Hi Gram,
Today is the day! We decided to get back to Ubud today after having spent the past week on the islands. I woke just before my alarm went off and dealt with some emails and paperwork to make use of the time zone overlap. After getting some business done, I met Dash near the reception area for breakfast. We enjoyed another round of pancakes as we did the day before and this time I ordered coffee so David could have mine. We’re so sneaky, right? We had a little time before we had to leave, so I went back to my cabana and took my time packing. David texted to let me know they were ready to check us out and get our boat tickets, so I grabbed my gear and headed up.

It was a short walk to the beach where we’d be catching our boat and we found we’d gotten there early. Ashley watched the bags while David and I headed over to grab drinks. We had barely gotten our drinks – his hot tea with a lid that didn’t fit and my iced tea with no lid at all – when Ashley texted to let us know they had loaded our luggage and she was walking to the boat. Panicked that we were going to miss it, we ran to the boat!… only to find a crowd standing there waiting. And waiting. A crew member finally came out and told us to stand in the shade because the boat would be delayed another 15 minutes. I couldn’t tell whether they were fueling or what, but they scrambled around a bit then came to start loading passengers after about 20 minutes. Each set of passengers had a different color lift ticket, and the other colors seemed to be a higher priority. They came to tell us that the boat was full, but not to worry – they had called another boat to come get the rest of us. I just pictured my luggage going to another island and setting on a dock somewhere while I stayed behind. That wasn’t how this day was going to go! After a quick discussion to determine whether they would offload our luggage – which were some of the first bags loaded – or find a way to fit us on the boat, they quickly found three more seats. I didn’t demand that we get to board that first boat like a spoiled tourist. I just insisted on my luggage staying with me. I didn’t want to have one of those stories that includes the phrase “…and there I was in a foreign country with nothing to my name except the clothes on my back…” The boat was fast and the seas were calm, so very soon we were climbing back off the boat and collecting our luggage.

We got to the curb of the boat terminal to negotiate a ride and found two things. First, they don’t allow Grab or Gojek drivers near the terminal – taxis only. Second, the taxi drivers all ask way too much for a ride anywhere. Our plan was to go get a charger for my laptop at a store a few kilometers away and they were asking 400,000 IDR (about $25). We opted to walk to a nearby restaurant to have some lunch and assess our options. Lunch turned out to be big sloppy burgers for Dash and a delicious messy hot dog for me. It was probably one of my favorite meals of the past week and really hit the spot. After lunch, we walked to the end of the boat terminal driveway and ordered a Grab car which, no surprise, cost much less, around 60,000 IDR. He dropped us at the Apple authorized (?) reseller who tested my charger, told me it was no good (duh) and sold me a replacement. I’m glad that apple chargers have interchangeable wall adapters. I now had a two-pin adapter that I could use while traveling and I could swap back to my US adapter when I returned to the states.

With that settled, we ordered another Grab car who arrived a few minutes later. The drive to Ubud was uneventful and quick but let me tell you, it felt so good to be back in a place that felt familiar! We checked into our guesthouse quickly and were shown to our rooms. Breakfast is included, so we chose what we would want the next morning from their menu. We then went our separate ways to unpack and get cleaned up. I took a little nap and chilled for a bit, then the three of us went across the street to Nourish cafe, a spot we’d eaten at before with a great view of the rice paddies. Of course, it was dark so we didn’t get the view but the food was as we remembered. After grabbing a couple items from the Cocomart, we got back to the guesthouse, all went to our separate rooms where I surfed the web for a little bit, then went to sleep.