Flores To Lombok

We got up and went to the port, and bought a ferry/bus/ferry/bus ticket off a couple of men waiting by the office after bargaining with them,%uFFFDwe thought we got a good price .... little did we know. The two%uFFFDmen came on to the ferry and asked if they could check our ticket, they changed the dateand told us not to worry.

After five hours we arrived at%uFFFDSape%uFFFDa port in%uFFFDSumbawa and%uFFFDcrammed on a bus%uFFFDalong with%uFFFDsome chickens and roosters. The man came to check our tickets and didn't notice the date was wrong .%uFFFDThe bus got a flat tire%uFFFDWhich was quite a relief as we were so squashed.%uFFFDEventually we got on our way again and headed for Bima, where we were to meet the bus to take us across Sumbawa and to the port on the other side of the island.%uFFFDSumbawa looked%uFFFDlike laos with lots of mountains and rice fields and small villages it was really beautiful.....then we got ot the bus station.

The office was closed and we were told that the ticket we had was not real and%uFFFDeven if it was the bus wasnt going for two days, as its%uFFFDRamadam and they were all on holiday%uFFFDThey informed us we had bought our ticket from the mafia who are always selling fake tickets. Bima was not a place we wanted to stay two minutes let alone two days. So after complaining bitterly,%uFFFDwe ended up buying another ticket from this man to take us to the Ferry at porto tano

The bus took twelve hours and was jam packed full of people gonig back to their families to celebrate the end of ramadam luckerly we got a seat. In the middle of the night we were awoken by a massive convoy of cars blaring out%uFFFD muslim chants out of large speakers, each cars was done up llike a parade float with fairy lights and%uFFFD shapes of mosques it was an unbelieveable sight, full of energy

We arrived at ponta tano and got on the ferry that would take us back to lombok and then back on the bus to materam.The bus kept having to stop,%uFFFDas the road was full of muslims praying.%uFFFDEach mosque, and there was%uFFFDmany, was over flowing and people were sat on prayer mats all over the road.%uFFFDWe got to materam and took a public beemo to pemanang and then a horse and cart took us to bangsar. What a journey it was very long and %uFFFDtiring and many people tried and some suceeded in%uFFFDriping us%uFFFDoff, but we saw some amazing sites%uFFFDthat will stick in our minds forever.%uFFFD