Our next destination was: Borobudur, Java. It was 400 miles, two islands, and two ocean channels away. I wanted to get to Bali’s main bus terminal (in Denpasar) by afternoon. Then get on a 1st-class long distance bus from there to Jogja, Java (estimated 16hr ride) and then another bus from Jogja to Borobudur (estimated 1hr ride). Overall, I estimated we’d be in Borobudur by tomorrow afternoon.
We needed to be at the Perama office by 9am. We got there a few minutes late, and there’s only one boat per day. So they stopped the boat and ferried us over. We made it. We went from Sengiggi, Lombok to Padangbai, Bali.
Three hours later we’re in Padangbai. I used the bathroom and the bus almost left. But Jameelah told them to hold. We took the bus from Padangbai to Sanur near the main bus terminal. We took a no-door taxi van from Sanur to the main bus terminal in Denpasar.
We were promptly hussled for a “first-class” bus to Jogjakarta, Java–20 miles from Borobudur. The guidebook estimated 16hrs for the trip from Denpasar to Jogja.
The bus company paid a taxi to take us to our bus–on the side of the road a few blocks away. This was odd and not a good sign. Lots of young, blue-collared men entered the bus. This was odd, too. Why would low-income men pay for 1st-class long distance? These kind of guys would take 2nd or 3rd class to save money. It was another bad sign. We were the only non-Indonesia people on the bus–another bad sign. There were only two women, one child, and one white-collared man on the bus–for a “first-class” long distance bus, this rider makeup was unusual.
The air conditioning was pathetic. The seating was cramped. This did not feel first class at all.
The bus driver hauled butt to the Bali-Java border. There were numerous buses waiting to cross the channel. The bus driver parked behind a mass of buses and said it’d be a three-hour wait.
The bus driver’s lackey asked us if we were American. We played dumb and avoided answering. We walked away from our bus and sat near some concession stands. We wandered around the dim dock–killing time.
Three hours later we and our bus boarded the ferry. We went up to the top floor of the ferry. It was a peaceful interlude.