boltsintotheblue   Le mariage and beyond

From the lap of luxury in Lombok we were delivered to the ferry terminal to make our way to the Gili Islands which are three small islands just off the coast, renowned for their diving and lack motorised vehicles.

Our taxi driver stopped at the terminus which the Lonely Planet had warned me was about 1km from the port and with it being over 30 degrees we didn’t feel like walking with all our gear, so a bribe of about 80p saw us further down the road closer to our destination. Here we were met by a number of men offering anything from the public boat which was about $1 to a chartered boat which was $20 each. And here folks was our first taster of being taken for a ride, Asian style. Long story short, they persuade us to take a charter then tried to keep us in the office for as long as possible selling us onward transport to Bali. I didn’t want to go with them until we’d seen what there was on Gili, but they just thought I was playing the tough one so they tried Clive to see if he proved a softer touch. I was so chuffed with myself for holding strong when their price kept coming down but little did I know they had already stiffed us.

When no more money was forthcoming they became very quickly disinterested in us and suddenly our boat was ready. One of the guys led us through a building yard of some sort and down on to a beach where numerous rickety wooden vessels were heaving with the waves. I turned round to ask our representative a question and he’d already disappeared leaving us with the boatmen. After much gesticulating we discovered that we were to be traveling on a 30ft long wooden craft that looked as though it was used for transporting building material, complete with tarp full of dirt in the bottom.

We set off with one guy behind the wheel and what looked like two small children to pull the anchor and generally snigger at my discomfort. It only took a couple of minutes for things to get really uncomfortable. Hitting the first broadside wave the gallons of water in the bottom made an appearance up the inside of the boat and I got my first face full (of many) of sea water. Things got worse as we pulled into the open channel with the boat being pitched sideways 45 degrees at times and everything, including us and our bags getting soaked with each wave and threatening to exit the boat. At one point I was practically lying down and holding on to the side with two white knuckled hands, seeing headlines flash through my mind, “Honeymooners lost at sea”, “Charter boat disaster claims two young lives” and quotes from family and friends, “They were such wonderful people and had their whole lives ahead of them” – well people have to be nice about you when you’re dead.

At one point right in the middle of the worst part of the trip, just as I admitted to Clive that I was seriously scared, the engine stopped and we were at the mercy of the swell, being thrown one way and then the other with nothing to stabilise the completely impractical long thin vessel. I have absolutely no idea what compelled the captain to turn off the engine, perhaps he just wanted to hear some colourful swearwords in English or see the look of abject terror on my face (he got both), but after a few seconds we were on our way again, still pitching one way and then the other. Then just to add insult to injury, the public boat ($1 remember) came past the other way with plastic sidings to prevent the passengers from getting wet. Passengers who were all wearing life jackets! Nothing so sensible for us!

Even the “docking” at Gili Trawangan involved us leaping from the boat during a low point between waves and our bags being thrown down onto the beach afterwards. Lesson learned me thinks – ask to see your charter vessel before handing over your cash.