Indonesia - Gili Trawangan

Tuesday 24th April – Recovery

Thankfully last night I got the sleep I needed.  I woke at 10 a.m. and attempted to get out of bed but my legs didn’t respond to any messages sent in their direction, instead they decided that the last three days were simple too much work for even the best behaved body parts and it was time for some payback.  Eventually we came to an agreement and I struggled to my feet.  Ever step hurt.  I was walking like I had lost my horse.

Something I forgot to mention was that the bathroom in the hotel room has no roof.  This meant that while showering last night I had a perfect view of the starry sky above.  The hotel is perfectly set back from the main road (which is really just a sandy street) and in amongst lots of trees.  I love it. 

This morning once I had managed to get myself ready I left to explore Gili Trawangan.  I met Sarah in a café for some lunch before wandering among the shops with two objectives.  To find a hat to replace the one I lost in New Zealand and to find out if there was a bar showing the ANZAC Day game tomorrow.  The hat mission was a resounding failure and not helped in the slightest by the fact that every time I told the store owners I did not want, like or need a baseball cap with Bintang emblazoned across the front they started throwing every other product in their shop at me in the hope of a quick sale.  The ANZAC Day game mission was a complete success.  I’ll be off to Terminal Bar tomorrow at 1 p.m. (I’ll explain tomorrow what The ANZAC Game is for those who do not know).

Next it was time for a swim.  I walked along the beach and found all the other guys and went for a much needed dip in the sea.  Having forgot all about my toes which were cut to shreds by my boots on the Rinjani decent I stepped into the salty water and almost made a hasty retreat.  But I knew it would help.  Dom gave me a lent of his snorkel mask to have a look at the colourful fish.  Only a short distance out from the shore I was shocked to see how quickly the sea floor dropped away into the abyss.  I had never seen it so severe before.  It made it quiet scary to swim out as the depth increased dramatically and within a few metres you could no longer see the sea bed.

After hanging around the beach for an hour we all set off to see the sunset.  There are several bars on the beach at the western end of Gili Trawangan which are in the perfect location for the sunset.   As we looked out across the water the sun dropped from the sky, disappearing below the horizon next to Gunung Agung on Bali.

Needing food Sarah and I headed to Tir na nOg – the Irish bar on the island.  If there is a place that a bar can open there is sure to be an Irish one.  It was surprisingly a really nice bar with excellent (if slightly overpriced) food.  The only thing Irish about this bar was the name.  For the rest of the night we bar hopped before finally ending up in Sama-Sama to see the live band and headed home about 1 a.m.

Wednesday 25th April – Go Pies!

Today in Australia is ANZAC Day when the nation pays tribute to its past and presently serving members of the military.  Every year on that day the AFL ANZAC Game takes place.  This is always between the same two clubs – two major rivals of the league – Collingwood and Essendon.  So today I headed to Terminal Bar to see the game.  What a game it was.  Collingwood (my team) were ahead most of the game until the dying few minutes when Essendon took the lead, only for Collingwood to score a winning goal with less than two minutes to go.

After that excitement I headed for the beach for some more recovery but the rain soon put an end to that so I just read more of Marching Powder before heading to the night market for food.  After a while I met Sarah and not having had enough to eat I headed back to the night market again for more food.  The food was good.  I just wish they didn’t use super noodles for everything.  I feel like a student again.  But I can’t really complain as it’s very cheap.  Less that £1.00 for a meal!

Sarah was meeting some fiends in Tir na nOg’s later so we went to Rudy’s first for a few drinks where Sarah decided it was time I learnt some Indonesian.  The language isn’t very difficult.  It sounds harder than it is.  The big difference between it and any other language I know is that it only has one tense – the present.  Maybe I’ll pick this up quicker than my Spanish.

Once I impressed Sarah at how dreadful I was at learning languages – it’s a talent - we headed off and bumped into Andy, Brad and Dave and hit Tir na nOg’s.  I didn’t last long and headed off so that I would be fresh to make plans in the morning for leaving Gili Trawangan and getting my visa sorted.

Thursday 26th April – The Visa Gets Closer?

Totally recovered now from the Rinjani trek it was time to get moving on my next plans.  I spent the morning in Ecotiste on the internet researching more about the visa and all news was bad news.  Six days minimum and a lot of paper work and hassle.  There are agencies that will do this for me but I don’t trust handing over my passport.

