One of my favourites came to be a band which played in the 'Sama Sama Reggae Bar'. ['Thank you' in Indonesian is 'Terih makasih', to which they say 'sama sama' which means 'you're welcome'....]
The waiters at this bar were really funny and really relaxed, (i'm not sure how much of that was due to the large amounts of pot they smoked) and i got to know them over the days i went there.. beers were expensive, weighing in at 37,000 IDR per 500ml bottle (£2.68) so it was very easy to blow half your days budget when you were there for their entire set, which finished about 02.30 every morning..
...unfortunately, i tend to leave things when ive had a few drinks... i've left after nights out in London several times leaving my suit jacket, coat and bag in the middle of winter (usually when i get to 'I need my bed' stage of the evening).... so i made it a point never to take my camera on evenings out, so have no photos of this band....
I lucked out a bit with the accomodation here. It was £10 a night and had a clean bathroom but was dark and i found out there was a mosque right behind it when i was woken up by 06.00am call to prayers on my first day there....they were also building 2 new stories to the mosque, so on saturday, after being woken up for the call to prayers, i was woken up again by what sounded like some football match going on... this turned out to be the indonesian work men putting up bamboo scaffolding.. and these are probably the nosiest workmen i'd ever heard...i crawled out of bed with huge bags ubder my eyes and made my way to the 'Egoiste' cafe to have my full english breakfast, which despite the chicken sausage always left me feeling half human again...[Brucey, you'll be glad to know, this wasn't my usual Lewisham Greasy Spoon but a swanky cafe on the beach - it still cost only £4.50 though ;) ]
Anyway, after several days of blowing my daily budget and getting woken up at 06.00am, i was well and truly pooped, so decided to go to Gili Air.
Gili Air is smaller and much quieter than Gili T. I met a german couple in Bali who recommended it, so i thought id try it out for a day or two. I was a bit weary as what suits couples doesn't necessarily suit singles like me, (who need livelier places in order to meet people etc)..
but i took the island hopping boat service anyway, which cost £2.50 one way..
This was a wooden boat, with a single out board motor, no ship to shore radio and no life jackets ! I was glad when we got to Gili Air...
Some of the other tourists didnt look comfortable either ..
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