THE DRIVER FOR THE HOTEL SHUTTLE was still waiting patiently at 1:00 AM. We don’t blame Virgin Australia—the flight from Melbourne to Bali was only twenty minutes late and they upgraded us to Economy Plus. But it took nearly two hours to struggle through Indonesian immigration and customs, reclaim our luggage and change some Aussie bucks to rupiahs. We usually use our ATM card but there are more money changers than ATMs in Bali. And if you want to become an instant millionaire, Indonesia is the place to come—1,000,000 IDR equals $65.
🎶 We're in the Money 🎶
Christmas week is crowded and expensive in Australia—school is out for a month and most Aussies have Christmas week off. Since we would have to leave the Australia soon to “reset the clock” on our 90-day visa, Bali seemed like a good place to go into voluntary exile. So here we are spending the Christmas holiday on the Hindu island of Bali in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country.
Fishermen wearing their lucky hats
Setting out for Lobsters
Our Bali Christmas Treee . . . and Hindu Marigolds
We are recovering from jet lag and acclimating to the heat and humidity on Jimbaran Bay. Our hotel is near the airport a block from the beach with a great breakfast and a spa where we treated ourselves to a long foot massage. We stocked up on some goodies and Coke Zero at the local supermarket and walked several miles along the white sand beach watching the fishermen in their lucky hats.
