Cairns to Darwin to Bali to Ubud - 13 Feb

This was mainly a travel day.  We packed up and headed to the airport around 11am.  The cab driver gave us some good tips for Indonesia; like how folks appreciate tips in Australian dollars and coins and how monkeys will pick pocket you.

I lost one of my earrings, likely in the Cairns airport.  I figure I brushed it out of my ear while brushing my hair.  Oh well, it happens.  Greg lost his Tilley hat somewhere on the trip back from the reef either on the SeaQuest or in the transfer van.

We spent over 4 hours in the Darwin airport and surprisingly the time went by quite quickly.  I tried to upload some pictures to DropBox but the internet was extremely slow so synching may take awhile. 

We are a bit excited about this leg of our journey because the potential for language barriers and faux pas of local customs begins.  Okay, so knowing that one does not use the left hand to give or receive, handshaking is customary for both genders, crooking your finger to call someone is unacceptable, and smiling is the national pastime, we anticipate other customs will be drawn to our attention should we act uncustomarily (is that a word?).  

Wayan Soot our guide was waiting for us at the airport, around 10pm, and we were very glad to not be driving in Bali.  Scooters, trucks, cars and pedestrians all compete for space on the road.  There is a complex system of honking to notify competitors of your intentions so everyone is on the same page and collisions are avoided, despite the tight negotiations for space.

We arrived at the Samaya Resort and Spa in Ubud within an hour to an incredibly warm reception.  Check in was a breeze and we were taken on a tour of the facility via the golf cart shuttle, up an down steep walkways.  The hotel is built on the side of a hill along side a river.  Upon entering our villa, with jaws dropped, we were then given the tour of our villa.  The facilities were over the top with a spacious living area and bedroom combined, a large bathroom with whirlpool tub, his and hers sinks, closets, shower and commode rooms.  But the real surprise was that our living room opened up to our own personal pool, patio, and large daybed, all surrounded by lush tropical plants and trees.  After a description of the activities and facilities available for our use, we immediately regretted our decision to only spend 2 nights here with a full slate of our own activities.  How we wished we had opted to stay longer.  So we wasted no time finding our swimsuits and jumping into the pool before retiring.