Doha - Amed

We have arrived in Bali. At 8 in the morning local time we are standing in Denpasar, slightly cloudy at 30 degrees. The airport is called I Gusti Ngurah Rai. From the street we see its reddish brown facade and the curved white roof, with a grey car driving past in front. With our suitcases a scooter is out of the question, so for the ride from the airport to the accommodation we have booked a car with a driver. We are heading to the east of the island, to Amed. On the way we see rice fields, with small huts with corrugated iron roofs in between, and palms and a forested hill behind. We hold a 100,000 rupiah note in our hands. It is red and shows Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta, the first president and the first vice president of Indonesia.

At 12 noon local time we arrive at our first hotel in Amed. The pool is amazing and the food is good. The water glows turquoise, the edge of the pool is curved natural stone, and there is a shallow step in the water. Four loungers stand along the edge, with palms growing all around and huts with thatched roofs. Between the palms a mountain stands out against the blue sky.