Vincent and Akari, recent arrivals from London had asked me to accompany them to the customs hall at Ngurah Rai airport in Tuban to retrieve their luggage.
They are planning to move out here to Bali on a permanent basis and got their possessions down to 13 suitcases, all vital stuff they assured me. The luggage was shipped out by air from London and was to arrived shortly after they did on Friday.
Vincent and Akari were worried that even though they were not bringing in anything illegal the customs guys might try to fine them or pull a fast one because of the amount of luggage. They certainly didn’t need any hassles when they are still just getting acquainted with a new area. Vincent had read that even the BIMC clinic has to smuggle in supplies as the customs keep there stuff locked up for months and want a big payoff.
I walked down the street past the place where I rent my motorbike and said ‘ salamat pagi’ to the ladies before getting to Café Moka to meet with them both at 9am. At 10am Vincent’s hired driver, Mr Whiskey showed up in a van. We drove the 20 minutes down the bypass to the airport and arrived at the customs hall.
There’s a warehouse next to a 2 storey office building with plenty of fellows in uniform strolling around. We went inside and Vincent found an officer and explained who he was and what luggage he wanted. Vincent and Akari had their passports photocopied and handed back to them and after waiting around for paperwork we were taken down to the warehouse to check out the luggage.
I was thinking that customs officers look for anomalies and having 13 suitcases on a tourist visa definitely is unusual, but once they saw it was just personal effects how much could they really ask for. I guess Vincent and Akari’s stuff means a lot to them and they were in a position of almost having to pay whatever the price was going to be. Personally I would of said to an officer ‘take 50,000rp or stick the luggage up your ass’ but it wasn’t my call.
One little fellow was friendly and once the team of officers began searching through the luggage things moved reasonable quickly. I was expecting that maybe 1 or 2 cases would be opened and they would see it was just clothing. They went through every case, not searching too thoroughly but seemingly looking for larger items that might contain drugs or some other contraband.
The key during this process is to keep cool, let them do what they want and smile. I could tell Vincent was a little bit uncomfortable having his stuff gone through by strangers but the process yielded some funny moments, including having his granny’s tea pot held up and also his pet rocks, given to him by Akari years ago. I also spotted Vincent’s copy of ‘Times Atlas of the World’. I’m into independent travel, but lugging a 20lb book with me isn’t something I’d want to try. Not to leave Akari out we got to see her copy of ‘The Telegraph Guide to English Gardening’…something that is going to come in very handy in Indonesia.
The luggage was cleared and we had to pay a storage charge of 690,000rp. The luggage came in on Saturday and if Vincent had picked it up straight away most of this could have been saved. We went up stairs to the main office again for the little fellow to type up the customs release. He charged us 200,000rp for handling.
Vincent and I tried quite hard to get the shipping people to take a ‘service fee’ rather than pay the 690,000rp. They wouldn’t budge and the official receipt and computer system all looked genuine. My experience at this airport is that the immigration guys are winking at you to give them a bribe, these cargo guys wouldn’t even talk about it. I think their tracking system is organized and there’s not enough scope for them to cut a deal.
The little guy might have been a different story. We tried with him for a while but we were so close to the end that he really didn’t have to budge. Basically ‘I’ll give you the customs release when I get my ‘handling fee’.
We paid and took off with Akari and myself in a Bluebird cab and Vincent in the van with Mr Whiskey.
I have a storage room at my house and let them lock their bags there for a few days. This gives them a chance to be mobile and look around for a place to live.
Vincent was a especially happy at getting away with the storage fee and ‘handling fee’. He suggested we go to Ku De Ta for lunch on him. What a super fellow! I took the opportunity to snap a couple of shots in black and white including this one of Akari and Vincent.
It was sunny and I was thinking watermelon juice, but Vincent quickly ordered a large bottle of water and a bottle of bubbly. After the pressure of the day was over he felt like the world was his oyster and we briefly discussed him buying Lombok or some other small island.
Ku De Ta is a the place on Jalan Oberoi located on the beach. It is owned by Mr Kadek Wiranatha who also owns a slew of other places on the south coast including Paddy’s in Kuta.
The staff are courteous and Ku De Ta seems a relaxed upscale place to hang out.
I ordered a fish & chips to avoid vegetables ( stomach bug ) which was 50,000rp. Vincent had a burger and Akari had grilled fish I think. My fish and chips was good, could have had a larger portion of chips, but then again who needs a ton of chips when you have a desert menu? Not Akari, who ordered a crème brulee.
So as far as the simple life in Bali living in a bamboo hut in Karangasem is concerned, Seminyak is getting more popular.
After lunch Vincent and Akari wanted to relax on a recliner at Ku De Ta so I strolled home. This was a good learning opportunity as far as what to expect with customs. I hear all the time about expats having trouble getting stuff in and out and this gives me an idea of at least who is going to be asking for money.
I will catch up with Vincent and Akari on the weekend hopefully.
Subscribe
|
Print
|
Share             
|
Hi Nick, I received your address from a friend of yours Mike Hillis. Nick, I need information about Papua and tourist visas. I have heard the govt wants to close Papua to tourists. I need to know if Wamena is open to tourists.
Thanks, Craig
G’Day Nick,
What a series of events!. It makes me think how one would go on bringing in large crates of valuable items.
Do they charge by kilo for storage or as ‘bulk’ in a person’s name?.
The B & W foto was great. You should take some more like that!.
Nick
thanks for all yr help - not just yesterday but since we arrived.
We are extremely grateful.
Good to know you.
Checked out De Ja Vu last night - no fighting to report but the boom boom boom of the music could be heard in our hotel on Double 6 up until 06.00.
When I get a moment, willI write up our reflections on being homeless in Bali.
