Like the scrimpers we are, we decided our hotel was close enough to the airport to walk! It was, but walking anywhere in Bali involves no sidewalks, lots of mud, more time than you think, and a few near deaths. Having learned this already, we left hours early, and we are so glad we did!
After arriving and going through security, we saw another line forming entitled 'exit tax.' What nonsense was this! When we got to the front of the queue, a darling Balinese girl asked for 300,000 r, about $30, for the airport tax. Austin threw a little fit which I totally joined.
"What?! We already paid a ton to get in. What would happen if we refused? Would you export us? Great!" The little girl (she was probably like 30) just did not get why this was weird. When I handed her my credit card, she smiled again, " sorry we don't have a machine." Whaaa??
When I asked why they didn't take cards, she smiled again, "we don't have a card machine!"
O brother!!
So we went back downstairs to the ATM's, then remembering the Thai money, I asked if we could use that instead. Affirmative!
Back through security with a linger line.
Bahaha oh man, that sucks. I love it though...scrimping is how you get the best stories when traveling :)
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