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Published: October 17th 2008
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We got up early the next morning and headed over to Ronald. The taxi driver from the night before was outside our hotel demanding the fare that we had enquired about. A heated discussion later and threats to call the police on all sides, we gave him 15,000 (a quid) for his petrol over from Kuta and he was on his way (after another argument with Ronald!!). Not the best start to a morning!
Kasper needed to change his flights in Denpasar (capitla of Bali) on the way and the new taxi driver didn't really know the way to the address we wanted but several stops later we finally made it. About an hour later we were arriving in Padang bai, about to start what would be the most stressful part of my trip so far! As we got out the taxi we grabbed our bags quickly as we were aware of porter scams where locals would grab 'unattended' bags and 'help' you by carrying them to the office/ boat and then demand huge tips - sometimes as much as US$20!!! We were ushered into the ticket office surrounded by people racing around you - just designed to confuse and
Baby on a moped
5 is the current unbeaten number of people seen on a scooter!! disorientate you. We bought our hugely expensive tickets to the Gilis and boarded the ferry. Until the very last minute we were the only white people on the boat. A very new experience. Once on, we were accosted by a host of locals trying to sell us water and food for the five hour crossing that awaited us.
We got talking to a local from Sanur and explained that we were going to the Gilis. He looked a little confused and explained that the ferry didn't go to the Gilis!! We took this in for a second and looked towards the door to get off just in time to see the port slowly moving away behind us. Shit! We were talking to the local and trying to understand what was going on when an angry Australian came over saying that he was supposed to be going to Senggigi but had just been told the ferry was't gong there either!! A little bit of panic set in (a feeling I was going to get used to).When we asked where we were actually gong, the reply was “Lembar”. Where the F*ck was Lembar??? The answer, it seemed, was Lombok. A whole
new bloody country!!!! Fortunately, when we looked at the map, it was only a couple of hours down the coast from the Gilis, but still not where we were expecting, or wanted to be. Our tickets said Gilis but we had no idea what to expect next. The lovely Sanurian guy came to our rescue and called the ticket office on the mainland to see what was going on. Thankfully there was mobile signal on the crossing! Apparently, both us and the Aussie couple had a bus transfer at the other side. Hmmm. Why was this not expained?! Still unsure, we did all we could do - try and enjoy the 5 hour journey! I went up on the top and found th captain's deck! I almost wish I hadn't as the guy who was at the wheel was very much younger than I'd have liked but the view was amazing!!!
The angry Aussie guy was infact Phil and he was travelling with his partner Leneice (sp?) and once the tickets were sorted we spent a lot of time on the boat chatting and sharing music on our PCs. Kasper also got talking to a French couple (Ben and
Aurelie) on their holidays who were also heading out to the Gilis for the week.
A lovely Asian lady took pity on us and gave us a packet of biscuts for the journey. Such a small act that really meant so much. I didn't even care that they were coffee flavour! As we pulled into the harbour I gave the remaining biscuits out to the kids on the boat. It was amazing to see not only how greatful they
were not only for the treat - the grabbed at the biscuits as though they might disappear at any moment - but also how amazed they were at seeing a tourist. It's a very strange experience to know that you are having your photo taken (not so) slyly by camera phone just for being white. Blue eyes and blonde hair is such a rarity here that I find myself being stared at quite lot!!
As we approached the harbour, the locals were gathering on the dock. Before the car ramp even touched down they had jumped it and were racing around the ferry looking for those 'unattended' bags. We watched them from the top window and so had our
bags on our backs already but weren't ready for the sppeed in which they arrived. It was like an attack!!!
We tried to get off bus got caught on the car deck and got seperated for a while with everyone clamouring to see your ticket. Kasper had ours firmly in his control - a lost ticket can have distasterous consequences!!! We eventually found our driver and our 'bus'. It was actually a minivan and 6 of us piled in - the Aussie couple, the French couple and us.
About an hour later we arrived in Senggigi and were told that there was no point in going any further that night as the port was now closed and there would be no boats to the Gilis until the morning.
We found a hotel and met up for dinner. Just as we were chosing a restaurant, the power went off (to be a regular theme). We eventually found one with power and enjoyed our evening.
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