I can do it! Lombok & Gili Air.

Lombok is an island to the east of Bali. I left Candidasa at 08:30 took a bus back to Padangbai and then a 5 hour ferry. It's not actually that far, it's just the ferry was sloooow!




At Padangbai, I got off the bus and a man that appeared to have emerged from the Perama office grabbed my bag and said, "I'll take it for you!". A little later whilst waiting at the port, my brain clicked into gear and I realised this was another porterage scam. When the time to board came, I took charge of my bag and marched away. The "porter" ran behind me shouting, "I take your bag... oh, you don't want to pay?!" No, I thought, given a choice, I probably would have but being bamboozled into it, I was having none of it! I can't say that I didn't regret this when I had to haul it up the narrow, steep staircase to the passenger deck...



On board, I settled into a space for four, hell everyone else was marking out their territory! Food sellers came and went and we were on our way at a snail's pace. Several hours later, we arrived at Lembar port, I dragged the bag back down the staircase and boarded the Perama bus bound for Senggigi.





Senggigi was rather like Ko Lanta, the beach with a main road of hotels, bars and restaurants running along it. I left my bag at the Perama office and went looking for a place to stay. It was hot, I walked up, I walked down and around and eventually chose the Lina Hotel...... opposite the Perama office!

The Lina Hotel was described in my guidebook as shabby, clinging onto a former glory. What it lacked in style it made up for with it's beachfront location. I chose a room with aircon and seaview. The beach being 2 minutes from my door.




I dumped my stuff then ventured out in search of sustainance. I stopped at the Square and chowed down on the finest seafood cap cay I've ever eaten and was delighted to find they had wifi. In the evening, I befriended a couple from Somerset (UK) on the hotel terrace and we swapped traveller's tales over a few Bintangs.

The next day I found a cafe, with wifi, in which to have continental breakfast with a cheese omelette on the side. Then I decided to brave the beach. As Lombok is predominantly Muslim, I wanted to see if anyone was beachside in a bikini. There was no one on the beach. I looked one way and then the other, it was deserted. I pondered the time, nearly 17:00, well past the hottest part of the day. Where was everyone? No matter, I headed for the shoreline to take a walk. The sand felt quite warm, as I walked a little further it began to feel quite hot. With the soles of my feet burning, I danced like a chicken across the sand and into the sea. I laughed outloud at myself!




I paddled along until I found a spot narrow enough to cut back to the hotel without burning the remaining skin from my feet. Back at the hotel, I took a seat at the bar and ordered a small beer, having forgotten to specify Bintang, I was served an Anker, I do not have words to describe how bad it was.

I proceeded to meet Jonas (Norway), Kevin (US but lives in Korea) and Irma (Holland). All four of us travelling alone we chatted over beers then reconveened for dinner at Bambu where I had a delicious fish risotto and a happy memory invoking avocado juice.





The next morning, Irma and I left for the tiny island of Gili Air. Here was when I made one of the wisest decisions of the whole trip thusfar! The night before I had consulted my oracle, yet often inaccurate, guidebook. It stated that like Ko Lipe, boats would dock in the sea and it was necessary to wade out to the island.... with your luggage. Na-ah! I thought and had promptly packed everything I needed into my flight bag and day pack. So in the morning, I hotfooted it over to Perama and asked if I could leave my big bag with them. "No problem" said the man behind the desk, "When will you be back for it?". "The 23rd!" I yelled as I skipped out the door.

I was taken by bus for 35 minutes along the costal road and deposited in a bar near to Bangsal port. There, I met 2 couples from the Czech Republic but Irma was nowhere to be seen. After an age, we were pointed in the general direction of the port. We dodged the offers of cidomo (horse & cart) transport and headed for the sea.

We were ushered onto a kind of longtail boat along with local traders, plants, eggs, bags of rice and I swear I saw some chickens! The journey took only 25 minutes over the clear blue sea. On arrival we jumped into the sea, me with my mini bags, and flip-flopped onto the beach. There, we were inundated with offers of accommodation and transport. The Gili islands have no motorised transport and, incindentally, no police prescence.

I was trying to look out for Irma, dodge the touts and get my bearings when one of the Czech guys called me over. They were looking at a flyer a tout was showing them. "It looks nice" said one, I agreed so we all followed the man out to the property. Clearly, the flyer had been printed 15 years previously. We consulted our books and fled the scene taking the coastal "road" a sandy dirt track that circles the island.

The Czech guys opted for a modern aircon, Habitat kind of place. Me, I went for a jungle hut at Gili Air Santay. I made my choice based mainly on the reviews of the restaurant, fabulous Thai food! Also, I reasoned that I could have Habitat type style anytime in Europe and as I was on a barely inhabited island, should therefore make like Robinson Crusoe. This state of mind wore off after nightfall and upon discovering that my neighbours were cows.




I stuck out the two nights I had booked but something was very wrong. I couldn't sleep, I felt miserable, I was being attacked by all kinds of creepy crawly things. I longed for aircon, hot water, hell, fresh water! It's sea water here. I wanted Ikea, Habitat and Pizza Express.... I was homesick.




Having met some cool people, a couple from Cornwall, a Belgian magazine editor and having found Irma again I decided to stay longer on Gili Air. The next day I found myself a bungalow complete with aircon, hot water, designer tiled outdoor bathroom, TV, minibar and they bring breakfast to your door!!!! I also invested in the strongest anti mosquito spray I could find and began to feel more like me.




Otherwise, I and my new friends had settled into small island life. Our days are punctuated by meal breaks and siestas, it takes at least 40 minutes and sometimes a vote to decide on either! We watch the boats come and go, smile and say hello to our neighbours as they pass by on their/our 90 minute round the island walk. "Hello Sharon!" shout the staff at the Santay as I arrive for lunch, dinner, drinks. We wait out the power cuts, I take a cidomo to the internet cafe...








We were also involved in an impromptu "lock in" i.e. it started to rain so no one could leave the bar!


Save for transit stops in Legian (Bali) and Bangkok my time in south east Asia is over, for this trip anyway.

I look in the mirror, I am so tanned I barely recognise myself, my hair is sunbleached several shades lighter. I think about how far I have travelled, literally, several hundred kilometers and figuratively, I have bathed in sea water, used many a squat toilet/bush, dealt with all kinds of bugs, worn clothes several times before considering laundry, seen monkeys and elephants and eaten all kinds of curried, chilied or stewed fish and seafood.

I've made some new friends and I'm looking forward to catching up with some old ones.



Next stop: Sydney, Australia.


- Posted from my iPhone