We fly into Ngurah Rai international airport via Washington and Seoul. 26 hours of travel after our departure I am exhausted but mesmerised as we land in a green tropical country. It's beautiful. Allison is asleep on my shoulder even as we land. I managed a few hours of sleep between Washington and Seoul.
After collecting our bags, we are too tired to do much except take a cab to our hotel and pass out for the night. I have to say it hasn't quite hit me that I'm on the other side of the world, and I probably wouldn't believe it if it weren't for the foreign language flowing rapidly back and forth all around us.
I wake refreshed the next morning to find Allison showered and flipping through the information package for the hotel.
"Hey" I sit up and stretch, yawning.
She looks up and smiles. "Morning, Sleepyhead."
I grin. "What time is it?"
"10 am in Denpasar!" Allison comes to jump up on the bed beside me. "We're in Bali!"
Her excitement is contagious and I share a moment of hugging and laughing before deciding that I seriously need a shower and some coffee.
We splash out and order room service since we have only an hour before check out.
Picking up our rental car, we drive the short distance to Kusamba, where we take the ferry to Nusa Lembongan.
This is surreal I think to myself as we pass over sparkling blue water to an island where no cars are allowed.
We stay at a lodge in a private bungalow with a view of the ocean. We are near town, and it is easy to walk to nearby restaurants and the water. We spend a few hours on the beach before wandering into town to explore.
After looking around, we decide on a restaurant and experiment with some local dishes. Allison tries out her language skills, receiving some amused looks from both the waiters and people at the other tables who don't seem to understand why we aren't eating at the hotel. At any rate, we end up eating something delicious, though I have no idea what it is.
I'm glad I'm not picky.