We've just completed the descend from the Mt Rinjani; Since it's not so often that they get to have long leaves from work, and consequently trips to outside the country, they decided to spend the night in any convenient beach in Lombok.
The preference was for Gili islands but due to the ferry times, and the distance of the pier from the airport, it doesn't seem to be a feasible option.
We then asked around for Kuta beach, and it seems it is that closest to the airport. I have planned on getting to this beach too anyway.
The local staff from the Agency were telling us that after they drop us in Mataram, we will have to hire a private car to drop us to Kuta beach. They said the normal rate is 150,000-200,000 but since it is late, it may be somewhere around 250-300,000.
The driver of the car who'll drop us to Mataram said he has a friend in Mataram who can service us. He gave him a call, and was asking for 350,000.
When we reached Senggigi to get our climb completion certificate, we asked that we eat first as we are starving and the winding roads from Senaru to Senggigi, and an emty stomach made me puke already.
We took the chance to ask around too for asking prices for being dropped from Mataram to Kuta beach and from there they were asking for 600. We then thought 350K was a good price.
So after dinner, it was about 10 o'clock, we moved to Mataram. The guy was already waiting for us, and from his words, he seemed really hospitable. He asked if we have booked any room already, which is negative, and he volunteered to help us find one.
Everybody's tired and fallen asleep.
Then, we were awakened when we stopped by a guesthouse. We had to get to about 4 guesthouses before finding one.
We ended up with Chili Homestay which, this guy said and the owner confirmed, is his friend.
We lifted our bags and gave him 350. One of our folks handed me the 350 (which we'll divide equally later) and I checked and confirmed he handed 350 indeed. 3 bills of the same color and another different.
We asked for some coffee, and proceeded with calculating and dividing our costs.
After about 20 mins, same car guy went back and claiming we gave him the wrong amount. He said one of the 100s (thousands) is 10,000 and the 50 thousand is 5000.
I knew we gave the right amount so told him to wait while waiting for that folk who gave out the money (as he is in the toilet at the moment).
While waiting for him to come out, I tried to recall, and asked the rest of the folks if anyone checked the money.
Adrian, our friend who gave out the money, came out and I told him about what this guy was claiming. To verify things, we checked how much he'd shed so far from the 100USD we exchanged at our arrival. It seems it is correct.
We told the guy about our conclusion, and he was insisting it was wrong. He even had the guts to claim that apart from the 350K, he mentioned about an extra 50,000 for the driver.
It was very late, almost midnight, we're very tired, and did not want to stress ourselves further for an extra $12. We just gave the money away. We took the 15,000 and gave him another 150000.
And this guy's really funny, he still asked if we're forgetting about the 50,000 extra which I refuse to give out further.
This post is part of the #limbonisASIA trip. See here for detailed expenses and more info
This post is part of the #limbonisASIA trip. See here for detailed expenses and more info
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