Dismayed and frustrated I headed to the Perama office to find out more about a boat trip they do from Lombok to Flores – stopping off in Komodo to see the infamous Komodo Dragons.  While at the office I mentioned my visa issues to them and they pointed me in the direction of Aceh who works in the bike shop attached to my hotel.  He told me he could get my visa extended in one day for 400,000 Rp ($40) and we could do it tomorrow at the immigration office in Mataram.  This sounded too good and easy to be true so I decided to mull it over while having a bite to eat in Sama-Sama.  While there, Andy and Sarah happened to pass-by so I bounced the idea off them and we all concluded – ‘What have I got to lose?’.  So tomorrow I leave at 8.00 a.m. with Aceh to get my visa extended – I just hope it all goes go plan.

In the evening everyone headed to Tir na nOg’s again for some pizza.  Apparently there is nowhere in Indonesia that does good pizza.  But this place does.  It was so tasty.  We had a few more drinks before ending the night back at Sama-Sama.  I left the others too it so that I would be fresh for my visa trip tomorrow,

Friday 27th April – The Visa Run

Happy Birthday Trisha!

What a day I have just had.  Up at 7.30 a.m. I readied myself for the trip to Mataram to – all going to plan – get my visa extended and have a major worry removed.

I met Aceh at his bike shop at 8.00 a.m. at which point we jumped on a boat and made our way over to Lombok.  Instead of going to Bangsal as planned we landed at some other small town.  We waited for 30 minutes until two of his friends arrived on motorbikes.  At this point I jumped on the back of one while Aceh jumped on the back of another.  He said he would see me at the immigration office in Mataram.  That was the last I saw of Aceh all day until I got back on Gili Trawangan.

Instead I was left with his friend Jolkey to sort out the visa.  I have never been on a motorbike in my life so this was a whole new experience for me.  I certainly picked the place to be thrown in at the deep end.  Indonesian driving is like nothing I have ever seen before.  The component used most on any vehicle is the horn.  This is beeped roughly every 0.5 seconds.  It’s beeped when passing a motorbike, when passing a truck, when passing a car, when passing a dog, when passing a chicken, when passing wind, when passing the time, when passing the douchy on the left hand side.  The rules of the road are a mystery.  I get the impression that if you would like to join a stream of traffic you can just drive out and it’s the responsibility of the vehicles in the traffic to let you know they are coming.  Basically the complete opposite of any logical thinking.  So it was with much trepidation that I was convinced onto the back of Jolkey’s bike.  I insisted on wearing a helmet.  After a few minutes it was not a problem and I need not have worried.  He knew I was a bit fearful and took it slow.

It was about 9.30 a.m. when we finally reached the immigration office in Mataram.  We went in and quickly went to the desk.  Jolkey did all the talking before I was handed a few forms.  Once these were filled in they were all handed across along with my passport for the ‘express visa extention’ process.  We then sat down to wait and Jolkey asked me for the money so he could pay.  I gave it to him and he insisted on going to the desk by himself.  I let him.  A decision I would later have concerns about.  Once paid for he told me it would be 3.00 p.m. before it was ready – over 5 hours.  I was told yesterday it would take one or two hours.  How do we kill five hours?

We jumped back on the motorbike and headed to a shopping mall for some food.  Of course I had to pay for it all including his packet of cigarettes.  That only passed one hour.  As we made our way out of the mall I asked where we were headed next but I had idea what he said.  So back on the bike I hopped and we drove out of Mataram eventually stopping about 10 minutes outside the city at his house which he had pointed out earlier this morning.  Here I met his brother and another few relatives and after a few minutes his friend walked by.  As they spoke to each in Indonesian I could work out that Jolkey was explaining what I was doing there.  Then his friend asked for a photo with me.  Not an unusual request as many locals like to have their photo taken with westerners.

While sitting on the wall his friend sat beside me for the photo.  They both inspected it and smiled.  Then a few minutes later he asked for another photo, but this time standing up.  This was getting weird, but I agreed.  But much weirder was fast approaching without me realising.  Once this photo was done they asked for yet another.  I reluctantly agreed (I was in the middle of nowhere on Lombok – what could I say?).  For this photo the guy stepped behind me, draped his right arm over my right shoulder and along my chest while putting his left arm around my waist and getting a little bit too close for comfort.  Once the photo was taken I nervously pushed away and hoped all this craziness was ending.  The next question I was asked was if I wanted to take a shower.  After saying ‘No’ several times they finally got the message.  I sat slightly scared wondering at what might happen next.

