AspiringNomad

Tetebatu will have my heart forever! What an incredible place. I have had the most perfect ending to my trip here. I spent the rest of Thursday evening lounging around the small hotel I booked, Pondok Suri Bungalows. A collection of 6 small bungalows on stilts in a well pruned garden with a pebble path running down the middle. A small section of land is kept aside as a rice field and in the back corner, there was a pool to cool off in. A hub for wildlife, and I hate to say it Mum, but the frogs love it here! I had arranged with the wife of the couple who own the place, to go off and explore the area the following day with a guide. So, at 8:30am sharp Thursday morning, my guide, Eddy, was waiting for me to head off. He had lived in the area for most of his life aside from a few years that he spent in Gili T, working in a hotel. He took me to the small hamlet that he lived in where his auntie and friends were making coffee from rice and coconut. We chilled out here for a while as he had a cigarette and chatted with his friends. Normally, I would be a little frustrated that we were just hanging around. But there’s something about this place that forces you to slow down, to just chill out a bit and enjoy the company you’re in and the surroundings. Life in Tetebatu is simple, people either work on the farms or help the few local hotels with tours. Despite not being paid much, the locals are the most friendly and happiest that I have come across in 8 weeks. The people here LOVE people, and their goal is to make you feel at home, like a friend more than a guest, and their genuine kindness is contagious. Eddy and I spent half of the day perusing around Tetebatu. I saw two waterfalls, a family of Macaque Monkeys and a family of Black forest Monkeys (aka Javanese Langur), too many Spiders for my liking, spoke to people in the rice paddy fields and helped Eddy’s uncle squeeze coconut milk from the coconut pulp. I then spent the other half of the day telling Eddy that I wasn’t going to move to Tetebatu to live with him despite him spending all day trying to convince me with unlimited rice wine and copious amounts of sticky coconut rice that we would live happily ever after here!

I got back at about 5pm and was genuinely exhausted, mostly from awkwardly laughing off Eddy’s advances! I chatted for a while with Juliette from France and read my book as the sun went down. I had just finished brushing my teeth when Lalu, the owner of the hotel approached me with his grandmother’s coconut oil and aloe vera mix. He offered for me to try some, so we went up to the balcony where I thought he was just going to put some on the back of my hand. But, instead he gave me a full hand and foot massage to relax me before bed! No obligation to buy the oil and definitely no expectation of payment for the massage. Lalu was giving the guests an evening massage before we all went off to bed. The following day, I was heading out with Hir (Lalu’s wife) to a village about 20mins away on her moped. Hir was ready to leave at about 1:30pm. I had spent the morning by the pool soaking up the sun on my final day of travel before starting my onward journey.

Hir got on the scooter with Aretha, her 7 year old daughter and I sat on the back. Hir was speeding down the little roads, Aretha squished behind her with her little legs poking out of the sides with mint green crocs stuck on her feet and me at the rear. No helmets and some fairly sketchy roads, we headed to a small area in a village that was renowned for making scarves and sarongs. They dye the cotton from raw materials like the indigo plant and mahogany bark. They then spend days using hand-made sewing machines, making the final product. Once we relaxed here with the owner and a glass of fresh iced tea, we then headed to a Bamboo Craft shop nearby. There are now only 70 people in the area that weave bamboo to make a living, so the owner of the company was very passionate about explaining the process and drawing attention to the technicality of the weaving process. I joined a group of other tourists. As he explained the process, the woman made us all little rings and a trinket basket to take away with us. Hir, Aretha and I then headed back to the hotel and I spent the rest of the afternoon chatting with her and Lalu about their lives in Tetebatu, when they met, their wedding day and gossiping about the other guests. Sway and Tyler who were both staying at the hotel returned from their day out. They are the epitome of a hardenerd traveller and were the most friendly people. Sway was from Germany and Tyler was Canadian. They met while cherry picking in Australia and decided to come to Indonesia (or indo as they liked to say) for a couple of weeks. Tyler loves to say ‘bro’, ‘dude’, and ‘easy’ which made me laugh. I chatted with Sway and Hir for a while with a couple of beers before I decided I needed to eat something. 

Tyler had got his guitar out and started playing at the other side of the pebble pathway. Lalu had already promised me a glass of his rice wine with sprite, honey and lemon, which I can confirm is delicious. He told me that his friends were coming over tonight with their guitars for a few drinks. It didn’t take much persuasion for me to head over after I had eaten. I sat at the table with the others and Lalu’s friends started to turn up. Chucky, Oggy, Luke (who was actually from England but seemed to have got stuck in Tetebatu for 4.5 months and was now integrated into their friendship group) and another that I can’t remember the name of. They were all incredible musicians and clearly spent a lot of time practising. The rest of us enjoyed the music and sung along when we knew the words. Lalu was making sure we were stocked up on drinks all night and we spent the night hanging out together, laughing, singing (badly), drinking and genuinely having a great time. It seemed I had inadvertently saved the best until last. As if by fate, I had one of the best nights of my whole trip on my last weekend! It was so special, and I’ll be forever grateful that I got to be a part of it.

