It was to be our final day in Bali and it began with a relaxing breakfast out on the hotel’s terrace. Our last opportunity to order from the egg station which had served up perfectly poached eggs for me each morning and delivered them to the table. As we’d arranged a late check-out until 3.00 p.m. there was ample time for a leisurely stroll into Kuta where we did some window shopping in the Discovery Mall reminding us of home with its branch of Marks & Spencer.
Returning to our hotel along the seafront we took in the gorgeous views of the Indian Ocean for one last time. Back in our room we packed our suitcases then enjoyed a late lunch of delicious satay in a small restaurant just down the road where we’d been for an evening meal earlier in the week.
After checking out of our hotel, we returned to the airport using the Holiday Inn’s complimentary transfer service, taking just a few minutes. As we had checked in for our flights in advance we were able to join the much shorter bag drop queue which didn’t take very long.
Sadly, we couldn’t avoid queues though as the one through immigration snaked back as far as the eye could see as hardly any of the desks were in use. Moving on to security, it was surprising to see that my handbag had been diverted off to the ‘problematic’ zone, followed shortly afterwards by my son’s bag as well. As seasoned travellers, this never happens to us as we’re always careful to remove sun cream or other liquids before heading to the airport. When the security clerk checked the screen she indicated it was a problem with keys for both of us, so we removed our bunches of house keys which she carefully inspected, even analysing my supermarket trolley token to feel if anything was sharp. Eventually she declared ‘no problems’ and we were able to continue on our way!
Noticing some sun lounger type seating overlooking the runway, we made ourselves comfortable until it was time to board our Qatar Airways flight to Doha on board a Boeing 777-300 airliner.
This departed on time at 7.00 p.m. and although heavily booked, it was a comfortable 10 hour journey over to Doha. Shortly after reaching cruising height a bar trolley service came round so we settled back in our seats with refreshing glasses of gin and tonic and kept hunger at bay with small packets of pretzels. Slightly later dinner was served comprising a pasta salad, braised beef, chocolate mousse and a slice of focaccia bread. This was both tasty and plentiful accompanied with a glass of red wine (to help me sleep!) and delicious Godiva chocolates.
Whilst eating, I watched the film Tolkien about his early life which I found very enjoyable and then nodded off to sleep, not waking until the cabin lights came back on and another meal was about to be served. I wasn’t particularly hungry so just ate my bean starter and a little of the main course. Our flight then touched down in Doha just a few minutes behind schedule so there was no need to rush along to the gate for the final leg of our journey back to Manchester.
This was also on board a 777-300ER airliner but as it had a much lighter load we had the luxury of an empty seat, enabling us to spread out a little. Soon after take-off, sandwiches were served and our Coronation Chicken and Grilled Mediterranean Vegetable fillings were both good and preferable to the greasy sausage roll type snacks we are often served.
We were soon back asleep for a few hours until more food appeared. I opted for pancakes with strawberry compote along with a pot of yoghurt and some fresh fruit which brought me back to life after two lengthy flights.
We arrived back into Manchester on time, the warm weather and clear blue skies of Indonesia seeming a distant memory as we unlocked our cases and pulled out our coats, ready for our more usual Manchester climate!
This brings to an end my series of posts on Doha, Jakarta and Bali which I hope you have enjoyed reading. Thank you for all the comments, they are much appreciated and my travel blogging wouldn’t be the same without interacting with so many of you. Until next time …..
If you have enjoyed reading this series of posts on Indonesia, you may also be interested in the following:
Taejongdae Park, Busan and a visit to Nampo, South Korea
Seoul Olympic Park and a walk up Naksan Mountain
Love Travelling Blog 
What another wonderful trip / series. Made for some good lunchtime reading 🙂
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Glad you enjoyed this series of posts on Indonesia Jason whilst munching through your sandwiches! Before too long we’ll all be able to set off on our travels once again, fingers crossed!
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I hope so! Fingers crossed 2021 will be a better year for travel
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I do hope so for all our sakes!
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Nice! Qatar looks like a great place to visit! Thanks for sharing a fun tour and an amazing adventure.
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It’s my pleasure. Thank you for taking the time to comment and it’s great to read that you enjoyed my travels to Indonesia and Qatar.
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Yeah, it looks so peaceful over there. I can’t wait!
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I’m glad you had an amazing vacation. Thank you for sharing. I want to go there too, some day.
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Thank you for your kind words. I do so hope that you have an opportunity to visit Bali one day.
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I find it interesting to see what different airlines serve for food and I must say I can only remember one time when I was served a proper breakfast during a flight. And that was from London to Belfast to my surprise, a proper English breakfast. But those pancakes with strawberry compote look great, too. Exotic destinations seem indeed far away right now and readying about your amazing trip makes me miss travelling even more! 🙂
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Thanks Anna for your welcome thoughts. I often find that breakfasts on long haul flights are nicer than some of the main meal options. That trip took place in November. How I wish we were free to travel anywhere once again, hopefully not too long now.
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Hold up. There’s a film about Tolkien’s life?? Now I must see this.
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Yes, it’s surprising what you come across on flights! Thanks for taking the time to comment.
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Great end to a great trip. The beaches and hotels of Bali look amazing and the trip back seemed so easy and free of any drama.
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It was a good trip Jonno, our most recent long haul trip taken in November. It will be interesting to see how long distance travel compares post-Covid.
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Sounds like a wonderful time. I too am waiting to see what post Covid travel is going to be like.
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Thank you for taking the time to comment. I’m certain we will all be so pleased to get away that we’ll just take it as it comes
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Qatar certainly look after you!
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Thanks Andy, we’ve flown Qatar Airways several times now and always been pleased with their service.
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Middle Eastern airlines sure know how to serve up good on journey food don’t they? I’m glad you enjoyed this trip to the tropics and one of my favorite countries.
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Thank you Ian for your continued interest in this series of posts. As you are probably aware by now we have flown Qatar Airways and Emirates numerous times and also enjoyed their service.
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Hello there! I love your blog very much. It’s so nice on every articles and so beautiful and helpful. I cannot travel abroad on some reason from Romania, but you gave me feelings of traveling around the world. Thank you so much!
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Thank you so much for your kind words. It’s lovely to hear that you are enjoying my blog. I’d like to visit Romania sometime too.
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Very enjoyable series. I felt like I was there!
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Thanks Shane for your kind words. It’s so good to hear from you. Let’s hope we can all start visiting places like this soon.
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It’s a wonderful trip. Thank you for sharing your amazing Indonesian adventure.
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It’s my pleasure Irene, I’m so pleased to read your wonderful thoughts about our visit to Indonesia.
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Thanks for sharing this great and interesting post .
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It’s my pleasure Mizou. Thank you for taking the time to comment, it’s so nice to hear from you.
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Thanks for sharing your great journey. It’s exciting to find that you live in Manchester (I’m a big fan of Manchester United FC). Hope you can visit my home country – Vietnam – one day.
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Thank you An Du for taking the time to comment on this series of Indonesian posts. I’d love to visit Vietnam one day – and perhaps you will be able to come over and experience a game at Manchester United’s stadium.
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I couldn’t help but think that this sounds like ancient history, a time when people could go from one side of the planet to the other and spend a few days walking and sitting down without fear. Well, we’ll have to wait a little longer to get back to that time, I think we’ll enjoy it a little more.
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It does feel like that and I agree next time we step onto a plane whether it’s just a short hop or long haul we’ll enjoy it even more and no longer take air travel for granted. Thanks so much for commenting, it’s much appreciated.
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