Make good time and cover the 50K or so to Pemuteran by lunchtime, Introduce ourselves to the Japanese diving operation we're booked with tomorrow (Mimpi) and start looking for a bed. It's high season and everywhere is full unless we want to pay $150 a night (being the cheapest room at the 5* place we're diving with) Surely we can do better. Lost count of the hotels & homestays we asked in a 5K stretch. Give up resigned to spending a fortune we head back to the Mimpi when spy a sign, Good Indonesian Food, Rooms, Aircon, Bakpakker prices. He has a room only 150000 rupiah (about £10). Seems a friendly enough chap, used to run a dive centre, we agree to the room. Eurghhh within a minute we are both scratching. Still, a bed's a bed...
Not wishing to stay any longer than we have to, head back to town to check out the 1/2 dozen dive centres we'd seen en route for some job prospecting. Bit of research on the internet first find a Brit and an Ozzie - start with the Brit. Paul Turley runs Sea Rovers out of the Adi Assri Hotel. Very helpful Geordie gave us plenty of info over a cup of tea. Then onwards to the Ozzie as it's approaching beer o'clock. Chris Brown runs a very conservation aware outfit called Reef Seen Aquatics. He makes us welcome and we sample local brew (Storm) accompanied by oysters as tonight the pearl farmers are doing a promotion. He asks where we are staying. With slightly scrunched up noses we confess. He says sorry but he's full. Then asks are we divers. Of course (smile, grin, eyelash flutter etc) Magically now he has a room, 150000 rupiah and you have to go across the courtyard for the loo. It's clean and fresh. Done deal. All we have to do now is retrieve our luggage from the other place. Adrian sups the local brew while Amanda does the dirty deed.
And so we slept well dreaming of diving...
Not much communication from the divemasters at Mimpi as our gear is taken to the boat (they have't actually asked to see out cert cards yet) and we make for Menjangan Island. Two very relaxed beautiful dives punctuated by a fine nasi campur packed in neat laquer lunchbox. See pygmy sea-horse, ornate ghost pipefish, selection of nudis, scorpionfish, lionfish, great cuttlefish and lots of other fishy stuff in a balmy 27C.
Back to town where we can now stay at the tailors mates place for the next couple of nights. Phew!
Margaret is right - hello Margaret by the way, you should sooo write a book or article for the papers. I laughed out loud when I read the last 2 entries. It was if I was there with you, though, obviously not the flea ridden bed bit euwgh!
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