It could be the beaches and palatial hotels. It might be Chinese President Xi Jinping's warm smile. But there is no doubt: Joe Biden is enjoying his Bali Group of 20 Summit.

"I don't think I'm going home," the United States president joked to his host, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, enthusing about the beach stretching outside his hotel.

Later on Monday, at an evening press conference in a tropical garden, Biden's first words to journalists were, "Welcome to Bali".

Said with a chuckle, he seemed to refer to what everyone was experiencing: the cocktail of humid heat, stunning decor and abundant nature that felt a million miles from the stiff formality of the White House.

TV journalists were using towels to mop sweat from their faces. A chorus of crickets was so loud that even the garden waterfalls became inaudible. And the fatigue of flying to the other side of the world for back-to-back summits in Egypt, Cambodia and Bali had set in for many.

Biden himself croakily admitted to having caught "a little cold".

The overwhelming vibe for the veteran Democrat, however, was pure Bali – a sense of relief.

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