From hitchhiking truck container till got free dinner at fancy Italian resto
We left Lombok Island. After about four hours crossed the ocean, Gita, Dora, and I finally arrived at Padang Bai harbour, Bali. Padang Bai Harbour is known to be the port to cross from mainland Bali to Lombok. The public ferries leave from here and and took about 4 to 5 hours to cross over to Lembar Harbour, Lombok. Backpacker's usually take this route to Lombok and it is not recommended if you are afraid of the big waves or want to have fancy travelling.
It was eleven in the evening. We left the Port Gate and tried to find a public transportation to Kuta. We stood on the sidewalk, waiting. The humid wind blew and touched our skin. It was a bit cold. There was a young man and a lady who also waiting for a public transportation likes us.
“You guys will go to Denpasar?” asked that lady.
“Yes,” we answered friendly.
That lady offered us to join her. She and the young man would use a private car to Denpasar. We thought that was a good idea since Denpasar was not too far from Kuta beach. When we were discussing about how much we should pay, a stranger man came over. He said there was no public transportation. He then talked to that lady using Balinese. Even I can’t speak in Balinese, but I knew what that man wanted. He forbade her to give us a ride. Damn! My guessed was right. When a private car showed up, that stranger man asked the lady and a young man got onto the car. The lady looked a bit scared and she said sorry to us since she cannot help.
That stranger man was really annoying. He forced me, Gita, and Dora to rent his car. We said NO but he kept offered us a rental car. We got annoyed and walked away. That man did not give up. He asked his friend and followed us with his motorbike.
“NO, NO, thank you. We are going to walk,” we said while keep walking.
That man looked angry and muttering. He said we will not find any car or public transport. We did not care about his words. We walked as fast as we could to leave him.
The road was dim and empty. We only heard a dog barking. After five minutes had walking, we stopped in front of the house which has a veranda. We sat there. A car passed the street, but unfortunately it was not a public transport. We waited, but there was no sign that we would get it.
“Okay, I guess we have to stop a car that pass this street”, I spoke to Gita and Dora. They agreed.
A huge truck container came over from the harbor. We used our “magic hands” to stop it. It’s like getting a lottery when that huge machine stopped in front of us. The driver lets us got onto his truck. To be honest, it was not easy to get onto the container with our 8 Kg backpack each. The container was quiet high. So, we threw our backpacks into the container and then climbed up. Finally we made it. Yay!!! We all laugh. We just did an action like in a movie—hitchhiking. Haha…
The truck moved not so fast, but we enjoyed it. We can stretch out our back while observing the area that we passed. After had around one hour of travel, we stopped in Denpasar. As our grateful, we gave the driver Rp 30.000. We did not have much money left in our wallets since we spent most of our cash in Lombok. Jajaja…I knew, our expenses in Lombok were too much. We planned to go there in a backpacking style, but in fact, we always eat at the cafés or at the restaurants or let’s say we difficult to find a cheap place to eat there.
In Denpasar, Gita, Dora, and I felt so hungry. We found a warung and had noodle as our dinner. That was the cheapest meal that we ever had since we off from Lombok—we paid Rp 6.000 for a bowl of noodle. After had dinner, our stamina become 100 percent again. LOL. We were ready to continue our journey. We walked to find the ATM and taking the money. After done it, we sat at the front of a mini market waiting for a taxi to Kuta. The taxi came after we have been waiting for about fifteen minutes.
Arriving at 02.00 o’clock in the morning, three of us were walking through Jalan Legian (Legian Street). The loud dance music and cheerful lights welcomed us. Many tourists seemed had party that night.
Legian Street is the main street that runs north-south from Kuta to Seminyak on the island of Bali. It contains a variety of shops, bars, hotels and dance clubs. Its proximity to the beach and its prominent night life make it host to thousands of tourists.
Legian is one of the cheaper locations in Bali. The street will begin to get busy at 11pm, peaking in traffic around 1 or 2 in the morning before easing down again around 4:30am. With such a cluster of hotels, shops and bars around Legian, the street can experience intense amounts of traffic.
Gita, Dora, and I went to Poppies Lane II. We stayed at Losmen Arthawan. I heard that Losmen Arthawan is the cheapest accommodation in the centre of Kuta. This losmen surrounded by shops, restaurants, bars and close to all the night life. The Losmen is just across the road from Kori Restaurant. The rooms are basic with no TV though have fans and bathrooms inside.
Three of us stayed at the room in the corner. The room was not fancy, but it was okay. It has huge bed—enough for three of us. The thing that should be improved by the hotel management is about cleanness. The pillows and bed sheet were dirty. There was much dust on the curtains and on the windows. But, for Rp 120.000 per night or Rp 40.000 each with breakfast provided, the hotel was not a bad choice.
After put our stuffs in the room, we went to Legian Street again. We hang out at Italian Restaurant until four in the morning. It was fun night.
