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Published: March 11th 2010
Feb 9-12: So the story about our LOOOONNG journey to Lombok. We had purchased tickets for bus transport from Legian directly to Padang Bai (through a transport company called Perama)--we were told it would be about a 1.5-2 hours bus ride. When we got on the bus--and it was a pretty old bus with NO air conditioning & plastic/leather-covered seats--the driver started reading out names of different cities. He must have read out like 5 names! I was worried that we'd now be making lots of stops and that a 2-hour bus ride would turn into 5!
Thankfully, when we stopped at Ubud (the 1st stop) they said passengers who were going to Padang Bai could get off and transfer to another bus that would go directly to the ferry terminal. I thought this second bus would be a lot more comfortable since it was large coach bus. But I was soooo wrong! The bus was completely packed. The front and back was totally blocked by everyone's luggage and bags. There was NO ventilation and NO air conditioning--just these air "vents" that re-circulated the air in the bus. Ok, maybe I sound spoiled and that I was whining...BUT imagine having another
meal at the seaside restaurant of our hotel
fried rice covered with egg...and a HUGE shrimp cracker...satay chicken skewers...and fried chicken1.5 hours to go with no fresh air to breathe. I don't think anyone talked or moved during the entire ride because it was just so uncomfortably hot & you didn't want to touch anyone or be touched by anyone. It was the worst bus experience ever (even worse that taking a bus in China!). I felt like I was melting and that I was going to suffocate because there was no fresh air and you couldn't open the windows.
When we finally reached Padang Bai, our luggage was taken off the bus. Almost immediately there were men surrounding us trying to convince us to sign on for their transport services (including the ferry fee & transport to our hotel when we got to Lombok). Some of the men also put their hands on our bags ready to take them onto the ferry. We felt really pressured to go with this company because they kept on saying the ferry would be leaving in 5 minutes & I didn't see any other transport companies around. So we quickly gave them the money for the ferry & transport (which was something like 150,000 rupiahs per person). There were these men who
had already begun to carry our suitcases to the ferry and they carried it up 2 flights of stairs for us. However, these men suddenly demanded for 100,000 rupiahs per luggage. We were so confused!! Weren't these men with the transport company that we had already paid? I asked the men who they were. They were
porters. With all the commotion and panic back near the coach bus--we didn't even have time to realize that the men who had taken our luggage were not with the transport company (though they probably work together to swarm tourists in order to get business quickly). Genelle tried to hand them 10,000 rupiah but they laughed & wouldn't accept it. The situation became even more stressful when a group of women approached us with baskets of fruits & snacks asking us to buy something. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THEN, the porter guys began to threaten us saying that if we didn't pay they would just take our luggages away. So in the end--to make them leave us alone--we paid 100,000 rupiahs for our 2 suitcases.
NOTE TO SELF: next time, DO NOT bring a suitcase---get a large, travel backpack like Lizzy's to avoid situations like these. breath-taking!
We were on our way to take a boat to Gili Air...and we just had to stop to take pictures of this amazing view! I felt so stupid and so ripped off! G and I were both pretty angry. But it was a relief to learn later that we weren't the only ones scammed by the porters. We met 2 other Canadian girls and they had a similar situation with the porters. The porters had grabbed their large backpacks before they had a chance to say a word & carried them onto the ferry for them. Then when the girls refused to pay, the porters threw their bags down the stairs. SCARY! So in the end, they just paid the porters too.
The ferry was pretty old--with no actual toilet (just a trough of some sort that was very high up). It also didn't help that there was a group of girls who took up almost 2 rows of seats because they were sleeping across the chairs and had their stuff spread all over. Anyway, we sat very stiffly in our seat for 5 hours!!!
yes, FIVE. We sat at the stern of the ferry, so once in a while we would get a nice breeze. Quite a few people on the ferry were worried just like us, that no one would show
up from the transport company on the other side when we got to Lombok.
