July 16 - Scams and sunsets

July 16 Day 152

                We got up early and were happy to find that our hosts had left us pancakes and fruit in their fridge and we made some instant coffee so that we could breakfast while we packed.  We got to the curb for 7 am and had a good long wait for the 1 hour window we were given for our shuttle pickup.  It was nice how the local shopkeepers and people living in the temple checked in on us as we waited and made sure we were okay.  Considering how sullen out travel again was we were wondering if our tickets were fake but just before 8 o'clock we were indeed picked up.

                As on the arrival to Ubud the scenery was lush with rice paddies and small towns full of temples, it seems that this is the main flavour of Bali.  The shuttle left us at a dock town by the ocean where we would transfer to our boat.  most people were taking a fast boat to the Gili Islands, which we were now missing since we decided to go to Singapore.  The guy at the office suggested we take a fast boat and offered to only charge the difference between our slow boat tickets.  He said that the boat would take us to a dock which was only a $1, 10 minute cab ride to Senggigi, where we had a hotel for teh night.  This sounded good so we went for it as it meant that we would get to our place before noon rather than at the originally planned 5 pm.

                We walked with a group onto the large boat along a crowded dock and almost missed the boat because other ships had lineups that blocked everyone else because no one was managing them.  Once we found our boat they tossed our backpacks into storage at the front and we went down into the boat, which was crowded and set very low in the water so that during your fast (2 hour) ride your view would just be through dirty plexiglass windows.  I had to use the bathroom and while I was gone Meg chatted with staff on the boat. 

                She talked about the short ride to Senggigi and the staff said that it was more than an hour by cab and that it would cost more than $20.  Annoyed at being lied to, we demanded that they retrieve our bags so that we could go to the office for a refund.  To assuage us, one of the staff members promised that he would get us our $1 cab ride but we weren't in the mood to be further lied to. 

                We figured that they must have phoned the office about our complaint as the guy had our refund in hand although the female staffer insisted it wasn't a lie, using Trumpian logic.  They weren't happy that we chose the slow boat, probably we cost them their commission.  The guy who was assigned to show us to the slow boat was unfriendly and directed us by driving ahead of us on a scooter and yelling at us to hurry up.  When we asked about being met at the ferry dock on the other side he grouchily insisted that someone would be there without giving details.  We remained skeptical.

                We walked onto the slow ferry and found that the main seating area was crowded and smoky with people or bags on every seat.  There were benches on the side, also full, so we went upstairs to a covered deck with few people.  Here we grabbed a mattress to sit on the ground until a few sleazy-looking young guys showed up and told us it cost $5 to rent the mattress for the trip.  We were in scam caution mode but they gave the same message to two other groups of tourists and insisted it was the same price for Indonesians.  We thought that we saw some locals getting mattresses for free but at least we had not-smoky space on the deck.

                Meg started chatting to the guy sitting beside us who was on the ground.  He was taking some plants home to make bonzais out of.  he told us that he didn't have a mat because they indeed cost $5, except for truckers, who got to sleep for free.  This made sense for our situations and we settled down for the trip.

                The ferry took more than 5 hours, as opposed to the two hours for the fast boat.  From what we heard, the fast boat was a stomache wrencher whereas the slow boat was a gentle ride.  We napped, snacked and got a lot of our books read, changing positions on our mat.  At least we had way more room than on an airplane.

                We got to know the washrooms pretty well.  when the locals refused to use one of the men's because of the bad smell, I didn't need to check for myself and lined up for the decent one.  The fact that several women were using the good men's bathroom made sense after Meg told me that the door to the women's wouldn't close and she was interrupted several times while trying to use the facilities.  Later, when she tried to use the men's, one of the staff stopped her and insisted that no one would walk in her in the women's, of course doing nothing to back up his promise.

                We were anxious about being met and held up our receipt to everyone on the other side as we walked from the ship.  A guy found us and directed us to a driver, who drove like a maniac to get us to Senggigi in less than an hour. 

                Our hotel had no record of our booking o I had to log into the laptop to show them.  The problem was easily solved and we had a nice, clean modern room there.  We freshened up for a bit and then walked down to the beach to enjoy the sunset.  You had to walk by a short gauntlet of vendors to get to a sandy beach with a wharf and several boats anchored.  A few kids were swimming but most people were ont he beach, which was lined with businesses.  There was a sort of market area that had few people in it followed by a series of posh looking restaurants with touts trying to stter you in.  At the end was a very posh restaurant with sky high prices. 

                We settled at a moderately overpriced place which set up a table on the sand for us with a view of the water.  The sun had already set but the colours over the far away mountains were striking and ever-changing.  Also striking was a table of four young women between us and the beach, who ignored the sunset and each other and silently poked their phones.  Why were they paying for a view they were ignoring was beyond us.

                Our meal was decent with a great view and excellent service.  They served a wine from Bali which was surprisingly good.  We wondered, though, whether it really was from Bali or if it was like the Bhutanese wine which was imported from France and merely blended and bottled in Bhutan.

                The walk back to our room was uneventful and we packed before bed so that we would be ready for our big boat trip the next day.

Nice sunset after a busy travelling day.