Feast or Famine

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No one got much sleep last night. The beds were reasonably comfortable but the temperature was too high for us as we have been spoiled by AC so far. Also there are mosques all around and we were all woken for prayer before dawn. We all finally got back to sleep only to be wakened by a knock on the door. We were surprised to find on opening it that we were provided with breakfast. We were surprised because we didn't know it wasn't the price and also because no one else would be eating at this time due to Ramadan. We gratefully accepted the delicious tea, but due to the disturbed night no one was up for omelette and rice.

We packed up and went to get a minibus back to Banjarmasin. We had plenty of time as our flight was not until 5.45pm. The terminal was a 30 second walk from the Losmen and we felt like we were doing really well for time. However, there were no minibuses for Banjarmasin at the terminal. A taxi driver offered to take us for a large price and then someone callethose Banjarmasin minibus driver. He insisted he wasn't coming until 1pm. We didn't have time to sit it out and see if it was true or not. Our loads of time suddenly became no time. Then a car driver started to negotiate with us and we agreed a price. At least we were going to be moving again. We thought it would be clever to negotiate for the driver to take us to the hotel so we could pick up our luggage and then on to the airport. We saved money on a taxi this way, but now we were set for hours at the airport.

The journey was non-eventful, except that we had to listen to one album of love songs 3 times through. Some of them were really bad and hearing them 3 times was a little painful. It was better then the usual Indonesian radio though whicwish as constantly played Adele the whole time we have been here. Harriet has enjoyed the occasional 1D song though. They are as obsessed with them in Asia as in UK and Australia.

When we got to the airport we found a cafe - well Dunkin Donuts actually. In order to serve food during Ramadan the cafes hang curtains over the windows. This way no one who is fasting has to watch others eat. We sat in there for about an hour making a coffee last a long time and playing cards. Then we moved to another cafe to do the same!

Toby discovered a massage place and went for a foot massage. He really enjoyed it and sent the girls when he got back. Harriet had to put on a sarong as she couldn't get her pants rolled up high enough. She looked very local. However she hated the massage. The girl seemed to be very rough with her and she bruised her calves. Not a pleasant experience.

When we got to Jakarta, we took the taxi option from the airport. bluebird are the only really reliable taxi service in Jakarta. They use the meters and don't seem to rip you off. even in the queue other taxi drivers were offering us deals to go with them. The hotel was fantastic. We had a huge room on the 19th floor. Harriet loved the whole wall of windows and Toby thought he had never stayed in a nicer room. The only problem was the bathroom light lit up the room, so when Toby gets up early he will wake everyone- first world problem! We buffeted at the hotel and ate far too much for a stupidly low price.

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