Arrival in Bali

The flight to Bali was uneventful with our national carrier touching down at Ngurah Rai International Airport a half hour ahead of schedule.

The terminal was much larger than I was expecting. I learned later that it had been largely upgraded for an international conference in recent years. It was warm as expected but not as oppressive as I feared. Crowds of visitors, passengers, workers and touts created a passage maze for the arriving tourists to negotiate.

In the haze of noise and masses I completely forgot my pre-departure instructions about taxi procedures and instead negotiated down one of the touts for my taxi ride to Sanur, the location of our resort. It turns out the fare I negotiated was exactly the same as the fare charged by the authorised company I had been recommended to use so I didn't feel especially ripped off.

However in a moment of confusion at the hotel reception with two reception staff and my driver all seeking information from me simultaneously I managed to lose my document security pack! I hadn't even checked into the resort yet. Reflecting later I don't believe it was some tandem team ploy to relieve me of my valuables. I think I simple left it on the seat of the taxi. However as I had no details about the taxi - type, name, driver's details or registration number - I had no way of tracking the taxi or driver down.

Initially I thought my passport was lost with the pack and I was really stressed by the thought of wasting my holiday making temporary passport arrangements for the return home; not to mention the loss of my travel history in the missing passport. However an hour later I was relieved to locate my passport in my backpack. In all the confusion I had forgotten placing it there at one point.

So, the only things I lost were a vaccination book - not a great loss because no-one ever seems to ask to see it - and one of two travel currency cards I had in my possession - also not a great loss as it contained no money on it! I don't even know why I took the card with me.

One way and another, my holiday was underway.