Maybe I was reading into all the above in the wrong way, but I was glad when me and Jolkey jumped back on the bike to head to his village which we did.  There I meet lovely people and a lot of kids who wanted to practice their English with me, but being very shy would run away as soon as they asked me something.  Finally at 1.15 p.m. after Jolkey had said his prayers with his family we left to make our way back to the immigration office.

We reached the office at about 1.45 p.m. but no desks were open so after waiting until 2.00 p.m. Jolkey decided to see if it was ready.  Again he insisted that he go to the desk by himself.  This did not sit right with me at all and I began to worry about was happening.  Things did not seem quite right with the whole situation.  He came back and said it was not ready and we would still have to wait until 3.00 p.m.  As I started to look back at the whole day I got more and more suspicious about everything, my main concern being what he did with the 400,000 Rp I gave him.  Did he pay it to the immigration officer?  I saw him go to the desk, but what exactly did he do?  Just as I was thinking this he turned and said to me, ‘I have to go and sort a visa out for Aceh.  I’ll be back soon.  Don’t move from here.  Don’t move!’.  As he walked away I knew that something was no right and I was convinced I would never see him again – or my passport.  Anxious, I waiting for him to return.  After 20 minutes he didn’t so I went looking for him and he was nowhere.  It was now 2.30 p.m. and I decided I had to get this resolved.  I went back into the immigration office and approached the desk my stomach in knots.  As I approached the counter where I had handed the passport over the woman smiled and held up my passport.  A wave of relief ran through me.  She confirmed all the details: extended for 30 days until the 15^th June – I signed a form and all was sorted.

As I walked back to the seat where Jolkey had left me I saw him return.  It took a few minutes but I managed to explain to him I had my passport and we could leave.  He showed me the passport he had to collect for Aceh and we left.  He wasn’t lying but I think I was right to be suspicious and collecting the passport myself was the right move.  We jumped on the bike and one hour later were at Bangsal for me to catch a boat back to Gili Trawangan.  As I went to leave he asked me for money.  I laughed and refused.  I had already given him 400,000 Rp  - the visa extension only costs 250,000 Rp so the rest was his.  At this point I was so happy to have my visa in my possession because I think he would have held it to ransom if he had collected it.  After a phone call to Aceh to sort it all out I finally agreed to pay him 30,000 Rp.  I jumped on my boat and back to Gili Trawangan it was.  When I landed I spotted Aceh at his shop and thanked him.  What a relief.  The visa run worked.  It was a weird day, but I now have an extra 30 days to enjoy Indonesia.

Feeling very relaxed, in the evening I headed to the night market with Dom, Sinead and Sarah, and two girls from Canada who Sarah had met earlier in the day, Val and Mag.  The Gili Trawangan party was in Rudy’s so we spent some time there, before heading to Sama- Sama for the band – reggae.  This band insisted on doing covers of UB40 much to my horror and everyone else’s amusement.  They don’t understand how I can hate UB40 so much.  I don’t understand how they can’t.  It’s horrific white reggae music with some rapping thrown in for good measure.  What more do I need to say?

At the end of the night, Andy, Sarah and I decided to the head to the beach to finish our drinks and sat on a moored boat.  This turned into hilarity when Sarah and Andy lost their balance getting off the boat and both plunged into the water,  I couldn’t stop laughing.  We ended the night by having a few drinks on the balcony of our hotel room.

 

Saturday 28th April – And sleep…

After the exhaustion of yesterday’s visa run and a late night I slept for a lot of the day.  Sarah left this morning as did the other guys except for Dom and Sinead.  I’ll miss all the Canadians.  They’ve made me realise that my plans to head to Canada someday for an extended holiday are good plans.

At 3.00 p.m. I finally left the hotel room and after booking my boat trip to Flores with Perama Tours I went to meet Val and Mag to go to see the sunset.  This didn’t happen as the weather was pretty bad and it ended up raining.  Not the weather wanted or expected on a paradise island.  So instead we went to Horizontal Bar for a bite to eat and arranged to meet tomorrow for a snorkelling trip to Gili Air, one of the other island.

In the evening Sinead and Dom dropped by and we went to the night market for food before heading back to their balcony to have a few drinks and listen to some music.  Still tired I crashed by 11.00 p.m.

