We've arrived

We set off yesterday and after twenty seven and a half hours travelling we have arrived.  That entailed flying from Manchester to Doha in Qatar, then Doha to Singapore where we got off the plane for it to be cleaned so we could get back on again to fly to Bali.

Bali airport is so manic and the queues for visas was quite long but not as long as the ones for passport control.  Thankfully as part of our package we had VIP clearance so all we had to do was look out for a man with our names and hand over our passports and fifty dollars for the visas. He then sped us through the passport control to wait for our bags whilst he sorted all the paperwork out. All three suitcases came through relatively quickly and we were through customs in no time.  Once outside we walked past all the money exchange booths all touting for our business to be met by a scrum of drivers all holding names on pieces of paper but as we still had our meet and greet man and we followed him through the throng to be met by our guide.  Once we'd been furnished with a cold bottle of water and cold flannel we set off to our car.  The journey to our first hotel was three hours we were told but we made it in two.  As it was dark we didn't get to see many sights on route however I can already say I am glad I don't need to drive it was chaos with all the scooters and bikes nipping between lanes.

We arrived at the Alila Manggis hotel to be greeted with a cooling face spray and another wet cloth.  As we sat in reception drinking our welcome drink of ginger and lemongrass tea sweetened with honey and lime, we both remarked how similar the first impression was of the Evason we stayed at on our Honeymoon.  Once in our room we couldn't really see the view as it was dark but we could just make out the pool and the waves breaking on the beach.  Something to look forward to in the morning.

The bed had been made up with a heart out of star flowers and the statue was a gift for our anniversary from the hotel.

As it was nearly eleven by the time we had showered we really didn't feel like going to the restaurant so we ordered room service.  We had a sandwich each and after quick lounge on the day bed headed off to catch up on some sleep.