Woke up about 7:00, got up about 8:00, had breakfast and showered, then dragged my bags down to Kristin and Louisa's room, and woke Louisa up. She had set her alarm so they could have breakfast with me, but she slept through it. they went for breakfast, and I sat with them.
Kristin and Scott went to try and get their ticket changed, and I waited. The bus finally picked me up about 9:40, took us (two others already on bus) to the main office on the main street, where we had to wait about 15 minutes for another bus. About 10:00, we were herded onto the other bus, a bunch of us, going to various destinations. Only 4 going to Mataram. The bus made a few stops on it's way to Padang Bai. We got there shortly after noon. The ones going across to Lombok had to wait for about one hour for the gerry; I had a bite to eat. About 1:15, they told us we can go to the ferry now, and he pointed us in the direction, so we all walked to the terminal and boarded the ferry. It's a big vehicle ferry, loaded down with trucks. The ferry left at 1:45.
Arrived in Lembar harbour about 5:30, but the ferry dock was in use by another ferry, so we had to wait out in the middle of the harbour for more than an hour. We finally got to dock after 6:30. Got on the Perama (tour company) bus, which took the 8 or 10 of us to Mataram. It stopped here, dropped off a girl at her house, before going to the Perama office. I got off, along with two others. The two other guys are doing an organized tour with Perama, and are just spending the night in Mataram. On the drive from the ferry terminal to Mataram, a teenager, the brother of the driver, sat beside me and chatted with me to practice his english. He's taking an english course right now.
I went inside the Perama office, and got my bearings, and decided to look for the Shanti Puri hotel. I walked up to the Mataram Mall, a mall just like any big western mall, and from there started the search for the hotel. Walked all over, and couldn't find it, or any other hotel. I'm sweating, and it's dark, and I finally find a hotel, and they have fairly cheap ($6US) standard room, but then I'm informed that they're all booked up, except for expensive rooms, out of my price range. I kept walking. I had lots of offers of help, including one family (father, mother and baby) stop beside me and ask me where I'm going, I told them a cheap hotel, and they said there's one just up ahead 50 metres, and offered to drive me there, but I said I could walk if it was that close. I'm paranoid after Fiji. I kept walking, and the road turned dark up ahead, and I didn't want to go along it. Up until now, I've been staying in the well-lit areas, where there are lots of locals around, staying in the open. Another van pulls up on the other side of the street, and the passenger jumps out, and they start beckoning me to come over. I walk over, and these two guys look a little dodgy. They ask me where I'm going, I told them I was looking for a cheap hotel, and they said I had to go to another part of town for cheap hotels (bullshit, I was thinking), and they offered to take me. I declined, and started walking back towards a taxi that was waiting outside a store about half a block back. The stopped me, and then said there was one just up ahead, they would take me, I declined, and walked away. After a few steps, I turned around, and one of them was coming at me with a big machete! Ahhhhh, I dropped everything and ran! Just kidding, the can was driving away. They were probably ok, but after Fiji.....although, it was kind of funny how the one passenger jumped out of the van and was keen on getting me to cross the street, over to their van. I made sure to stay on the side of the van facing the road, in the light, while chatting with them.
I approached the taxi driver, I'd had enough of walking around. He already had a hire, but was keen on getting me another taxi with his radio. A motorcycle dude came up, an older fella, not much english, and the taxi driver told me that the motorcycle guy would take me to a cheap hotel, one I was asking him about. I hopped on the back of the bike, and he took me to the hotel. It was FULL! Ugh. He then took me to another hotel. They had rooms. It ended up being the exact hotel I was originally looking for, the Shanti Puri.
The guy who works at the hotel, when he saw me, said to me, I've seen you before, you were on the Perama bus...he was at the ferry terminal, and had asked me how many were staying in Mataram, he was trying to drum up business for his hotel! Haha, too funny.
Anyway, finally got to the hotel about 7:45.
I paid the motorbike dude 12,000 rupiah. It was supposed to originally be 7000 to the first hotel, but after it was full, he had to do extra driving for me, so I was going to give him 10,000, but he could only come up with 38,000 change for a 50,000 rupiah bill.
Anyway, the moral of this story. I should have taken the 6:00AM bus from Kuta this morning, so I would have arrived in Mataram during daylight hours.
I got a room for 30,000 rupiah. No shower, it's a bucket shower type. Signed in, then asked where the mall was, and was pointed in what I thought was the wrong direction. He was right...I had confused the Mataram Mall with the Mataram Complex on my map, that's why I couldn't find the hotel in the first place!
I'm totally in real Indonesia now. Kids laugh and shyly say "Hello" to me as I pass. Or hide behind their mothers or fathers or a pole. As I was looking for a hotel, two younger teenage girls walked behind me giggling, when I turned around, one was walking right behind me, giggling, then she ran back to her friend. I get lots of double takes and straight stares from adults. I'm special here. I'm a somebody!
Walked to the mall, and went to McDonalds. I was superbly hungry, and got a Big Mac combo, and super-sized it two sizes bigger. At McDonalds, the floor workers chatted with this "tourist" guy...one of the workers had died his hair a hot pink, trying to look like Ronald McDonald he indicated, by pointing at the hair on the Ronald McDonald statue.
After eating, did a quick run around the mall, then walked back to the hotel, shaking hands with the little boy who asked me how I was when I was walking to McDonalds. He only knew two english phrases..."How are you?" and "Thank You". Cute.
Since I left the bus, I've seen only one other whitey. And that was the Ronald McDonald statue at McDonalds. Got back to the hotel shortly after 9:00. Wrote in journal, then read, and to bed about 11:00.
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