Jeez....that four days since we last posted has flown by! We must be having too much fun. Yesterday didn't feel like all fun though! It was Friday the 13th after all so we should have known. Our morning started bright and early as we were scheduled to leave Ubud with Jati (driver) at 8:00 a.m. for the 1+ hour drive to Pedang Bay where we were booked to catch the 9:30 ferry to Gili.
Not sure if we've mentioned yet or not but Bali time is a little different than fits with clock punching activities and so by the time we were loaded into the car and the car filled up with gas and on our way it was past 8:30 and so our 1+ hour trip had to be tightened up to fit into less than an hour. Fortunately Jati is a very good driver and we made it....by the skin of our teeth....but we made it. Actually, the only reason we made it was because Jati's friend works for the boat company (Mahi Mahi Delwata) and so in addition to getting us a better price ($70 return with an open ticket so we're not locked into a return date) he was also able to hold the boat and have our tickets ready for us when we arrived. As a result we drove up to the ticket table, picked up our tickets, handed over our money, and walked right onto the boat that was ready and waiting. Lucky lucky us! Oh ya....we just learned that luckylucky in Indonesian means gentleman and we're always saying how lucky we are so we're starting to think we need to reframe our "lucky" to fortunate or something else or people might think we're men!
But back to the story....so we made it onto the fast boat and settled in for our "direct" trip that might be about an hour long. In the end, Gili Air was the third stop and took almost 3 hours from the time we left till we arrived here! Our boat was great and the seas were calm (thank heaven for that!) so it was an awesome trip. We were super thankful to be on the fast boat as the slow ones would have taken forever to get here....maybe even more than a day! Our boat had 5 X 250 HP engines on the back of it and they were running at high speed so we were flying across the water. At the first stop Lynda and I moved from inside the boat to a couple of seats that were right at the back of the boat and outside. It was noisy but the air felt great. Also at that first stop two young men dressed in matching blue outfits, ball caps, and flip flops came aboard the back of the boat. One of the young men grabbed my hand and started shaking it while the other kept snapping photos of the two of us. Interesting we both thought that these two young men would want photos of themselves shaking hands with this old lady but heh....whatever..... It was then that I asked one of the staff from the boat who they were and why they were taking photos. He replied that they were the police and so it all began to make sense....this was probably them working! LOL....seriously.....they wondered if I might be a threat to security?! Or....maybe I'll just go with the original story that they just wanted a photo of themselves shaking hands with some random old broad. LOL. When I found out they were the police I told them my son is a police in Canada and the boat staff translated that for them. Not sure if that was a point in our favour or not but either way they then pointed out their police boats. They had three of them right there in the harbour....two were very small and one was quite large. They were very proud of the big one! When it was time for our boat to head out again the police hopped off and we were underway. We were certain that stop number two would be our destination, Gili Air and so when we docked there we joined the folks who were departing the vessel. Now you may think that is an easy task but Oh No....not when us "lucky" girls are involved. In order to depart the vessel we had to climb up onto the edge of the boat and then hold onto a handrail at the top of the roof as we "walked" along the ledge that was the edge but it was skinny as there was a wall and windows in the way. The ledge we were walking along was maybe about 4-5 inches at most. If you want to imagine that...just look at the width of your foot....that is almost exactly how wide our ledge was! Now imagine that you have to traverse about 30 feet of that ledge before you get to the bow of the boat where we were then expected to step around an even skinnier corner where the ledge merged with the bow. Bottom line....it was all a tricky maneuver! When we finally made it to the bow of the boat where the workers were passing up the heavy pieces of luggage to departing guests they noticed that we were among the crowd leaving. Oh No they said...this is not Gili Air....this is still Trabahan.....you have to go back. So we did.....back the way we came. And did I mention that we didn't have any large luggage? Oh no....we just had our small backpacks, purses and bags which meant that they couldn't go into the hold...we had to carry them with us (in both directions)! Don't despair too much though because if you've been reading along you may recall that we'd spent some time practicing for just such a moment as this when we were in Lovina walking that balance beam. In fact, that balance beam didn't even have a handrail to hold on to....there we were freewheeling it from bamboo branch to bamboo branch and there we had to beware of things jumping out at us too so this boat business was like a walk in the park! It was as our boat was pulling out of Trabahan that we noticed the MASSIVE sign on the beach that said Welcome to TRABAHAN! OMG....that made us both laugh! Another 15-20 minutes across the water and we finally arrived at Gili Air where we once again did the balancing act across the ledge and across the bow. From the bow it was down a VERY STEEP/VERY SKETCHY ladder down onto the beach. I am going to not even think about getting back up onto the bow of that boat when it comes time to depart here. That ladder is kind of leaning backwards and well....let me just say that I might be here on Gili for a very very very long time!
