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Day 42 (Monday 27th November 2006)
It was hard work getting up early for the boat, but I just about managed it and arrived in Bangsal around 09:00.
It was the dreaded return and barely had the boat touched shore when the locals flocked towards us in their hoards.
I grabbed a horse cart to where my bus would pick me up and told all the jewellery sellers to 'beat it' while we waited.
About an hour or so later, me and my bags were being dumped by the side of the highway, just outside of the airport. Once safely in the airport, I searched for the next available flight to Bali. Unfortunately however, that turned out to be at 16:30…so only a 6-hour wait then!!
I had some munch at the airport café before deciding to leave my backpack at the information center desk and killing a bit of time in the town at Mataram.!The town was a 15-minute drive away and the place itself was pretty crazy. I ran in to 'Zain'! Zain was another of Gili Air's high all the time, laid-back, rasta dudes and if he wasn't kicking back in the internet café, you'd often find him down on the beach making the most incredible carvings out of coconuts. Here he was in the middle of a shopping mall and he came running over to greet me! He was in town visiting friends and family and explained how he also did some teaching here for free. He speaks six languages, his English impeccable and the rest of his time by the looks of things, consists of smoking and woodcarving!
He showed me his latest project, a face carved into a coconut shell and although he told me he didn't make these things to make money, having loved some of his stuff so much, i asked if i could buy a necklace from him. He looked pretty embarrassed and didn't want to put a price on his handy work, so i offered him 50,000 for one. He smiled and told me that was more than enough and compared to other necklaces sold around here (lacking entirely the charm and originality of Zain's however) it was pretty generous, although i couldn't help feel like i was robbing him. After all 50,000 Rupiah is only 3 pound back home!
Had i not blown my budget so far on this trip, i'd of no doubt given him more, but you can't help but get the feeling he's the kind of bloke who's just happy to please. If nothing else i did give his work a lot of praise and exchanged e-mail addresses.
So here's to you Zain, coolest dude in the Gili's… i'll see you back there again some day! There wasn't much to do in Mataram, but plenty of crazed school kids who had obviously seldom seen a westerner before. They gathered with curiosity and when i pulled out the camcorder, just shy of 30-million kids swarmed around to get on tv! i suppose with a teacher like Zain, the kids are bound to be a little crazy!
i overcame another shaky plane ride as we touched back down in Bali and arrived in Jimbaran just in time to witness its legendary sunset. After marveling at its splendor i checked into the Villa Puri Royan hotel, before grabbing a delicious seafood dinner at one of the many famous warung restaurants along the beach.
Day 43 (Tuesday 28th November 2006)
After a pancake breakfast I headed down to the beach. Being on the same stretch of coast as Kuta, the sea here tends to get a bit choppy. It wasn't ideal for bathing, but if you got out past the breaking waves, there were little spots to have a float.
I completed my second book 'Deal Breaker' by Harlan Coben by the pool for the rest of the afternoon.
That evening I grabbed a taxi in to Kuta to visit the shops and get some tea.
I got the last of our underwater photos developed, along with another full memory card from the camera and did some more boring stuff like check my e-mails, all before heading back to my hotel.
Today i was due to take the next dose of Malaria tablets, but Ive decided to knock that on the head given the side effects. Don't worry guys, if i get any symptom I'll be straight down the hospital!
Tomorrow I fly to Oz...yippeeeeee!! Can't wait!
Day 44 (Wednesday 29th November 2006) Galungan
Nothing really happened much today. I knew I was flying later in the evening, so just chilled all day in the hotel swimming pool. I think I have just about secured a decent enough tan to take to Oz.
Lunch was funny. I had chicken Gordon Blue, followed by buttered unions, washed down by a nice pineapple smootie!! Gotta' love their translations around here.
Later in the day I packed my bags, had a nice BBQ chicken dinner at Maria's warung cafe, before finally making the short trip to the airport to catch my flight to Oz...see you soon guys!
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