Damn Ants

We returned from our river rafting trip, took a cool shower, and dressed.

G-Damn it to hell!!!

P- What's wrong?

G- The freakin ants are in my bag again!! Every day I move my bag and every day I come home to find a stream of tiny ants running to my bag and all inside my bag.

P- What's in the bag? Is there food?

G- There's no food in it.

I took everything out of the bag and turned it inside out and shook it out on the porch. Then I opened my little cosmetic bag that contained some meds, and 4 cough drops, and found hundreds of ants in it. I took everything out of that bag and shook it out on the porch.

P- Don't shake all the ants on the porch!

G- What the hell difference does it make? They're all over the floor in the room. Just step on them.

P- It's the damn cough drops bringing the ants because they're not sealed. Didn't I tell you that yesterday?

G- Well I moved the bag from the floor to the chair. Where am I going to put the cough drops to keep them safe? The whole room is open to wild kingdom!!

P- Put them in a ziploc bag. They need to be in something sealed!

G- I should just throw them away because they've also melted a little, but they are the only 4 cough drops I have and what if I need them.

P- I'll put them in the bag with the medicine bottles.

G- Ugh!!

We headed back to Starbucks to use the internet because we were headed to Lombok (an island off the coast of Bali) and still did not have a place to stay. Many people simply arrive at their destinations and then look for a place to stay, but we find that method stressful. Unfortunately, after searching for hours, we didn't find a place we wanted to book. We did stop at a tour booking business and booked a shuttle from our hotel to Lombok, via the slow ferry, for 130,000 rph/each (about $13.50).

Bo and Laurie met us and we went back to Dewa Warang, that Michael had recommended, for more Cashew Ginger Chicken. We met 2 guys from Holland who would be in Chaing Mai, Thailand in January, so we exchanged information because we'll probably also be there in January and will try to hook up for a drink.

On our way back to the homestay, we continued to use the words that Michael had taught us to stave off the hawkers. I cannot overstate how much these hawkers harass and aggravate. It is not possible to pass a single person on the street, even if they're on the other side of the street, without them asking you if you want a taxi, a moped ride, to buy a sarong or other item, to see a Balinese dance, or to eat at their restaurant. Most of the walk to or from your homestay is filled with telling people 'no, thank you'.

It is positively exhausting. Michael taught us to say sudah sudah(sue-dah') which means already did that or already have that. It is helpful because once you say sudah sudah, they generally don't ask again. To those asking if you want a taxi or moped, you say jalan, jalan which means walking, walking. I have no idea why, and no one can seem to tell me, but they tend to say everything twice..........sudah, suday or jalan, jalan or makan, makan (eat, eat). So far we have smiled and politely said no thank you, because we know the poor people are just trying to make a living and tourists are seen as walking wallets, but we are about over it!

We took another cool shower, opened the windows, pulled the mosquito net and went to sleep. Travel days are exhausting and our shuttle driver was supposed to pick us up at 8:15am.