On on our way to East Timor, we overnighted in Bali, Indonesia, but since our flight landed after dark, we didn’t see much more than our hotel and the backs of our eyelids. But, on the return flight, we had a long layover, and found ourselves with 8hr to explore Bali. Except that Sriwijaya Air changed our flight time without notifying us, so in the end, we only had 6hr to spare.
Anyway, what to do with a quarter of a day in Bali?
1. Go to Starbucks!
When you have a severe Starbucks obsession, but live in a place with no Starbucks, this is really exciting, and is clearly the first order of business.
Upon landing at the international terminal in Denpesar, I hoofed it over to the domestic terminal to get my fix. The security guards asked my destination, and when I responded “Starbucks”, they couldn’t hide their amusement (or perhaps derision).
2. Hire a driver
Lindsay had the name of a local driver, and she organized for him to pick us up and drive us around. With such a tight schedule, having a driver helped us cram a lot into a short amount of time. Plus, we were able to keep our luggage in the car instead of finding a place to store it at the airport. Wawan, or Wazza as the Aussies have dubbed him, was great, gave us a few suggestions and accommodated our requests.
Anyone looking for an honest driver in Bali should contact Wawan on Facebook at wawan balidrivers.
3. Shopping
The town of Seminyak is known for its boutiques. We had a frantic 45 minute Supermarket Sweep style shopping session, speed walking up and down one street, darting street dogs, running into shops, hurriedly trying things on, then moving onto the next store.
4. See a temple
Despite the rest of the country being Muslim, Bali is predominantly Hindu. There are temples dotted all over the island, however we didn’t have the time or ambition to be spiritual. But we walked by some temples while we were shopping.
5. Get a massage
SE Asia is generally a good region of the world in which to get a cheap massage. Our driver took us to the town of Kuta, where we chose The Body Spa. We had an hour long Balinese massage for $21 each. I’m sure we could’ve gotten this much cheaper, but it was a semi legit spa, not a hole in the wall. Plus, we didn’t have time to shop around. In the end, it’s a hell of a lot cheaper than either Oz or America. Once we got past the reception area, the place wasn’t as flashy as it had initially appeared, but we couldn’t find fault with our Balinese aromatherapy massages.
Thankfully it was nothing like our Thai massage experience. It was a great way to finish up our vacation with a relaxing spa session.
6. Head to the beach for a drink
Well, that was the plan. Until we drove by the lines of traffic heading to the airport. Our driver aborted this plan, did a U-turn, and said he was taking us to the airport. Which leads me to my next point.
7. Leave plenty of time to get to the airport
There’s no expressway leading to the airport, so at certain times of day, the traffic is at a standstill. Fortunately, we got there with plenty of time to spare, and were able to chill in the airport lounge (my favorite perk of one of my credit cards), and eat dinner and drink for free.
This wasn’t nearly enough time to even glimpse Bali, but we definitely maximized the hours we had. We’ll have to return at some point and properly experience it. Luckily, it’s generally cheap and easy to get to Bali from Adelaide.