Bali: a post pandemic travel

It's been more than 2 months since my first travel overseas after the pandemic and I am still missing it tremendously! The withdrawal syndrome is terribly bad this time around LOL! I was so looking forward to it albeit feeling nervous and all since C19 is still in the air. I even had nightmares with all the negative thoughts since I haven't traveled by air for more than 3 years! Not sure if it's the age factor but I had to like swiped my mind clean to think positively LOL!

Anyway, hubby and I picked Bali as our first post pandemic destination as we have always loved the holiness, friendliness and the serenity of Bali. We also have a few more in the bucket list to complete so might as well lah :-) So in the next few weeks, albeit a little late, I'll be posting places which we have gone to but if you want a summarized version, feel free to visit my Instagram handle @sholeesphere where I have finished posting all the photos. 

To kickstart my first post, an intro to our favourite guide turned good friend Pak Wayan who had brought us to wherever in our bucket list and also ensuring we have the best local deals! He was introduced to us previously by a cousin of mine and we have stuck to him since. We have been hiring him each time we visited Bali and known him for more than 10 years! We somehow cliqued and it was easy to communicate with him either in English or Bahasa. Mind you, he can speak other languages like German but could be a little rusty due to lack of practice. He truly is easy to liaise with unlike other guides who looked at $$$ more than our wellbeing. We had given him a list of places we wanted to visit prior to our trip and how many days we wanted to hire him and his van. He listed down the places worth going plus an itinerary so that we could discuss further and then confirmed the final itinerary. Easy peasy, lemon squeesy. Yes, he will advise us if the place is worthy or overpriced and then it is up to us if we still insisted to go ahead or otherwise. There is always a chance to nego or change the itinerary where deemed fit especially looking at the weather or traffic when we are there. Other guides may not be as understanding nor appreciate such last-minute changes and might even charge extra! Anyway, if you are interested to hire Pak Wayan's expertise and van, you can email to him at iwayan.marsa88@gmail.com.

Back to my trip, it was a tiring first day due to non-activity! We were at the airport by noon as 1) our son dropped us there early as he has to go to uni and 2) our flight was delayed twice from 4pm to 5.15pm then to 5.45pm! I would not rant much here as you can read my full rants on my Instagram. All I can say is that since we can only afford budget airlines, there will be pros and cons so we have to bear with the consequences lah! By the time we reached Bali, it was already past 9pm. After having to pass through the C19 counter and 3 customs queues, we were finally out of the airport and on Bali ground!!! We quickly looked for Pak Wayan, who has brought along his lovely wife Bu Made for the first time, we headed out for a late dinner before checking into our hotel. Such an uninteresting first day, totally wasted LOL! Anyway, I will try to post as much as I can of my trip so next will be our sumptuous dinner :-)