But someone was there. 😊 And he arrived in a nice car. Our guide's name was
June (though he said we could call him Giovanni too.) He was a short little man...very funny...He took us to our hotel---
Sengiggi Hotel. He had tried to convince us to book some day tours with him during our drive to the hotel, but we wanted to know more of the details. So we sat down in the hotel restaurant--drinking some complimentary fruit punch--and had a business meeting with June to negotiate a good price for 2 day tours and a plane ticket back to Bali.
The next day, we went to one of three Gili Islands--
Gili Air. It was a beautiful beautiful place, free from the noise & pollution of cars and motorbikes (only horses & bicycles are allowed on the island). There were little huts and bungalow-style hotels. Everyone seemed to be so happy and layed-back. The temperature at the island was higher than Lombok, so it was pretty HOT!! We went
snorkelling in the coral reef. It was just an amazing experience to be swimming through
the waters with teams of brightly coloured fish. It took a little adjustment to get used to having the snorkel gear on...and I did get tired....and my right flipper gave me a nasty blister on my big-toe (so I couldn't go snorkelling a second time because the salty water made the blister burn)...but I sill thoroughly enjoyed my first snorkelling experience. We were told there were turtles, but no luck for us because didn't come across any. We bought an under-water camera, so I'll have to wait until we develop to pictures to find out how they turned out.
After snorkelling, we had lunch at a little beach-side restaurant. It was so relaxing to be sitting by the beach with an amazing view & a nice breeze...sipping on a drink & enjoying a good meal.
We went exploring and walked around the island...met & talked to some locals...it was a wonderful day.
The next day, June brought us to a famous
Water Temple. We had to tie a yellow sash around our waist before entering as a sign of respect I think. Even though this place was supposed to be very sacred, it didn't seem to be
to Gili Air
on a small little boat... the case. The water surrounding the Water Temple was so polluted and full of garbage. The grounds weren't well kept and there were chickens in cages (because they have cock-fights to determine which ones would be used for sacrifice...or something like that). In any case, it was interesting to learn about some of the Muslim practices.
Then we visited
June's home-village which is a weaving village. I was so impressed by the patience and skills of the women who were doing the weaving. They sit for hours in the heat...weaving row by row...making intricate patterns. They also make all the cotton string, which they die from natural resources like eggplant for purple, tamarind for golden yellow-orange, etc. We got to try on some traditional wedding dresses. There were 3 layers---so hot! We passed by an elementary school and the children were all outside in the courtyard for lunchtime; the boys were playing soccer & the girls were standing on the side watching and eating ice cream and slushies from the ice cream man.
Later, we also went to a
Sasak Village that is made of one big family since they all inter-marry. They have one leader (who's hut
Delva
A little girl that just plopped herself down at our bench. We were getting ready to go snorkelling and she came over to see what we were doing I suppose. She was adorable with her blue lollipop--she seemed to be in total bliss just sitting there with her lollipop observing other people! She was on a family vacation with her family--they were from France. At first she wasn't really willing to talk, but I started to speak to her in French & she told us her name. SO CUTE! was closest to the entrance of the village). They had a meeting place--sorting of like a town hall--where they meet to discuss important matters. Everyone works for the benefit of the village and they pool all they have to share with each other. We were invited inside one woman's hut. The huts are made of buffalo dung & clay, which they rebuild every few years. The huts don't take long to build because everyone pitches in to help.
Then we headed to the white sandy
Kuta beach, in the southern area of Lombok. It's the most beautiful beach I have ever seen--with clear, aquamarine water...white, fine sand...palm trees...
We climbed to the top of a mount/rocky hill to get a better view of everything. It was amazing! The beach was pretty quiet as travelling to Bali/Lombok during Chinese New Year is apparently a low season. So we were very lucky since we pretty much had the beach to ourselves, with the exception of some little boys from the Sasak Village who tried to sell bracelets and necklaces to us. We didn't want to buy anything, so we just invited them to come swimming with us. The boys were so
funny and cute!
