Back to Bali

Singing in the street

Singing in the street

I’d had a long and tiring day on the 18th with the bus ride. I needed a good night’s sleep, but courtesy of three of the most selfish dorm-“mates” I’ve ever had the displeasure of encountering I didn’t get it.

A Dutch couple were in the opposite bunk and woke at 6:30am, chattering away as if there was nobody else in the room. Then the guy underneath me decided to pack all his luggage shortly after, throwing stuff around on the bed making it shake and rustling plastic bags for fun.

I gave up and just got out of bed for the free breakfast (a couple of rolls and a cup of tea – I guess I missed the deep-fried banana. After chatting to another couple I’d actually seen briefly in the hostel in Dili I did a quick email check at the bar then headed back to the hostel to pay up, grab my kit and head to the airport nice and early.

Only I couldn’t as the ****ing Dutch ****ers had locked the dorm door with the only key and gone out with it. It took the staff quarter of an hour to break into the room and remove the door from the frame so I could grab my rucksack. Fortunately I had time to spare and made it to the airport well before check-in and therefore with no worries about paying for my ticket and getting on the flight.

Our first "hotel"

Our first "hotel"

Ah. But I had reckoned without Merpati Airlines and their completely screwed up booking system which hadn’t actually booked me a ticket at all. See the related post for the full horror story.

I did make it onto the (scruffy, dilapidated) plane and on to Bali where I hooked up with Bernhard and Han (from Austria and Pakistan respectively). We haggled a taxi down to 25000 to get us to Poppies I and began our search for accommodation.

Almost five hours later, we gave up. Han headed for another part of the island. Bernhard and I left our luggage with the nice people at the bungalows I stayed at last year, then went out for the night. When the last club shut at 4am, we grabbed one last McD‘s and slept in a shop front around the corner.

The weather in Bali

The weather in Bali

Our original plan had been to crash on the beach, but I’m glad we didn’t as it chucked it down in the early hours. Still, we managed 2-3 hours’ kip before the staff had to open up (they’d actually told us earlier we could sleep there which was nice of them).

We had a nice breakfast in the Treetop Cafe on Poppies I, and started hunting again. The second place we tried – opposite where our luggage was – had a room for 66000 for two. Not as nice as last year’s abode, but it will suffice for a couple of nights.

So now it’s the 20th. Today’s been easy and will continue to be so! Email’s up to date, lunch about to be had and I’ve been up to Pro Dive to see the crew. I’m off up to Tulamben to do the wreck dive with a group of Open Water students and Putu tomorrow. Aces!

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