Our four islands holiday (11): conclusion
Next day was very much a travelling day as we started our return home.
Leaving our hotel at Gili Trawangan about 9.45 am, we took a horse and cart to the ferry terminal where we were in such good time for our ship that we were able to have a coffee and pastry at nearby cafe cum boulangerie called “Kayu”. In fact, the departure of the ferry, operated by Blue Water Express, was not at the scheduled 11.20 am but at the later 12.05 pm.
We headed east and made quick stops at Gili Air and the Bangsai port of Lombok, before we turned west and made for Bali. For a lot of the trip, the boat crashed up and down and rolled left and right and it became clear why sick bags were standard issue. However, as well reading more of the history of Indonesia, I was able to deploy my famed skill in sleeping anywhere at any time.
At eastern Bali, there was a stop at Pandang Bai, where Tess and I had departed the island three days previously, and then we continued round the bottom of the island to Serangan in south Bali before disembarking just after 5 pm – a sea journey of five hours.
We still had to retrieve our luggage and take an arranged car to our hotel, Tony’s Villa & Resort at the town of Seminyak – the sixth and last accommodation of our holiday. It was 6.20 pm when we checked into the hotel, almost nine hours after we had left our hotel on Gili T. We were tired, but happy to receive a room upgrade and free mojitos and to see a performance of Balinese dance as we ate dinner.
Next day, Tess and I just chilled at the hotel until it was time to go Bali’s airport. Late that evening, we made the two-hour and a bit flight from Bali to Singapore and then, travelling through the night, a 13-hour flight from Singapore to London Heathrow. There is a seven hours time difference between Bali/Singapore and the UK, so we arrived back at the London flat at 10.30 am local time. Door (the Bali hotel) to door (our flat), the return home was a bit over 25 hours.
A few reflections …
It was a trip of such varied locations: the ultra- modernism of Singapore, the emerging modernity of Jakarta, the ancient surroundings of Yogayarta, the lush vegetation of Bali, and the sun-kissed beaches of Gili.
For me, highlights were the Cloud Forest in Singapore, that bike ride in Bali, and snorkelling in the Gili islands. For Tess, highlights were the UNESCO World Heritage sires at Borobudur and Prambanan.
Logistically, it was not an easy trip because we had no overall guide and no fellow travellers, but miraculously every connection with the next transport and the next guide worked throughout the holiday. Indonesians welcome tourists and were unfailingly helpful and kind.
But we met very few British tourists in Indonesia. Those who go to the country tend to be young people visiting southern Bali for the sun and the sea. Our holiday was very different, but immensely worthwhile, because we had such diverse experiences and learned so much about Indonesian people and their culture.
They take pride in the way in which so many different ethnic, linguistic and religious groups live together in tolerance and harmony but, as I learned from reading a history of the country, in the late 1990s at least half a million died in an orgy of bloodletting. As we have seen around the world, racial tensions can erupt so quickly and so fiercely. That is a special challenge for this immensely diverse nation.
Western media rarely covers events in Indonesia unless it is a bomb or a tsunami, but it is a nation on the rise in geopolitical terms. Already the fourth most populous country on the planet, living standards are rising and democratic values are improving. We will all be hearing more about Indonesia.
To finish on a personal note …
Time and time again, local people would look at us: two people in their 70s showing obvious affection to one another. They would gently ask: “How long you been married?” Tess wound delight in declaring “Six months” – and then watching their faces.