Bali Trip - Arriving in Denpasar

Gary and I made the trip to Bali because I presented at an International Global Science and Technology Conference. I gave a presentation one day and the next day I was a session chair all afternoon and one of two panel presenters to talk about research.

We arrived at the airport at Denpasar on September 15th around 3:30 p.m. Denpasar is the airport you fly in to. The name of the airport is Ngurah Rai International Airport. We had to pay U.S. $25 each for a visa upon arriving. As soon as you arrive you are greeted with a huge sign that says "Death Penalty for Bringing Drugs to Bali." The population of Bali is 3,891,428 and all of our drivers would tell us the population and "We love America...we love Obama." "We love Reagan...we love John Kennedy."

Bali is a province in Indonesia. The capital is in Denpasar, where we flew to. The people are mainly Hindu with a small percentage Muslim. We stayed in the town of Kuta. The people speak Balinese. English is the third language. The second language is Bahasa Indonesia. For the first time in our life, we were millionaires. One hundred U.S. dollars equal $9,551.10.

People leaving the airport.

This is our driver lugging our luggage. He was so nice. He was my favorite staff member all week. I had to use my legal name all week and every time he would see me he would say "Hel-looo Marci Beth." My name is Marcia (pronounced Marsha) Beth.

 

A scooter (moped) was the primary method of travel. This is at the parking lot at the airport.

These are some of the scenes we saw on the way to the hotel.

We saw several clothing stores with mannequins dressed at the entrance to several stores. The first time I saw this I was a little shocked but then I got used to it.

I don't know what this is but it is famous.

The laundromat.

All of the entrances to buildings, no matter how nice the building was or wasn't, had offerings. The little baskets are handmade and filled with flowers, maybe an orange or two, etc. The small offering baskets are called 'canang sari' that Balinese offer to their Gods three times a day. It is a ritual of giving back what has been given to you by the Gods. They have a lot of rituals. One of the drivers told us that when they sleep their heads must face north and their feet south.

This is where we stayed...the Bali Dynasty Resort. Wonderful place. Each morning we eagerly went to the dining room for a huge buffet for breakfast. You could find traditional food like omelets, toast, sausage, eggs, fruits, cheeses, and bacon.  But, to satisfy the taste of visitors from all over the world we also had mashed potatoes, cauliflower, baked beans, chicken and dumplings, rice, and spinach. 

Security was very, very tight. To enter the resort you drove through these gates. Then, you stopped at a security checkpoint while three security officers checked the car. One looked in the backseat, one in the trunk, and one checked under the car. There was a camera in the road and when the car stopped over the place you could see on a big monitor the underneath of the car. Once when I was taking a taxi from my meeting to the hotel I asked the driver why they checked the backseat. He simply said "Bomb." I asked "Do you have a problem with terrorists." He said "Yes, madam. Very bad."

Betsy at one of the fountains at Bali Dynasty. 

Betsy and one of the staff at Bali Dynasty. 

Gary at one of the restaurants at the Bali Dynasty.

Looking out our bedroom window.



The elephant towel on our bed daily.