The following morning, we went around Poppies Lane 2 and Legian Street. We bought some souvenirs at the shops at Poppies 2 and had lunch at Sushi Densha, Legian Street. After had lunch, we planned to Ubud. We were a bit of confused on the transportation arrangement – by taxi, motorbike or should we rent the car. Finally we decided to rent two motorbikes and hire one tourist guide. Actually, we hire him to ride a motorbike since my friend could not ride it. Hehe…
Lunch at Sushi Densa
Rent two motorbikes are Rp 100.000 per day –Rp. 50.000 each. After made a bargain, we agreed to pay Rp 200.000 for the motorbikes and his service. The guide agreed but with two conditions. He would use his own motorbike to drop us to Ubud and asked me to go on the back with him. So, we only rent one motorbike. We agreed with the first condition, but not the second one. I prefer to ride a motorbike with Gita, my friend. ;)
Posing with the naughty monkeys
Our first destination in Ubud was the Monkey Forest. That was my second time came to that place, but I still like it. The monkeys there are a bit naughty. They liked to snatch tourists stuff. It happened to me. There was one monkey who tried to snatch my bag. But he failed. It was not easy to take my stuff, dude. From the Monkey Forest, we went to Ubud traditional market, and then back to Kuta.
The temple inside the Monkey Forest
On the next day, Gita and Dora were back to Jakarta at early morning. After companied them to the airport, I went to the Kuta beach and chill out there all day long. I did sun bathing, reading a book, watched people did surfing, and enjoying the sunsets. It was so relaxing time.
Sunsets at Kuta Beach
When I was taking a photo of the sunsets, a traveler said hi to me. He is from New Zealand. He thought that I was not an Indonesian. We talked about culture, religion, and our jobs. Felt hungry, we both then had a dinner at the fancy Italian restaurant in front of the beach. Thank you so much since he paid all of my food. What my lucky day! Yay!
My Dinner
Surprisingly, we both stayed at the Poppies Lane 2. His hotel was about five blocks from my place. We went to the same direction. He back to his hotel and I back to my losmen.
On the next day, I back to the beach. I met two Dutch travelers. I was so excited. They remind me to someone special in Utrecht. Anouk, one the travelers taught me some Dutch words. She also educated me about how the plane can fly in the air. She described the ions in the air as the girl and the boy who faithful to each other. She told something complicated in a funny and a simple way.
The unpredictable things sometimes happen in our life. When I was going out to have dinner, I met my Lombok neighbors. They were the travelers who stayed in the same guesthouse when I was in Lombok. It was like reunion for us. I had dinner with them before go back to my losmen.
On the following day, I followed the tour. We went to the Taman Ayun, saw Balinese temple; taste wedang jahe (ginger plus sugar), hot chocolate, lemon grass, Bali coffee, and coffee vanilla freely at the coffee plantation. We had lunch at fancy restaurant at Pacung. Sacred forest and Bedugul were the next places that we visited. Saw sunsets at Tanah Lot closed our tour that day.
Temple at Taman Ayun, Badung
Temple in Bedugul
The fifth day in Bali, I drop by in my Lombok neighbor s hotel. I met James and Tim around ten in the morning at the lobby. They said their friend still sleeping. After chit-chat for a while, James went to his room to sleep. Tim and I went to beach. I swam in the sea while Tim sleeping on the beach. James and Aki joined us in the afternoon. They surf till the sunsets came. It was their last day in Bali.
My Lombok neighbors flew to Malaysia in the evening. I back to the losmen, took a bath and went to the club with four English girls. We live up the club. We got on the dance floor and the party began. From that club, we moved to the Raggae Bar, but we did not make it since the local boy who joined us should pay to enter the bar. That bar has a rule that the local should pay if they want to come in, but it was free entry for foreigners. We thought that it was not fair, so we all decided for not coming to that place.
After five minutes back to the previous club, we wanted to move to the new place. We said good bye to that local guy and went to the Sky Garden—one of the famous Australian clubs in Bali.
The security system at the Sky Garden was pretty tight. At the first entrance, there were two policemen and some guards who checked every guest who will come in. The guests can’t bring any food or drinks from the outside. This club also has the same rule with the Raggae Bar—the local should pay to come in, but free for foreigners. Well, I am the only local in my group that night, but I am smart enough to found a way to get free entry. Are you curious huh? :p
I am not a drinker or a party girl. But, the Sky Garden is worth to visit if you are a kind of music and dance freak. This one also suit if you are quite partial to the odd alcoholic beverage. There are 4 level stairs bars. Top one is the VIP one, there are often shows held there like bikini shows or something like that with free drinks. Also there is an open air chill out place for just chit chat and sometimes they play football match there. Third Floor... 2 kinds is fire dance shows or any other shows; the other room is the HIP HOP dance floor. The music is outstanding. The second floor is the live music dance floor. First floor is a small resto where you can have meals after clubbing. The crowd in the Sky Garden is very international (compared to the Bounty where mostly Australian tourists tend to hang) which is very cool as you can meet loads of various people.
On the next day, my last day in Bali, I went around Legian Street for lunch and bought some t-shirts for my sisters. Just relax on my hotel in the afternoon closed my weekend in Bali. I landed in Jakarta in the evening with a happy smile. Island of the Gods, I will be back …