After a short 2hr sleep, my alarm had gone off and with only a slight hangover, I had just enough chance to indulge in a banana pancake and a coffee before Gherul had arrived to take me back to Bengsal. I had to peel myself away from the tranquil life of Tetebatu and start my return journey back to Bali.

It took just over two hours for Gherul to drive me back to Bengsal because the traffic was bad. We had plenty of time to catch up on what we had both been getting up to. Amongst other things, he told me that the area by the ferry port is very much controlled by the local Mafia. The majority of people asking if you want a taxi when you arrive are from the Mafia and they take a huge cut of what you pay to the taxi men. Which is why Gherul wanted me to message him privately to arrange the pick ups and fares. 

During my time at the zen Pondak Indah Bungalows, I may have relaxed a bit too much as I had managed to lose my return boat ticket, which had caused a bit of an issue with the boat company. I had messaged them they day before but they insisted I had to pay for another ticket which included a bus back from Pedang Bai to Kuta in Bali, where I was staying. I reluctantly agreed to pay when I got to the ferry port on Sunday. Another £17 later for a one way ticket and I was herded onto the boat with everyone else. Lombok had their organisation nailed. The boat also had air conditioning and was actually ‘fast’ this time. We got back to Bali in an hour and a half and I had spent the whole time talking to Liv, a German girl who I met as we were all getting onto the boat. She was also staying in Kuta, so on arrival at Pedang Bai, after trying to navigate through the taxi men (which is an experience on it’s own), we attempted to get to the boat office for the transfer. However, the driver of our bus had called us over and informed us that it would take 5hrs to get back to Kuta if we went with him as he has other stops to do on the way. So he suggested it would be better for us to go with a Grab taxi that he could get cheap for us. Now, if this doesn’t sound dodgy, then I dont know what does! I didn’t see any other people on the bus that needed dropping off and even with the stops it didn’t make sense that it would take 5hrs. I was getting increasingly frustrated by this man who wasn’t giving us time to talk about what our options were. Other than confirmation that he was definitely the bus driver, we had no other information. We essentially could have got the bus and risked a much longer journey (it was 3pm at this point) or spend £15 each to get a car back and definitely be back in 2hrs. We decided to get the Grab despite knowing we were being scammed left right and centrer through all parties involved the boat transfer. Hot, bothered, and very tired, I just wanted to get back.

Liv and I returned to our own hostels and immediately headed out for some much needed food. This was the first time that I really got to see Kuta and I must be honest, if Kuta is an example of what Bali is like, then I don’t like Bali one bit. Completely ruined by over tourism. Dirty, busy, loud and chavy. I honestly may as well have been in Benidorm! We had some food in a sports bar (yes, I am disappointed in myself too) and then walked to a couple of markets closer to the sea front. I purchased two pairs of lounge shorts for £7 (later realising they dont fit very well) and after we walked past a Marks and Spencer, H&M, Starbucks and Pizza Hut, we settled for a bar at the top of a hotel. It was when the low budget fireworks started in front of the hotel of which we were sat that we both wished to go back to the peacefulness of Lombok. I had had enough by 9pm and said farewell to Liv as I got on my Grab Bike to head back to the hostel. I showered and organised my things ready for my flight to Sydney the next day. At 9:45am, my taxi friend, Made, was back to take me to Denspaar Airport just 15mins from the hostel.

Through check-in, security and passport control, I sat in a restaursnt for some breakfast. All the emotions suddenly hit, the excitement, anticipation, nerves and the feeling of missing home. I managed to keep the overwhelming emotions under control as I tucked into my poached eggs and beans. Then headed to gate 9B to board my flight.

I’m now about halfway through my flight to Sydney. I haven’t stopped thinking about everything I have done in the last 8 weeks, all the amazing moments spent with people I have met and conversations I’ve had which have helped more than any therapy session, the late night Bah Mi’s, noisy nightbuses, unreal sunsets, the sober and not so sober nights out, reluctantly downing rice wine to be polite. The trains, planes, boats, mopeds and tuk tuk rides, all the amazing food I have tried and some pretty dire food too (shout out to the restaurant ‘Mắm Tôm Bún Đậu A Chảnh’ next to the hostel in HCM). The cute hostel pets (miss you guys), beers on the beach, swimming in rivers, kayaking, hiking, via ferrata, ziplines, getting up early for sunrise, star gazing, precisely 1million coconut coffees (thats where my money has gone!) I could go on, but I won’t!

It seems silly to write about how much I loved the past 8 weeks and it’s quite hard to articulate how this trip has made me feel. It’s like hearing a song that reminds you of a favourite place or person. Getting those goosebumps and wishing you could live in that moment all over again. The memories I have are held in my heart and I am so grateful to have experienced what I have. I didn’t know what to expect from SE Asia but it has exceeded everything I could have wished for. I feel so full of life heading to Sydney and although the move is utterly daunting and overwhelming, I think I’ll be just fine.