May 11th: Mataram to Lembar – 24 km; Slow Ferry from Lembar to Padangbai
Day 210
Knowing we had a short day ahead, we made leisurley start and caught the 9:30am ferry back to Bali. Nothing changed. Same 5-hour ferry ride back to the same hotel we stayed at as we came in. We were to meet Marco as well and we also tried to have him crash on our floor but the hotel owner wasn’t having it.
Marco, whom we met on Gili Meno was flying out from Bali to Darwin on the same day. Surprising that on such a tiny island we would meet some one following the same route. Although we were on the same route and both pedaling, Marco was traveling in a much different style. Even at 25 USD per day as our total budget, we are considered high end budget and Marco is travelling on super low budget. We were impressed with the amount of Indonesian that he had learned and which he utilized to find some impressive bargains, even in some of the most touristy areas. While we stayed for 150,000 IDR, he would find a place for 50,000 IDR, with breakfast. He did confess that he drives a hard bargain and enjoys doing it. He also travels quite fast and made the same trip that we made in two days in one day. But since he is traveling alone, even traveling slow is worth the company and we agreed to head back to Kuta together the following day.
