Pulau, Nusa, Gili

Indonesians have many words for island. Pulau is official Bahasa Indonesia. Then there is Nusa which means the same in the Nusa Tenggara area. We also learned a third, Gili which apparently means small island. That's all we had in mind from now on! We left Bali by ferry from Padangbai and were happy to leave. We didn't know how crowded Lombok will be but we were sure it would be better. Our ticket included the ferry and the bus from the harbour town, Lembar, straight to Senggigi, where we planned to stay for the time we needed to extend our visas. We left Padangbai an hour late at 10:00 and we had to sit inside the air conditioned room, every available spot on the ferry was filled with motorbikes, boxes, bags and people. After around four hours we approached Lembar on Lombok, the sooner the better we thought, we still had to find our place in Senggigi. As we almost reached the pier the boat slowed down and they announced over the speakers that we have to wait for some time as all the places along the pier were taken by other ships. After driving in circles for over an hour we could finally embark an got pushed into a minivan which left for Senggigi. Once there, which took around an hour, they forced us to go inside a tourist information office. For some information. As we knew well by know, most tour agencies in Asia are called tourist information, so we played their game. We said we already have a place to stay, Sonya homestay. The lad in the office quick started to tell us that they're fully booked and after we told him that we have a booking he changed tactics and said that it's very dirty and noisy with a nasty river next to it. We've also had this before so I just smiled and told him that we'll be fine. This made him so angry that he told me to stop laughing, that he knows what he's talking about and that we won't enjoy our stay. That was new even for us, someone who lies straight into your face and then tells you to shut up. We left him standing there and started looking for this terrible place.

It was a pretty nice terrible place. Not fully booked (half empty) and not smelly, without a river. No surprises there. We got a nice little room, ensuite, for just 100'000 rupiah. Our neighbours were all backpackers which led to many interesting discussions we missed and didn't find on Bali (yes, probably in Kuta but we skipped that). The next day we rented a motorbike for 40'000 and left for Mataram, the Capital of Lombok, to get our visa extensions. The traffic wasn't bad but the streets were very confusing. Three or four lanes in one direction without a chance just to turn around when we went wrong. We had to turn right and later right again but then this road wasn't parallel with the one we came from so that you end up somewhere completely different. Anyway, we found it eventually and went up the stairs. There we were lost again. Mostly Indonesians were waiting in the chairs and everything was in Bahasa Indonesia, not one hint what one has to do for an extension. Normally you get a ticket with a number and then you have time for photo copies, but not here. We came upon another lost soul, a swiss guy, and together we left first for the copies. Someone said it's outside around the corner so we went there and true, there was a photo copy machine in someone's garage. With that done we headed back and went straight to a counter. We picked the right one an got a nice red folder containing all the necessary forms we had to fill out. With just two minutes to spare before their lunch break we handed them in and were told to come back in two days.

Meanwhile we went snorkelling in Senggigi which was nice and wavy and once along the north coast by bike to look for a beach we didn't find. I doubt lonely planet found it, we followed their instructions... Then it was time to pick up the visas which we got back after paying 250'000rp. With another month in Indonesia secured we booked a bus/boat ticket to Gili Meno. Our pick up was late and got later every time we picked up more tourists. After a good hour we arrived in Bangsal, or close to Bangsal to be precise. The last kilometres we had to walk or pay for a horse cart. Good arrangement, we thought. Once in the harbour we tried to change our vouchers into tickets which didn't work. Then we were told by someone to wait at the beach but then again everyone there tells you something, mostly it sounds like "you are late, no more boat, you have to pay 50'000 more for fast boat". After a while a group of tourists gathered around us and eventually we were told that our boat has first to get loaded with cargo. Then we boarded and tried to find empty spots for our feet for we had to walk all the way to the front of the boat. We were careful not to step on these women's bags stuffed with vegetables or to drop our backpacks on some chicken. The ride took less than an hour and as the boat slowed down over perfect turquoise water and approached a perfect white beach, every tourist on board started to smile silently, probably thinking of the next few days on this magnificent island.

