After saying our goodbyes to many new friends on Gili Trawangan we boarded the Gili Cat fast boat. This was a different boat to the one we had on the way over. It was almost fully enclosed, but had plenty of windows to open or close. The sea was calmer on this trip, the boat was faster and without a stop in at Lombok , the trip only took 55 mins. We got the usual safety talk and given a bottle of water. The motion sickness prone Sunrise & Sunblock didn't feel an ounce of queasiness. We had previously organised our driver, ketut, to pick us up from Padang Bai and as reliable as ever he rang just before we left Gili T and was at Padang Bai when we arrived. We could have used the Gili Cat shuttle bus included in the price of our tickets, but were very glad we didn't. It was the end of Ramadan and so the traffic all the way to Kuta was bumper to bumper, or should I say bumper to bike tyre.
Previously when we had left for Gili Trawangan, Ketut had taken the bulk of our luggage on to leave at Matahari Bungalows in Kuta. When we arrived to check-in and retrieve our luggage we were asked for our luggage ticket. Sunblock & Sunset looked at each other 'our what' and thought oh, oh. But Ketut came up the stairs and saved the day again. He talked in Indonesian to the hotel staff and we were soon led to our luggage. It was upstairs from reception behind two lots of padlocked doors, all safe and sound. The hotel staff lugged it downstairs and to our room. God I love not carrying luggage! The room was great ,#30 this time on floor level. The shower was great and it was nice to have a hot one after the last few days on Gili T. We relaxed on the verandah and some of the staff stopped by to say hi as they had remembered us from the week before. It was drizzling a little as we walked up Jl legion full of people as usual, there were less 'hellooo, transport?' questions, I'm not sure if it was because of the rain or because of the traffic, either way we were unperturbed, it was now just a usual night for us. We had dinner at Eikon, sunrise having the noodles mmm, while trying everything including sending smoke signals with the candle to get attention for service. Very funny.
Day 11. . 10th September
Today was our last day in Bali, we were up early and tried not to think the sad thoughts. We went down for the hotel breakfast, which was usually enjoyable but there was no noodles today, we were just pouting because we had to go home.
There were some things we had to do today and we were hoping we wouldn't run out of time. We needed to get a little more money changed and found one in a DVD store just up from our hotel. Don't go there!! We were to get just over 2 million, he showed us on a calculator and then counted it out in front of us twice, we also counted it. We thanked him and mentioned we would tell many friends. Sunrise then stepped away to count 20x 50,000 notes out for each of us, but there were only 24 notes. Confused! The fellow then called me back and said he would count it with me. I handed it back to him and noticed he had some in his hand already. He then counted one million out into a pile which i moved to the side near me. He then counted another million into a pile which i quickly grabbed a hold of. We both had a hold of it and he was Very reluctant to let it go. I took it and counted again before we left the store. I had read on BTF about the dodgy ones and thought that i had been careful, but that was a close call!!
Because of the traffic we soon found that it was going to be faster to walk than to get a taksi to Kuta square where Sunrise was going to get her hair done again by Annie. Along the way some other girls stopped us and sunrise found herself getting her hair braided by Hotdog and her friends. And her toe nails painted along with little flowers 50,000. There was a lot of hair to plait and took about 1hr 15 mins for two girls, approx 60 tiny braids & plaits, they did a fantastic job and I will definitely go there again. I bought a silver ring there also and can't find my receipt, but it may be Queens??, They sell watches and silver jewellery and Sunblock had a massage upstairs while she waited. It is just up from Bagus Watches. I paid 250,000.
