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We eventually cleared customs at Bali's airport and got to our hotel late in the evening only to be told that they didn't have our reservation and they only had a vacancy for the one night and every other hotel was fully booked due to the end of Ramadan! The biggest downside was that we hardly got any time to use our swim-up pool! We were up early the next morning to catch a fast boat to Gili Trawangan, a little island in a group of three off the coast of Lombok. We spent the next few days living in a little bungalow with an outdoor bathroom, eating good food, lazing on the white sand, and doing some good snorkelling around all three islands (we saw turtles, catfish, and even some eels).
We next headed to Sengiggi, a beachside town on Lombok, for a few days. It was much quieter here (less Aussies) and we found a really cheap place to stay (but there were rats running around on the roof on the last two nights we were there!). We made the most of the expensive beach resorts, sitting on their sun beds on the deserted beach. We found a really cheap place that did excellent barbequed fish and couldn't resist going back there for more! To see a bit more of Lombok we got ourselves a guide for a little day trip - visiting a traditional village, the busy market, a weaving place, a pottery place (where they made me make a clay gecko), the old summer palace, and Kuta beach(beautiful and deserted). On our last day in Sengiggi there was a massive storm and we got stuck in a restaurant where we watched the street and motorbikes flood. When we got back to our now damp room, our landlady told us that her pond had overflowed and the other guests helped her rescue the fish that were all over the floor! We managed not to laugh until she was gone!
To save money we took the slow ferry back to Bali. Because it was so full we spent the entire journey sat on the floor. But we did see dolphins on the crossing, and the captain crashed the boat into the pier in Bali for some added excitement! Once we were back in Bali it rained for all but two days of our stay. When it wasn't raining we discovered that the beach is pretty crap in Bali - very disappointing! Luckily Balinese massages are cheap, so we had two while we were there! We also hired a scooter to visit the hilly area of Ubud, but we only made it 5 minutes down the road before we were stopped by the police for not going through a red light! I argued that one but had no luck with my illegal driving licence, so £20 later we were allowed to continue our journey! Not having much more cash left we decided we couldn't afford to keep all the criminals/cops in beer money so we didn't bother and went to sit/sulk by the pool. That night there was an earthquake… and a thunderstorm so loud we thought the roof was going to fall in!
At least the food was good, and we only stayed for a few days!!! Overall we both felt that Bali was definitely the most disappointing part of our trip so far and needless to say we won't be rushing back!
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