was underway. We didn't get bumped to business class like we were praying for, but not because we didn't try, I egged Debbi on to go ask the Cathay Pacific clerk, and she did but he laughed and said, not unless you want to pay $3500 more each!!!
The flight wasn't too bad, we slept ,ate (good food), watched movies and read. We had a crying baby right next to us and she didn't stop for the whole time we were on the tarmack. Thankfully she quieted down for most of the trip. Phew!
We got to Hong Kong really late and had to run to catch the next flight to Bali, we all made it and had a very pleasant flight on a 747. Debbi was so excited cause she's an airplane buff and had always wanted to fly on one.
The arrival in Bali is chaotic. It's stinking hot and not air conditioned in the airport and there's a few different lineups for an entry Visa and Customs clearance and you're all jet lagged. I asked an official if we were in the right line and he said "you pay me and you be VIP, you go past the lineup" I paid him the equivalent of about $20 Cdn, which I now realize was a small fortune for him and he took our papers and got us processed real quick. In hind site, that wasn't necessary but added to the experience here.
On Saturday was a free day and we all went our own ways to the spa or shopping. The shopping here is unbelievable! The markets are super crowded and hot. The vendors are quite pushy sometimes and it gets a bit overwhelming. You quickly learn the tricks, don't look them in the eye, don't point and say "I like that" otherwise they won't leave you alone. You also learn to barter. Offer half of what they want to start and then walk away if they won't agree, they'll usually come running after you and agree on your price. I feel bad doing that sometimes because the stuff is so cheap for us, really what a few bucks to us? We decided that our moto for the trip is "Barter Harder"!!
On Sunday we packed up and left the first hotel and made a day trip of the journey to our new resort. The first stop was to visit an orphanage that our leader Cathy has an association with. We brought donations of money and clothes and toys. Well, talk about a moving experience! There's 130 of them but we only saw about 40 that day, the rest were at school. The man who founded the orphanage is a true angel. He used to work in the hospitality industry and make good money but left all that to help these orphans. It was so inspiring. They all speak English. They all came to each and everyone of us and shook our hands. They were all so grateful we were there and had hugs a plenty. I was keeping it together until at the end they all started singing "You are my Sunshine" to us. Oh my God! I lost it there and started crying and so did most of the other women. They went on to sing a few more songs too. They are so darling with their big smiles and such loving, kind well behaved kids.
After leaving there we stopped at two different jewelry outlets where although we all had heavy hearts, we quickly got down to business scooping up the deals.
Then we arrived at our new hotel the Bali Padma. What a nice resort! We are part of the "Garden Club" which means we get free beverages all day and snackies. And then a happy hour from 5:00 to 7:00 with open bar and great hors d'oeuvres. The grounds stunningingly landscaped and several nice restaurants and two gorgeous swimming pools. And of course there's the beach. I've been so busy, I haven't explored the beach yet but Debbi has gone out for her daily walk there. I'll join her tomorrow. I did do a yoga class today though. That was great.
Well gotta go now. Debbi has gone for another massage and I'm going for a pedicure! Ahhh, life is tough! Miss you all.
Love Mona
Advertisement
Tot: 0.175s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 6; qc: 43; dbt: 0.067s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Angeline
non-member comment
Sounds like a lot of fun!
Good to hear from you. Wow, what an experience you're having. Look forward to hearing more about your adventures.