Senggigi

Okay so I've only been here a few hours, but I'm not impressed. I've stowed my stuff in my room and had a wander round the strip and had a swim at the beach.
The room is expensive. It's a single room with a tiny balcony that looks on to the other rooms, a mandi and squat toilet. That's not so bad but it should be about 150 to 200,000 rupiah tops, not 350,000. Danny explained to me the way it works here at the moment. He called many hotels and backpackers on the way here and they were all full, so we had to go through an agent. The agents know there will be an influx of tourists around this time so they buy up a bunch of rooms. They then on-sell them at a premium. For example, he could offer me one night in a modern hotel, air-conditioning, wide-screen tv, pool, spa, the works for $130 - but he had pre-paid for it at $100. I know it's just business and maybe it doesn't work out for him this time because I didn't take the room and maybe he won't get anyone else and will have to eat the $100 but it pushes up the prices for everyone. He tried really hard too.
"It has an Indonesian toilet".
No worries.
"It's very near to the mosque".
Great, I love the call to prayer.
"I'll make a package for you. One night in $130 hotel, one night in $35 homestay, 5 nights on Gili Meno for $250. Plus discount, whole package for $400".
I don't think I need to pay $50 on Gili Meno, I spoke to someone that was there yesterday and they said it was nearly empty.
"Ah! that was yesterday. Everyone is leaving Trawangan now to go to the quieter islands".
I'll take my chances. Let's go to the homestay.
*sigh* "Okay".
Maybe I've been spoilt by Kuta but the beach here is bad. The black sand and broken coral, the litter, the profusion of boats and their ropes, plus the open drain that empties into the centre, make it very unappealing. I walked right down to the south end of the beach and it wasn't too bad, white sand, no rubbish. Hell of a rip though, I had to swim to stay in one spot. I had to walk back all along the beach to get back to the main strip, any shorter route has been fenced off by resort hotels.
I think this place will probably go off for New Year's tonight. The main strip is essentially a line of bars and they are all busy putting up decorations and installing huge sound systems. The bugle sellers are out in force.
Looking forward to lunch with Claire and Bill tomorrow though.

Market and beach

I went to the local market this morning. It was not a souvenir, t-shirt and sarong type market, it was a for-locals trading and produce type market. The main reason I went there was to pick up some limes for Glory Cafe and Bookshop where I usually spend a few hours in the afternoon. The last couple of days they had been serving my fruit platter without limes so I thought I'd rectify the situation. I got 15 limes for 5,000 rupiah. The guy at Glory laughed when I gave them to him.
Afterwards I hired a guy to take me over to Mawun beach. WOW! A beautiful beach in a cove with headlands on either side and great swimming.
I'm going to miss this place when I leave it tomorrow.

Obligatory sunset

Sunsets must be photographed in Indonesia.
Bonus: Chickens on the beach. You don't often see chickens on the beach do you?

Lombok Family Tour & Travel

Okay, looks like I did my dough. I just tried to get hold of Danny to book the trip to Senggigi tomorrow, none of the phone numbers work.
I did some research on the web and they had this to say at Foursquare:
BRAM November 3, 2012
DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THEM! They lied about the trip, almost causing us to miss our flight, unless we would pay twice the money, for private transport. Driver was shouting at us.
Joao A. March 7, 2012
EXTREMELY BAD SERVICE And horrible experience. Besides being ripped off at Padangbai we were threatened between staying on the streets or get in the car to Kuta.
*sigh*

Ashtari

A whole-food vegetarian restaurant set high on a hill above Kuta. It has breathtaking views of Kuta bay. It's accessible only by motorbike up a very steep, potholed, muddy road. It took a while for me to find someone to take me, but I did eventually - for 50,000 rupiah round trip. Some trucks with workers were also trying to get up the hill but sliding backwards a lot, so that the passengers had to get out and push after chocking the wheels with rocks. There were also a few westerners on motorbikes having a very rough time of it, some girls in tears as they clung on to each other and slid around and fell over in the mud. I had to get off the bike a few times and walk.
Lime juice, syrup and mineral water - 12,000 rupiah
Small Bintang - 17,000 rupiah
Potato samosas - 15,000 rupiah
Asian salad with shredded vegetables + leaves, tofu, tempe, crispy croutons and cider vinegar sesame dressing - 35,000 rupiah
Chocolate granola cake - 10,000 rupiah
Bloody marvelous.