We walked about Matahari's purchasing more items to try to stuff in to our luggage. Sunblock had gone back to the spiders den to get some last minute gifts. Had a coffee at Gloria Jeans, ordered a leather jacket for sunrise from Bali Bagus leather shop, that I am hoping very muchly they will send as promised, bit of a spur of the moment thing happening there. DOH! Started our walk back towards our hotel looking for a CBA ATM. Sunblock took our bags and headed back to the hotel while Sunrise soldiered on. 'padma st?' . . . 'go straight' . . . very far 'no not far' another half a k goes by . . . 'padma st?' . . .'just down that way straight, keep going' OMG! Go back? Keep going? Go Back? 'hellooo transport?', no thank you. So after about 10km of walking, hehehe, Padma st appears and Sunrise purchases some Dvd's from Jimmy Dvd and a couple of singlets. The heat must of got to her to do that! On the walk back 'Hellooo, transport?' Yes! I want transport! I mean it eventually had to happen didn't it, after being asked a few hundred times. So Sunrise hitched her dress up and hopped on the back of a bike! The traffic was moving slower than walking pace bikes included. Next thing we are up on the foot path OMG! down a tiny 'alley' just wide enough for us fit through OMG!, there are a myriad of little lanes behind the streets, where many more bikes are found avoiding the traffic, but I generally felt safe, got back to Bali Bagus where my bike man waited for me and then took me back to the hotel in the same fashion, now that's the way to travel :)
After a nice swim and a cocktail we packed our bags. And weighed our bags and repacked our bags and reweighed. And 'oh god what can I get rid of'. Until we were eventually happy they would make it through. We had dinner and checked out. We had taken advantage of the free hotel transfer to the airport and because of the worry with the traffic left before 8pm for an 11pm flight. Turned out it was half hour to the airport. We said goodbye to our driver and for the first time in a couple of weeks started lugging our luggage again, through the airport. There were shrink wrappers everywhere for your bags. We got to the check in point but was sent away again as Sunrise had kites in her carry on that weren't allowed. DOH! So . . . an unpack, repack thing happened and back again to check in, holding our breath as we put our bags up to be weighed. Phew! Passed with flying colours, almost. We soon found out that our flight had been delayed and wouldn't leave until 11.40pm, 3 ½ hrs in the airport, great. We sat in a coffee shop for a while looking like we were in a half way house, between heaven & hell, two grumpy little people not wanting to go home, trying to keep at bay the problems & thoughts of all that had to be done at home. Previously in an airport shop we were told we couldn't take any duty free liquids through on jetstar. We nervously went through to our gate where Sunrises handbag was seized. OMG!! 'Do you have a cigarette lighter' Sunrise reaches into her bag 'umm this one?' as she pulls out one of those big 8inch lighters. 'Any more?' . . . 'no' she says thinking that the four little ones don't count. :)
Our Jetstar flight was pretty full and, unlike the flight over, no meals were offered, just to add to our grumpiness. But I would be happy to fly with jetstar again. Back in Sydney, having never been out of the country again was another new thing and a little nerve racking. There were many long lines but it didn't take long to get through, they were trying to get as many people as possible to go through the e-passport machines, but the line there wasn't moving any faster so we stayed where we were. Going through customs we declared some coffee and wood that we each had, Sunblocked showed her coffee, sunrise couldn't find hers, that was fine. We also showed bongo drums and wooden carvings, the fellow found a bug on one, sprayed it and let it through. I think they were happy we declared some things and all was good.
The Summary. . . . Sunrise didn't see a sunrise. Sunblock didn't get sunburnt. Sunrise & Sunblock had the most awesome time. They fell in love with Bali, the Balinese, their way of life, their culture and they will be back!
Now I sit here a week later, sipping my Ginseng coffee from Tampaksiring, with my hair still in plaits, wearing my dressing gown, because its cold, dreaming of Bali. During the day I race to work in a small town, with hardly a bike in sight. I walk down the street, looking in the windows of a pretty shop with scrapbooking items on display thinking about how much it had cost the hobbyist to make. I blankly stare at the man in the shop as he gruffly answers the question I dare to ask, seemingly interrupting his time. At work I am often caught laughing to myself, in my own little world. I arrive home, check out BTF and hop on the Jetstar website. This may be what they call the Bali Blues.
Thank you to all that read my JBR's, I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed them and I hope it helps some newbies get a better idea of what to expect. Until next time . . . .
The Mouse