It took some time to find an affordable place to stay, most places are quite pricey or even ridicously expensive. One of the touts helped us find a place for 150'000 rp and we loved it! For the next five days we took it easy and read a lot. The snorkelling isn't very good, all corals are destroyed just some turtles keep it interesting. Then a friend of Annis, Matias, who was staying on Gili Trawangan came over for a couple of nights and we had a great time sharing traveller stories and planning the next steps as we planned to travel together for a while. Sooner than expected we left the island. We could've stayed longer but it did get a bit boring, the view from the beach over Lombok with the Rinjani volcano is unbeatable though.

We went back to Sonya's in Senggigi for two nights and then set off on the famous bus/ferry combo across Lombok and Sumbawa to Flores. We compared different options and prices of how to get there, a long favourite was the 3 day boat trip along the northern coast of Sumbawa but these boats leave only twice a week and are tiny, packed with tourists. The bigger and better Perama boats look better on the photos but with 50-60 people aboard we couldn't imagine ourselves queueing for the buffet with them. That left flying or the bus. As we wanted to leave as soon as possible we couldn't find a descent priced flight so we booked the bus/ferry trip. It takes a scary 26-30 hours (depending on who one asks) and includes 2 ferry crossings (one of them 8-9 hours) and two bus journeys. Seasoned travellers as we thought of ourselves we thougt we might have a lot of fun on that trip.

It wasn't just fun but it wasn't bad either. The lady from Sonya awaited us in the Mataram bus terminal with tickets and showed us the right bus. It didn't leave for the next two hours but got more and more full with cargo. Matias, our finnish friend, tried to take a photo of boxes filled with worms to eat. The owner pushed him away and told him those worms are illegal here and therefore no pictures will be taken. Weird, we just observed a worm smuggler! Finally we left, headed to Labuhan Lombok where the bus drove aboard while we had to walk. We left Lombok just as the sun was setting behind the mountains. The first thing we noticed on the ferry was that nobody smoked. Not one soul. And that in Indonesia! Then we remembered that the Ramadan month just started and at exactly 18:00 lighters started to click all around us and soon the whole deck was filled with thick clove sented smoke. Indonesia style.

Four hours later in Poto Tano, Sumbawa, we changed the vehicle again, back on the bus. Ready for a long night right through Sumbawa. That was the only downside for me on this strip, that we wouldn't see a thing of Sumbawa as we only crossed it in darkness. After two hours we stopped somewhere near Sumbawa Besar at a rumah ikan, a restaurant and got dinner (included in the ticket). Then, when the bus left again, everyone settled down for the night. We slept pretty good, the aircon was luckily too old and weak to freeze down the bus and we stopped short before sunrise in Bima. There we changed into a smaller bus which brought us to Sape, the harbour town, while the sun rose again. Here our ticket ended and we had to pay the last stretch by ferry. The journey was nice, we got good spots on the middle deck with a whole row of chairs four ourselves and all the way we tried to figure out the names of the islands we passed. Is this Komodo? No, too big. That one? No, that's too small. We could only guess. There was only one shady spot between the three of us, behind the chimney and we took turns in hiding from the sun or the wind. We were hiding for eight hours and arrived in Labuhan Bajo with glowing faces and arms. There we were shocked by the amount of tourists, we had no clue what to expect but that was something else. All the places were full and halfway through the town we left Anni behind with the backpacks and started to look for rooms at the southern end of town. During this time we witnessed a spectacular sunset over the bay, the light reflecting from the mosques silvery minarettes which we hoped to be able to put in great distance to our guesthouse for the sake of some sleep. We did put a great distance between, our place was at the very end of Labuan Bajo, where the road curves upwards into the hills. What we didn't realise at the time was the massive mosque across the street. We noticed at four in the morning, but then again our guesthouse was called 'Blessing'.