My friend Devin arrived last night at Ngurah Rai. His flight from Singapore landed around 7.30pm and he was strolling around when I got there. My little rental, a Suzuki from Bali Puspa in Seminyak, cost me 70,000rp on the spur of the moment. As anyone who has visited Bali recently can tell you, the drive up to the airport is slightly different now. If you follow the signs, you’ll have no problems finding the various terminals. Parking for cars is 2,000rp, payable on the way out.
Driving to Ubud at night was definitely a new experience for me, especially as the Suzuki had it’s own ‘visibility barrier’. Built for small people, the car had a 6 inch high black strip across the top of the windshield, making it impossible to see through at night. I had to virtually slump in my seat to be able to see. Keeping a close eye on locals in Batubulan, Celuk and the Ubud outskirts, I managed to avoid accidents, while listening to Devin’s travel stories.
We made it the Pradha in downtown Ubud, in time to catch Barbara and her friend Nancy, who were returning from a Kecak dance at the palace nearby. As you can tell, Devin and Barbara are close, so they were all hugs. The 4 of us went across the street to Casa Luna, myself going for the vegetable curry for 30,000rp, very good!
