Waterfalls

Up at 8:30, slept great. Showered, then the hotel dude called for my motorbike early, I got it about 9:30. Then him and I went to the house of his trekking buddy, so we could discuss the trek, and I found out that there was a misunderstanding. It was 350,000 for one day, so 350,000 * 3. That was too much for me, he asked me how much I could spend, I told him 500,000 would be the maximum. He couldn't do it for that. I was kind of dejected, but oh well, thems the breaks.

I dorve back to the hotel to get my sunglasses, then to town and had a humongous breakfast, expensive too, 30,000+tax, but I can forgo lunch, so I justified it that way. Also bought a ticket to go to Gili Trawangan for tomorrow.

Drove up to Senaru, the town that acts like the base for treks up to Mount Rinjani. Went up there to see a couple of waterfalls. It was a 2+ hour drive, and when I got there, they insisted I needed a guide to see the waterfalls. I was miffed, one is just a 15 minute walk from the road, along a concrete platform...and I need a guide for that? I asked how much. 75,000 rupiah!!! Yikes, I told them that was way too much, and I wasn't paying it, and almost hopped on my bike and left right there. I offered 10,000 to the first waterfall, still too much, and stuck to it. They kept dropping their price, finally they accepted 10,000, so my "guide" and me walked to this waterfall. They told me it was the rules, I needed a guide. Ya, whatever. Once there, we bargained for the second waterfall, an extra 15,000 rupiah, so 25,000 in total, a far cry from the 75,000 they wanted, but still way too much for this. Superb waterfalls, though. My guide asked me not to say anything to anyone about how much I paid.

Drove back to Senggigi, but turned off and headed inland towards a monkey forest...the monkeys come to the roadside, and people, mainly tourists, stop and take pictures and feed them peanuts. I didn't pick any peanuts up, so a local gave me a few, and I fed the monkeys. I remember there was this one monkey who would smile with all his teeth just as he was about to take the peanuts, as if to say "Thanks you".

Got back to the hotel about 5:00. I did hit a police checkstop along the way, but they didn't stop me. And I had my drivers license with me this time! Back at the hotel, I chatted with one of the Danish guys by the pool for a bit, then put on my trunks and went swimming in the pool.

Got out and dressed, and went down to the lobby to wait for the motorcycle dude. As I waited, the owner of the hotel (Norwegian lady) remarked that someone had called the hotel for me, asking if the guy who had rented a motorcycle was back yet. She didn't know. I assumed it was the motorcycle dude wanting to know, so he could come pick up the bike.

As we chatted, the trekking guy, who's house I was at this morning, came along, and took me to the parking lot to talk. They had another fellow, a Danish guy, sign on to do the trek tomorrow at the regular price ($140US), so I can go for only 600,000 now. I was excited, I can afford that, but told him that I had already booked a ticket to Gili Trawangan for tomorrow. He asked me how much it was, I told him (40,000), he said to me, "Cancel it, and pay is only 560,000." They're going to swallow the cost of the ticket!!!

They're going to pick me up at 6:00AM tomorrow morning.

The guy who owns the trekking company was there also, and he asked me to tell the Danish guy, if he asks, that I paid $140US for the trek as well (I paid about half that, if even). He also owns the motorcycle, oddly enough, so I paid for the motorcycle, and got my passport back, then he drove me to town, but got a flat tire half way there, so I had to walk the rest of the way. I needed to get to town to cancel my shuttle to Trawangan.

Ends up, I didn't have to cancel it, I could just postpone it, so postponed it until Tuesday. Cool, I didn't lose that money either.

Went for supper, met a guy who was originally from Elrose, SK at the restaurant, although he hasn't lived there since the 1970's. Used internet, then took a horse taxi back to my hotel, packed and to bed about 11:00.