Sunday 29th April – ‘Is everyone on the boat O.K.?’

What a disastrous night’s sleep. At 4.00 a.m. I was woken by the people in one of the room’s next to me enjoying each other’s company just a little too much and little to noisily.  This ended at 4.45 a.m. and finally I thought I would get some rest only to be keep awake by the prayers from the local mosque staring at 5.00 a.m.  This I normally slept through but being awake already that didn’t happen.  Then at 6.00 a.m. the person in the other room beside me decided to hit snooze on his alarm clock, torturing me for yet another hour.

I crawled out of bed at 8.00 a.m. to get ready for my snorkelling trip wondering if I’d have the energy to swim or whether I’d just sink like a stone.  I met Val and Meg by the boat and we headed off with the rest of the group.  The snorkelling was good and we managed to see a turtle.  But I have to say I think that I have spoiled all snorkelling for myself by having my first ever experience in the Galapagos.  That is going to be hard to beat.  After lunch on Gili Air and one final snorkel we were back on Gili Trawangan at 3.00 p.m.

As the weather was better today I decided to walk down to see the sunset again and on the way got myself a Magnum Chocolate Brownie ice-cream.  Dom and Sinead has recommended this and wow!  The tastiest ice-cream I have ever tasted.  This could be a problem as after only one I am addicted. 

The sunset was nowhere near as impressive as the first one I saw on the island, so I headed back to the main drag and met Dom and Sinead in Rudy’s for a bite to eat.  What started out as a few relaxed drinks turned into a night of lots of craic.  We sat having a few drinks and talked about everything and I laughed so much my sides hurt.  An unforgettable night.  At one stage during the night Dom was heading back to his room and I almost went back with him to leave off my camera and phone but being lazy decided to give them to Dom to throw in his room.  A decision that in hindsight was an excellent one.

Tonight was a strange night on the island.  There seemed to be a very tense atmosphere around and in the bar we saw at least three altercations and at one stage decided we should leave.  It was 3.00 a.m. so it was about time to head anyway.  Once we got back we noticed that the electricity was out in our section of the hotel.  We chilled out at Dom and Sinead’s room before I headed off to bed.  As I approached my room in the darkness I noticed that the table on my balcony had been moved.  I found this strange but put it out of mind until I reached the door.  I glanced to my left and saw the window had been forced open.  My room had been broken into.  Once in the room I had a quick look around and to my surprise all my bags were still there - but they had gone through every pocket.  Thankfully with me being the over cautious person I am I padlock all zips on my bags at all times that contain anything important.  They basically got nothing.  My MP3 player (which was in my shoe!) but that was it.  I was raging but there was nothing I could do.  Not wanting to stay in my room that night I ran back to Dom and Sinead’s and they let me crash on their floor after Dom had helped me get all my stuff out and into their place.  I was so lucky that earlier I got Dom to take my stuff to their room.  I think if I had gone back to mine I would have just thrown them on the bed.  So my phone and camera were safe too.  It was an angry and uneasy sleep.

Monday 30th April – The Day The Music Died – Part II

Well I guess I’m just destined not to have an MP3 player on this trip.  After my Creative Zen died two weeks into travelling and then struggling to find a new one to buy and now with that getting stolen I’ve resigned myself to no more portable music.  At least I have it all on my laptop.

I got up at 9.00 a.m. and went on the hunt to find a new place to stay.  I’m not going to stay at Abdi anymore.  I have an uneasy feeling about the break-in,  On my way to find to find a new place I reported the break-in to the owners of Abdi.  They just didn’t care.  I thought maybe they didn’t understand what I meant but then realised they did.  They truly didn’t care and shrugged their shoulders.

Having only one more night left I found a room in Sama-Sama for 150,000 Rp – the cheapest decent place I could get.  Once I moved my stuff I spent the rest of the day reading.  When out for a walk I ran into Dom and Sinead and we went for a burger and later met up at the night market again for some of their delicious spring rolls.  It was then that I said my goodbyes to them.  It’s been awesome hanging out with them.  A really cool couple and a lot of fun experiences over the last week or so.  They are off to other parts in S.E. Asia so maybe if timings work out I’ll run into them somewhere.

Tomorrow I will be leaving Gili Trawangan to start my three day boat trip to Flores.  I’ll be glad to get away from this island.  Something I thought I would not be saying when I arrived.  It is a great place and I would recommend it – just lock your bags and everything valuable away.