48-Hour Day

This is a very long post, but it sets the stage for what is to come.

Our plane to LAX boarded on time & we were set for an early departure. Then an announcement that we were second in line and would be taking off after a slight delay. Not long after, the pilot came out of the cockpit with the news that, due to construction at LAX, planes were stacking up over the airport, so we wouldn’t be taking off for at least another hour. They told us there was no need to sit on the plane, so we all got off.

It was deja vu all over again about an hour and a half later when we again boarded the plane & you could hear a collective sigh of relief when we actually took off. Only one person seemed worried about a connection, but the flight attendants were trying to reassure the woman that, due to the situation, all flights seemed to be delayed, so it was likely she would make her connection.

Coming in for a landing at LAX, Montana spotted the Hollywood sign on a faraway hill, so that was a little exciting.

Once on the ground, we anticipated a long taxi time to the terminal, as it is such a large airport, but no one was prepared for the next announcement from the captain. Because of the congestion of planes landing, we were Number 19 in line as planes took turns pulling into their gates and offloading their passengers. It would take "another 40 minutes". Groans all around! Creeping along at gridlock speed on the freeway, we eventually got another announcement that the baggage machines had broken down, so there would be an additional 20-minute delay. By this time, we were losing track, but by the time we actually deplaned at our gate, our two-hour flight had actually taken four and a half hours, plus all the usual waiting and boarding. We were soooo glad that we had taken an early flight instead of an afternoon flight as suggested by our travel agent. We still had to retrieve our luggage and get to the International terminal to check in.

From that point on, everything went as smoothly as it could on any international flight. It was several hours before the EVA Airlines counter opened, but we got boarding passes & baggage checked with no problem. Getting through security wasn’t any longer than a busy day in Anchorage. Lots of hours to kill, but there are always things to do, places to eat, and areas to walk. And definitely worth the peace of mind not to have to worry about a missed connection...particularly an overseas trip!

Prologue: I had thought that might be the end for "today", but it has turned out that Today has been 48 hours long. We have now officially been up and on the move for 48 hours. Montana was able to catch some snatches of "plane sleep", but LuRue barely nodded off a few times, lasting seconds at a time. Right now she is totally rummy, tripping over things, barely able to climb the shallowest stairs. She's a mess!

The leg between LAX and Taiwan is worth mentioning because of the route. We flew north, crossed the Alaska Peninsula over Cold Bay, flying east while north of the Aleutian Island chain...past Adak and Attu...before finally turning south. The outside temp registered minus 80 degrees at one point. The flight was just over 14 hours long, but the plane was very nice with lots of private movies and other diversions available. Neither Trippin' Troyer was very excited about the 'plane food', but it was ample.

There was about a 3.5 hour layover in Taiwan, during which time we strode through the halls, trying to find a food court we had spotted on our way to find our gate. The place looked more like a luxury mall than an airport. 

We never did re-find the food court and ended up eating pork, accompanied by a bowl of white rice, some cucumber chips, and fish balls. This is breakfast? But then our bodies have forgotten night from day, so it really doesn't matter.

After a 6-hour flight, we landed in Bali. After getting through Immigration and Customs, we finally spilled out into the "Meet" area. There had to have been dozens and dozens of tour companies and guides holding up signs. Montana finally spotted our sign and the driver motioned us toward the exit where we would meet. The driver took LuRue's duffel bag and another man took Montana's duffel bag, When we got to the car, the man said that he would leave us there and that we needed to tip him there. Like lambs, we dug into our wallets and quickly decided on $3 each. Later, when it was time to tip our driver, we wheedled a suggestion of an appropriate amount out of the lady checking us into our hotel. Turns out the driver, who drove us through rush hour traffic most of the way for two hours ended up with a $4 tip. It took awhile to sink in that the guy that grabbed Montana's bag didn't even know our driver...we were scammed.

The further we got from the city, the more relaxing it became. Candidasa is a small town on the east coast of the island, but the city traffic stretched out a long way from Denpasar. We were glad to finally leave it behind. Not far from Candidasa, traffic came to a stop, while the other lane was moving through at a regular pace. My fear was that an accident had happened...so many cars & motorbikes in extremely close quarters. India--all over again! When we finally got to the choke point, we were surprised to see a hundred or more people sitting by the side of the road and spilling out into our lane. The driver said that it was a special Hindu prayer event and not an unusual thing to see. Too bad we couldn't have taken a quick picture or two, but it will have to live on as a memory. 

We pulled into the hotel courtyard just at dusk and were met with glasses of some kind of fruit ade as we checked in.

After being shown our room and the basics, we showered, then went to the dining room where we split a dish of prawns and rice. Since the prawns came fully dressed in their shells and covered with a sauce, we asked the woman who took our order if it was OK to use our fingers to pull the shells off. She said Indonesians eat everything with their fingers, so we converted quickly, having already had practice in India.

Tomorrow we start planning activities. It's now 10:00pm on Thursday the 22nd. When we crossed the International Date Line, we missed out on Winter Solstice (at least the traditional one of Dec. 21st). Now to select a picture or two and then head for bed!