Beach Cactus

Today my entrepreneurial little friend Andy (there are a lot of Andy's here) took me on a bike to some of the nearby beaches.
I say entrepreneurial because there is no other word to describe him. Constantly in motion, his head swivelling back and forth his eyes darting around checking out everything that is happening. He found me looking for a singlet yesterday, "What you looking for mister? I get it for you". It had started to rain quite heavily. "You stay here, you want Bintang shirt, extra large, yeah?" (cheeky bugger, even if he's right). So, I'm standing under shelter while he runs along from shop to shop grabbing selections and presenting them to me. No, not pink thank you. "Okay you wait here, I get another one". I eventually settle on one and then he asks me if I need a bike. When I say I don't ride motorcycles, "No problem, I take you." "Okay 10 o'clock then."
The next morning I'm a few minutes late and I find him at the hotel entrance hopping from foot to foot with a worried expression on his face, "I thought you gone already." I say that I'm only a couple of minutes late. "I been twice already" he says with a relieved grin.
We head to Pantai Seger. Awe inspiring views. Then to Tanjung A’an, once again, spectacular coastline. I go for a swim here and leave him to guard the bike and my belongings under the shade of tree. I fire up the iPad for him and head for the water. It's idyllic - bath water warm, azure clear and still as a lake, dozens of giggling, laughing kids. After about half an hour I head back and Andy keeps me waiting another 15 minutes while he 'finishes his game'.
We head back to Kuta and I buy him a meal and we share a beer while we settle up. I take a few photos with the cactus and they're a bit disappointed that I won't leave it with them. If you ever come to Kuta and want to have gifts to give out, make it blow up cactii.

Lunch

Just about to have Plecing Kankung and a fresh squeezed watermelon, lemon and ginger at Solah Beach Bar & Restaurant. They have an awesome pool table.

The hotel

The two other guys settled for a hotel back from the beach so I set off to find something a bit more central. The first hotel I looked at was good enough for me. Right opposite and central to the beach - the Segare Anak. At 150,000 rupiah a night, it's affordable and well situated.
The beach here looks amazing but I was told by a guy I was talking with in the evening that there are even more amazing beaches further up the coast, so I'm looking forward to exploring.
I'lll probably spend my whole time here before I head off to Sengiggi. The expense and hassle of going to Ocean Heaven ($140 a night) doesn't seem worth it.
An unusual feature of my room is an electrical socket set way up on the wall almost near the ceiling WTF?

The ferry

I ended up having to pay for two tickets (300,000 rupiah) because they had no other people going to Kuta, but it worked out the same price and was less hassle than organising the individual legs would have been anyway.
The ferry trip was uneventful. That's a good thing I suppose. I sat and chatted with two guys, one an Austrian wood and leather artisan on his first trip to Indonesia and an Irish art teacher that's taken 14 months off to travel (starting in Bulgaria and making his way through eastern Europe to India, Nepal and Asia). The boat had very few passengers, mostly sprawled out on the seats and sleeping. How the one's in the deck area that had a blaring Indonesian music video show managed to sleep I'm not sure, but they did.
I found the one lifeboat that was on the ship, you can see it below. There were roll-off inflatables (next inspection date due January 2013), though.
As we came into Lembar Harbour a couple of guys (French and Chilean) approached and asked me if the boat was going to Kuta. I told them that, no it wasn't. They said they had bought tickets for 180,000 rupiah each to take them by boat to Kuta. Yes, you guessed it, they were on the same shuttle bus as me. There must have been some sort of miscommunication at head office and my agent hadn't been informed that there were now enough passengers and I could be given a refund.
The driver that picked us up gave us a rundown on the dangers of Kuta (muggings and thefts, and not to trust anyone but hotel staff for any deals). He then launched into a very convincing sales spiel about a deal he could do for us. All we had to do was say what places we wanted to visit and in what order and it would be an open ticket, we just have to call him when we want to go to the next destination (me *Kuta - Sengiggi - Gilis - fast boat back to Bali [500,000 rupiah]. The other two guys *Kuta - Gilis - fast boat back to Bali [400,000 rupiah]). What a bargain! We all took it. Let's see how that turns out.