On our last day at Lombok Island, we walked around to look at different shops and to visit
Eddy, who runs a small book exchange/gift-shop. We met him on our first night in Lomok when we went exploring. Eddy gave me the impression that he was a well-read man and that he was very passionate about his books. He must have read every single book (more than once) that was on his shelves. He recommended many books to us and spoke about them with so much love! 😊 There was one book in particular that caught my interest ("Bridge Across My Sorrows" by Christina Noble) and when I asked him about the price...he wasn't really willing to sell it to me because he was in the middle of reading it (a third time) because it's one of his favourite books since it was very inspiring to him. He said maybe he'll finish reading it and then he would let me buy it. So on our last day, we went back to Eddy's store...but he still didn't want to part with the book. So I said it's no problem...because I definitely would not want to take away
his favourite book! We chatted with him a little, said our good-byes and then headed off. But them 15 minutes later as we were walking down the side-walk, I heard someone calling my name. It was Eddy! He came running over to us with the book---he wanted me to have it. I felt so bad to take the book from him, but he insisted and insisted. He also came to give each of us pearl bracelets (and sadly, I lost my bracelet during the Beijing trip at the Forbidden City. I either didn't tie it on tight enough OR someone managed to steal it from my wrist. I'm SO sad & angry that I lost the bracelet! ARGHHHH)
After lunch, we had a lazy afternoon at our hotel pool. We also indulged ourselves with
massages. They had a spa hut by the pool. It was really nice! For our foot massage, they had these beautiful, fuschia tropical flowers floating in the water. They also used some really nice, soothing jasmine oils.
The people were so nice; they were genuinely nice. Every time we walked down the street, people stopped to chat with us. It was funny because when
I told them I'm from Canada...they did a double-take...and was like "Noooo...you look different!". That was the reaction I got EVERY single time. People guessed that I was Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Indonesian (after I had a darker tan)....Most people wouldn't believe that I was Canadian, so I had to explain that I'm Canadian-born-Chinese, etc., etc. I should just get a t-shirt made so that I don't have to explain where I'm from anymore. And after people learned my name, almost every person would comment about how beautiful my name is. I never really got that kind of reaction from my name before.
It was kind of sad to leave without seeing June though. He was supposed to take us to the airport, but he was sick! It was really hard to leave Lombok...I really appreciated the authentic, untouched, non-commercialized feel of the island. The flight back to Bali was all of just 15 minutes or something ridiculous like that. It was awesome to not have to endure the 8-hour bus-ferry journey again.
Feb.12-14 We were back in Bali for a couple more nights at the All Seasons Hotel. We just lounged by the beach...did some shopping, eating,
etc. And on our last full day in Bali, we went on a day-tour. We hired a driver from our hotel--
"Big Boy Nuomen". That's how he introduced himself. In Bali, people name their children according to the order in which they're born (like the first child is called Wayan...the fourth child is called Nuomen). Nuomen picked us up at 8:30am. Our first stop was going to a
Barong performance--which is a traditional Balinese dance which portrayed the battle of justice and evil. The music sounded very eerie and there was lots of clicking & "dinging" noises. It was very difficult to understand what was going on, but it was still very interesting to watch. Then we went to the
Monkey Forest...which was a lot of fun! Afterwards, we went to a bead store in Ubud because G wanted to find some beads for her mom. Then we headed off to go to the
Kintamani volcano (which is still active!). It started pouring, but good thing we were in the car heading to the volcano...and it stopped raining when we arrived. We enjoyed a buffet lunch that overlooked the volcano. I noticed some small villages rather close to the volcano--I wonder
where they would go & how fast they could escape if the volcano ever exploded. It was a unique experience to see an active volcano.
Afterwards, closer to sun-set time, we went to
Tanalot to see a temple.
Nuomen drove us back to the hotel and since we still had a few hours before our midnight flight we had dinner, bought some snacks, talked to Edwin the very nice hotel front desk guy....
Then, we had to say farewell and head to the airport to go back to Shanghai. The 9 days passed by too quickly!😞
WELL, I still have pictures to post of my last few days in Bali but I'll have to do that another time. 😊
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