Are you partying in Dhyana Pura this w/end?
Akari & Vincent
Glad to hear you enjoyed De Ja Vu (for those who don’t know its owned by the same people as Spy Bar and looks almost the same from ther outside.)
It was intersting for me to check out the customs guys at work. I never have anything valuable with me so haven’t had any problems before.
Will be cool to hear your thoughts on life out here so far.
I might be doing something on Saturday but want to remain in good shape for Sunday.
We hear the tourist visa has been cut from 60 days to 30 days with a 15 day wait between renewals. True? The change would seriously interfere with our plans to spend summer at Ketut’s Place at Jalan Sweta 40, Ubud. What are the dates for Galungan in 2004?
Vincent and Akari, recent arrivals from London had asked me to accompany them to the customs hall at Ngurah Rai airport in Tuban to retrieve their luggage.
They are planning to move out here to Bali on a permanent basis and got their possessions down to 13 suitcases, all vital stuff they assured me. The luggage was shipped out by air from London and was to arrived shortly after they did on Friday.
Vincent and Akari were worried that even though they were not bringing in anything illegal the customs guys might try to fine them or pull a fast one because of the amount of luggage. They certainly didn’t need any hassles when they are still just getting acquainted with a new area. Vincent had read that even the BIMC clinic has to smuggle in supplies as the customs keep there stuff locked up for months and want a big payoff.
I walked down the street past the place where I rent my motorbike and said ‘ salamat pagi’ to the ladies before getting to Café Moka to meet with them both at 9am. At 10am Vincent’s hired driver, Mr Whiskey showed up in a van. We drove the 20 minutes down the bypass to the airport and arrived at the customs hall.
There’s a warehouse next to a 2 storey office building with plenty of fellows in uniform strolling around. We went inside and Vincent found an officer and explained who he was and what luggage he wanted. Vincent and Akari had their passports photocopied and handed back to them and after waiting around for paperwork we were taken down to the warehouse to check out the luggage.
I was thinking that customs officers look for anomalies and having 13 suitcases on a tourist visa definitely is unusual, but once they saw it was just personal effects how much could they really ask for. I guess Vincent and Akari’s stuff means a lot to them and they were in a position of almost having to pay whatever the price was going to be. Personally I would of said to an officer ‘take 50,000rp or stick the luggage up your ass’ but it wasn’t my call.
One little fellow was friendly and once the team of officers began searching through the luggage things moved reasonable quickly. I was expecting that maybe 1 or 2 cases would be opened and they would see it was just clothing. They went through every case, not searching too thoroughly but seemingly looking for larger items that might contain drugs or some other contraband.
The key during this process is to keep cool, let them do what they want and smile. I could tell Vincent was a little bit uncomfortable having his stuff gone through by strangers but the process yielded some funny moments, including having his granny’s tea pot held up and also his pet rocks, given to him by Akari years ago. I also spotted Vincent’s copy of ‘Times Atlas of the World’. I’m into independent travel, but lugging a 20lb book with me isn’t something I’d want to try. Not to leave Akari out we got to see her copy of ‘The Telegraph Guide to English Gardening’…something that is going to come in very handy in Indonesia.
The luggage was cleared and we had to pay a storage charge of 690,000rp. The luggage came in on Saturday and if Vincent had picked it up straight away most of this could have been saved. We went up stairs to the main office again for the little fellow to type up the customs release. He charged us 200,000rp for handling.
Vincent and I tried quite hard to get the shipping people to take a ‘service fee’ rather than pay the 690,000rp. They wouldn’t budge and the official receipt and computer system all looked genuine. My experience at this airport is that the immigration guys are winking at you to give them a bribe, these cargo guys wouldn’t even talk about it. I think their tracking system is organized and there’s not enough scope for them to cut a deal.
The little guy might have been a different story. We tried with him for a while but we were so close to the end that he really didn’t have to budge. Basically ‘I’ll give you the customs release when I get my ‘handling fee’.
We paid and took off with Akari and myself in a Bluebird cab and Vincent in the van with Mr Whiskey.
I have a storage room at my house and let them lock their bags there for a few days. This gives them a chance to be mobile and look around for a place to live.
Vincent was a especially happy at getting away with the storage fee and ‘handling fee’. He suggested we go to Ku De Ta for lunch on him. What a super fellow! I took the opportunity to snap a couple of shots in black and white including this one of Akari and Vincent.
It was sunny and I was thinking watermelon juice, but Vincent quickly ordered a large bottle of water and a bottle of bubbly. After the pressure of the day was over he felt like the world was his oyster and we briefly discussed him buying Lombok or some other small island.
Ku De Ta is a the place on Jalan Oberoi located on the beach. It is owned by Mr Kadek Wiranatha who also owns a slew of other places on the south coast including Paddy’s in Kuta.
The staff are courteous and Ku De Ta seems a relaxed upscale place to hang out.
I ordered a fish & chips to avoid vegetables ( stomach bug ) which was 50,000rp. Vincent had a burger and Akari had grilled fish I think. My fish and chips was good, could have had a larger portion of chips, but then again who needs a ton of chips when you have a desert menu? Not Akari, who ordered a crème brulee.
So as far as the simple life in Bali living in a bamboo hut in Karangasem is concerned, Seminyak is getting more popular.
After lunch Vincent and Akari wanted to relax on a recliner at Ku De Ta so I strolled home. This was a good learning opportunity as far as what to expect with customs. I hear all the time about expats having trouble getting stuff in and out and this gives me an idea of at least who is going to be asking for money.
I will catch up with Vincent and Akari on the weekend hopefully.
Subscribe
|
Print
|
Share
|
I’m thinking of bringing a set of dumbells and a desklamp with me, what do you think they’ll charge.