A change of plans

Wikitravel has this to say about southwest Lombok:

Try to keep off the roads at night and avoid travelling in the more remote areas on your own.

I'm going to be prudent and take this advice. There isn't much of a public transport network either. I'm just going to head straight to Lombok Kuta.

Wikitravel has this to say about Lembar (the port I'll arrive in):

From Lembar Harbour the price to Kuta must be negotiated in advance, or you may insist the taxi driver uses a meter. Competition is fierce and porters will often place your luggage in a taxi prior to settling the price. Assertive behavior can insure you choose the taxi and the price that suits your needs.

I'd rather avoid this hassle and get a shuttle but they have a minimum of two passengers. I'll know for sure tonight whether anyone else has booked. Otherwise, I'll just have to bite the bullet and display assertive behavior.

Wikitravel has this to say about the ferry I'll be traveling on:

This service runs 24 hours a day. It should be understood that this ferry has a poor safety record.

I can attest to this. I went for a swim at Litte Bay this morning and was greeted with an unexpected sight as I crested the hill. A ferry. I spoke to one of the warung owners about what happened. He said that last week there was a 'Black moon'. They had loaded up all the vehicles and passengers and headed out into the night. They weren't far out from the dock when a large wave hit them and flooded the engines. They were crippled and beginning to sink, so they decided to beach it on the sand. No-one was hurt but it must have been pretty terrifying as they headed towards the rocks.
I'll be traveling during the day, probably sitting near an emergency exit.

Padang Bai

Back in Padang Bai. It feels good.
A two and a half hour trip, but the price was right. We went to Benoa (an Aussie surfer heading for Lembongan), Ubud and changed buses to get here. There were only 8 people on the bus, some going to Ubud, others to Lavina. Just me and a German couple going to Padang Bai.
I had a chat with the owner when I booked in at the Padangbai Beach Inn (250,000 rupiah for 2 nights), and they seem to be a bit of a slump business-wise. Only two guests including me today, none the day before, and three the day before that. Not bad enough for them to negotiate on price though, not that I tried real hard, I feel a bit sorry for them.
Having a delicious Nasi Campur at the Topi Inn (40,000 rupiah) right now.

Pool

Me by the pool at night. Cactus.

Kuta

Well, I'm here in Kuta and it's the usual bedlam, non-stop traffic and noise.
When I arrived at the airport the customs man was sure I was up to something. The humidity had hit me instantly and every pore in my body had opened up. He looked at me quizzically and asked "Are you okay sir?" I said that I was just hot but he looked at me like he didn't believe me. He proceeded to go through every single item of my luggage, closely inspecting everything and asking me questions about what I was going to be doing, and where was I going? It didn't help that I had no concrete plans and so sounded rather vague. He gave up in the end but I think he was left with a niggling doubt that he had missed something.
I know why the hotel was so reasonably priced now. It's quite a way out of the main town. The taxi driver had to make a phone call and ask at two security guard posts before he could find it.
I've booked the Perama bus to Padang Bai for tomorrow, leaving at 10 o'clock (60,000 rupiah, 10,700 to the AUS$1 is the street rate at the moment). I plan to spend two days in Padang Bai so that I can wind down a bit.
Something of note in Kuta is that all the main streets have had the pavements fixed up. They're all looking rather smart now. No more cracked sewer drain holes to hop over.