After an early morning walk through the jungle, I packed and took the boat across the river to Mama Chop Restaurant. Breakfast concluded, those of us catching a shuttle bus chugged up the steep hill for the bus stop. At that moment, I was envious of those with wheelies!
My first shuttle left at 10:00 for the jetty where this portion of the adventure began. I was able to sit up front so had ample leg room and a great view of the road ahead. Animal crossings here are different than those in the US. Within a few miles, we saw a wild boar cross the road just in front of us. A few miles later, it was a monkey with her infant clinging to her body. A few miles later, we left the forest for the land that’s been cleared and planted for palm oil production. Miles and miles of perfectly lined up trees are certainly no substitute for real jungle!
The next shuttle was absolutely full. Because they were fully loaded and my pack was the last one to be put on, I was put up front once again but with both my loaded backpack and my travel pack. Normally that would have left me with a lot of space but this was a bench seat with a short driver. My knees were up against the dash for the next three hours!
Travel paths already crossing, I saw familiar faces at the jetty and two of them got on the shuttle with me, Zoe and Luke from Australia who started a “round the world” trip November 30th. We are staying at the same location in Tanah Lot. So much for reservations as my confirmation for a room disappeared. Fortunately, they had two beds left and I got one of them in the dorm.
Tomorrow, I’ll hook up with Zoe and Luke for a hike to one of the Tea Plantations, to one of the highest peak in the area (they hope to continue on up to the highest), a visit to the moss forest, and a return for lunch. I’m already spoiled as I found a wonderful Indian food restaurant tonight and may not want to wander off to another tomorrow? I think I’ll have a breakfast to load up before going hiking!
I’m learning about photo’s and haven’t been changing them to the proper size so they are taking forever to load. I’ll work on that and get some posted. Lots of stories floating through my head that I’ll post when I settle a bit more.
Angels keep showing up along my path! I think of something that would be nice to know or have help with and POOF, someone shows up. It happened moments ago when Christian and I were visiting and I told him about my website. His occupation: developing websites. He came over and gave me a couple tips for things I’ve spent the past month and a half trying to figure out! More stores like that coming soon.
I’ve also had a couple questions about MYR (Malaysian Ringit) and how they translate compared to US dollars. I’ll take a couple photo’s of bills that are common and share various expenses so you can get an idea.
Cheers for now!