We touched down in Lombok safely on a wing and a prayer. I laugh about it now but I didn't at the time. Our next means of transport was a taxi that turned out to be a van to take us around to where a boat would take us the small distance from Lombok to Gili Trawangan. It turned out to be a speed boat and it took about twenty minutes to cross. It was dark by the time we arrived. Transport on the island is by pony and cart, so after hauling our bags over the beach, in we flopped bags and all and headed of to our hotel. “Wait , I shouted, my mobile phone is gone”. My partner phoned it and, luckily enough, it had fallen somewhere in the cart: panic over.
We arrived in Bali after a long flight via Singapore. We had booked an onward flight to Lombok with airline Merpati (no longer with us...). Well, this little plane looked like it had seen better days and as we took off, water was pouring in on the right hand side of the plane so much so that passengers sitting that side were actually moving seats while we took off. I’d never seen anything like it; talk about flight safety gone out of the window..! We touched down in Lombok safely on a wing and a prayer. I laugh about it now but I didn't at the time. Our next means of transport was a taxi that turned out to be a van to take us around to where a boat would take us the small distance from Lombok to Gili Trawangan. It turned out to be a speed boat and it took about twenty minutes to cross. It was dark by the time we arrived. Transport on the island is by pony and cart, so after hauling our bags over the beach, in we flopped bags and all and headed of to our hotel. “Wait , I shouted, my mobile phone is gone”. My partner phoned it and, luckily enough, it had fallen somewhere in the cart: panic over. We had booked a rather smart looking hotel called Luce D’ Alma Resort and Spa. After a five minute bumpy ride down dark mud tracks we arrived. Happy to see some light in all this darkness we were cheerfully greeted at reception and with all formalities dealt with, shown to our room on the right hand side of a very large central swimming pool. The room was large but not very private at night until you closed the curtains as the only thing between us and our neighbours opposite was the pool. As it turned out there was no-one. Very good. We unpacked a few things and decided to go grab something to eat so back to reception we go and was offered two bikes: the easiest way to get around Gili. Not really my cup of tea. So tally ho, off we go. Pot holes everywhere and some full of water. It took about five to ten minutes to get back to the strip of bars and restaurants so we parked the bikes and went off to explore. My first impression was how dark and muddy everywhere was but hopefully tomorrow I would see it in a different light. We had dinner in a type of BBQ place and downed with a couple of beers. Time for bed so back on our iron horses and back to the hotel. The next morning and breakfast done we decided to hang around the pool, all that really meant was opening the patio doors, very relaxed. The place seemed quite quiet with only about two other couples around the pool. Perhaps others had gone to the beach. We spent most of the day swimming and grabbing a few rays of sun. Late afternoon we went back on our bikes to grab a few beers and check out the restaurant situation. My partner’s birthday was coming up and we earmarked a restaurant at the very end of the strip to celebrate in a day of so. But what for tonight most seemed very similar and menus the same, we eventually found somewhere we could buy beers; not as easy as you would expect so back to the hotel. Dinner over with we headed to a bar for a few drinks but there was something about the place. I didn't like the atmosphere in any of the bars; I couldn't put my finger on it at that moment but all would be revealed. Time for an early night so back on the bikes hotel bound we go.
3 Comments
Helen R
16/10/2015 23:02:41
Interesting . so when are you revealing all? In Part 2 that is?
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Gary Keywood
17/10/2015 11:32:32
Yes all will be revealed in part 2
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Gert Jan
17/10/2015 12:19:47
I remember it vividly!
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GaryBorn in Chiswick West London, grew up in Royal Berkshire, currently living in Amsterdam, the Netherlands Archives
March 2016
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