Fresh durian
Today’s the day. The day I leave Lombok and take a flight with Mat to Java. These 2 weeks in Mataram have gone by in a flash, but I’ve enjoyed every minute. It’s been really nice to stay in one place and experience the local way of things. Elva wakes me up by knocking on the door, followed by a delicious breakfast that she’s cooked up. Always hits the spot. Afterwards, I got ready and we headed out to finally try some durian. The weather was fine and there was nothing else to get in our way. There were some shacks on the side of the road that were offering fresh durian, so we chose one and plonked ourselves down.
I will say, the price of durian is one thing that puts me off, it’s really expensive. In fact, if the locals have it then they come in groups and all help to pay for it. Hardly ever do they eat it by themselves. Anyway, the woman opened a durian for us, and we ripped it open and took out the flesh. I will say, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It tasted a lot better than in Bangkok, and I didn’t mind the taste, in fact the more I had the more I liked it. I won’t be in a hurry to have it again, but over time I think I could come to like it.
Checking out of Lombok
After eating a large amount of durian, we returned to the hotel for one final time. I gathered all my stuff, and we checked out, visiting her cousins we saw the other day. We stayed and talked for an hour or so before saying our goodbyes and departing for the airport. The drive on the scooter was less than an hour, pretty easy on the motorway. Upon arriving, I had a few hours to wait before the flight left, and it wasn’t long before Mat joined us. The 3 of us sat around talking, watching the time tick away. Before we knew it, it was time to check-in to our flight to Java. I said my goodbyes to Elva, thanked her for a great couple of weeks, and left for the counter with Mat.
It’s a pretty small airport, so after checking in to our flight to Java, it was only a few minutes to the gate. Not long afterwards, we boarded and were whisked away to Surabaya, Java, in less than an hour. Once we’d landed and breezed through baggage claim, we got a pre-paid taxi to our hotel in the city. This seemed like a decent option as a lot of the time e-taxis (e.g. Grab) aren’t allowed in airport grounds. Instead, we told them where we were going and paid beforehand. Similar to Grab but real life.
Check out some other sunsets from Cambodia.
A chaotic evening
It sounded so easy and simple, but as we pulled up to the hotel, he charged us another 8k IDR. We had a bit of an altercation because I asked at the taxi booth whether we’d have to pay ANYTHING else, the answer was no. But due to a toll bridge, we had to give him 8k IDR. This was because our bags were in his boot, and he was threatening to just go back to the airport. This kind of crap that people pull isn’t worth the hassle, so we gave it to him. A few deep breaths were in order, even for a patient guy like me. It just boils my blood when they try to take a bit extra from you, probably because you’re a tourist.
Anyway, at the hotel, we didn’t appear in the system. The receptionist faffed around on his phone for 20 minutes before declaring we were welcome to our room. Cheers mate! In the room, we did a bit of planning for the days ahead, then decided to head out for food. We were wandering for quite some time before coming on a small, funky restaurant. The staff were a bit strange, but the noodles were pretty delicious, and the spring rolls. Once we’d had our fill, we returned to the hotel and turned in for the night.
