Breakfast really is the great planning time. Over our massive feed we decide what we will do. The day can change many times before something is eventually finalised. So today there are many possibilities, but the one that gets selected is to head to an island off Bali, Lembongan. By the time we have decided we have missed the deal where we could get free transport from the hotel, and so we have to pay for a taxi to Sanur to where the boat leaves from. It's not too expensive and we get to the office and get our tickets booked. We have about an hour before we will be picked up and dropped down to the sea, so we decide to have a look around and try to find something to eat. We head right past all the empty tourist places and find this little place down by the sea that is full of locals. They only have one thing on the menu and it is cheap and looks delicious. Our hunch was right, some spicy fish soup thing. There were bones everywhere, but it was great, and some orange juice to wash it down. My stomach was satisfied and fiery after my feed, just the way I like it.
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Back to the office and we get in to a mini bus that just takes us back down the road we just walked up. We are standing at the beach in a covered area and I am checking us in. We wait for a while by the beach, I can see that we will just be walking through the sea to get to the boat and so I change my shoes in to my sandals. There are boats coming and going all the time and the beach is just lined with tour operators and nik nak shops. The time has come and some guys load all the bags on to the boat, we bundle on after the bags and get a seat at the back of the boat, which suits me as I prefer to be outside on a boat anyway. Not that I think I have a problem with boats anymore, seeing as I slept in boats too and from Ko Tao, still, it's nicer to be outside. The crossing takes about 40mins and then we arrive in Lembongan. Miao has been left in charge of accommodation after the disaster in Jakarta and so I am excited to see what we will have on the island.
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We get in to the back of a little jeep with some other people and we head off around the island with everyone being dropped off before us. There then is some difficulty finding the place that we have booked. After about an hour of trying many different places with names similar enough we get the place that Miao has booked. Well, well, well. It is described as 2 mins from the beach, and that is indeed true. It is a block of three rooms on the side on the lane, and the room is small, this is not the issue, there is no toilet, and the shared one, the light doesn't work, there is only a fan, and the room is like an oven. I just sit outside the room and laugh. Miao asks about another room and we are shown it, at least it has a bathroom, with a pipe coming out of the wall pretending to be a shower. The beds are just on the floor. Great! It is night time and there is no way that we can find another place now. Good job Miao. The owners have another place just round the corner, but it is full tonight, though tomorrow it is free so we will look tomorrow, the guests are supposed to check out by 10. So the plan for tonight should be to get drunk so that when we get back to the room we can just collapse and not worry about the heat and cleanliness of the place.
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We head out for dinner along the beach front and pick the only place that had a bit of an atmosphere. We order up and I get a pizza and chips and some beers while watching the fork lightning out at sea and listening to a Scorpions album. A nice change from the hectic pace on Bali. We are last to leave the restaurant and even go on the hunt for the only place that is open to get some more beer before attempting to sleep in our luxury accommodation. We sit by the sea finishing off the beers and crisps that I have bought and then head back. When we get in we both start laughing at the state of the place, I spot the largest cockroach I have ever seen and beat the life out of him with my shoe before sending him to his watery grave. Though it is probably still alive as it is impossible to kill them. It reminds me of when Elias kicked a cockroach about 4 metres away, I saw bits fly off it, then 10mins later it was back up walking again. Madness. Anyway, after the excitement it's time to try and sleep. Good luck.