Once we were back on dry land and I could breathe easy again (you see....I have a tendency toward sea sickness so it is always a very happy day for me when I am back on hard ground!). It had been a long time since breakfast and we were ready for a bite to eat so we found a nice little coffee shop right there at the harbour and enjoyed a delicious sandwich and icy cold health drink that restored our energy and gave us the push we needed to make a move to find some accommodation on the island.
There are no cars on Gili Air; no motorbikes either. The only method of transport around the island is by foot, by bicycle, or by horse and buggy. We opted for horse and buggy as we needed to check out some places to find where we'd like to stay and the island is about 8 km around. We started up the west coast of the island and after checking about 1/2 dozen spots decided on Pure Air as it boasted a gorgeous pool, was right on the beach and was within our price range ($65 incl b'fast). Horse and buggy might sound romantic but let me tell you it is a core workout without the gym! that little horse pulls that 2 wheeled cart across the sand and the ruts and the puddles and over the roots and the rocks and the rope speed bumps that some crazy mean person added to slow down traffic that is already moving pretty slowly.
Pure Air was nice but within a very short time of our arrival Lynda discovered that the pool was broken and that the water in it was green and yucky! The manager assured us that it would be fixed by tomorrow but we told him that if it wasn't we'd have to move on and request a refund for the remaining four days we'd booked because we definitely wanted to have a pool. (It is me that is pretty anal about having a pool cuz when I think about going in the ocean all I can think about is jelly fish!)
As well, we had a HUGE thunderstorm overnight and with the lightening and thunder also came the rain which would have been just fine except that about 1/2 of our bathroom was outdoor and so when I went out in the night to use the toilet I had to sit in the rain! This morning I said to Lynda...."I don't like it here...I feel like I'm camping and I don't think I like camping". She laughed and promised she would work on developing her "princess skills".
Sadly the pool was no better this morning and they were bringing someone over from Bali to try to fix it. We decided we would not wait any longer and so packed up, got a refund for the remaining four nights and moved to our current location, Scallywags Smugglers Bungalows (which is much more to the liking of this princess!)
So as I type this I am sitting at Scallywags Beach Club (about a 3 minute bike ride from our accommodation. We are watching the waves roll up on the beach with Lombock across the straight. Our Scallywag staff are plentiful and always at the ready to jump any time we want anything at all....yes....this princess is loving Gili Air now! In fact, I dropped my fork on the floor and four of them...yes....four of them raced to see who could pick it up first! Lynda is doing better at practicing her princess skills but in truth she still has a ways to go. LOL. In fact, she just ordered us a couple of Bintang Radler beers (kind of like a shandy) and an appetizer (tiger prawn lollipops with a dip of lemongrass, chili syrup, crushed peanuts, roasted coconut, crispy shallot, and garlic dip to dunk them in) so she is getting a little better. And....our server has decided her name should be Juliet and that he is Romeo so she's feeling pretty regal at the moment....so much so that she's decided she is going to demand that the table we're currently sitting at be permanently reserved in our names! OMG! I may have created a monster!
Scallywags is going to be easy to take! One of the staff just pulled all of the covers off the beach chairs that are complimentary for us ($5 for anyone else). The covers are freshly laundered every day and before I forget to tell you....there is a crazy strong current in the straight right in front of the beach here so people go into the water just to our right and they zip along parallel to the beach for about 100 yards or more and then the current butts up into another one that is coming in the opposite direction which allows the "riders" to safely get to shore. I have agreed that tomorrow I too will be one of the "riders" so hopefully that current that butts up against me does its job or Lynda has said she's just going to let me go all the way to Sumatra! Other complimentary value added elements to our stay here is complimentary buffet breakfast (that is reported to be unbelievable!), complimentary bikes (which is hilarious as it has been years since I was last on a bike!), wi fi in our room, private courtyard, pool, free DVD's for our room, a ton of TV channels in case we get the urge, a gorgeous room with two beds and an outdoor bathroom that has a roof over the toilet, and 24/7 security and support if we need it. Yes....it is going to be easy to take. In fact, we're already thinking about extending our stay and we haven't even slept in this room one night yet! LOL
Till next time,
L & L
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