"From Bamboo Squalor to Mountain Delights - Day 4 of the Family Road Trip From H___!"

After all the hardships we had endured thus far throughout our little Lombok road trip, believe me when I say that we didn't even mind sleeping four-in-a-bed in a primitive bamboo structure, in a parking lot in Kuta.  No biggie.

Of course the bar next door helped, as did the two Mojito's the husband brought back for us to sip on our 'front porch' after the children had fallen asleep and we silently watched the steady stream of traffic go by.

We'd gone up and down the strip for ages and literally NO WHERE had any vacancies except for one scary place at the end of the beach, which looked like the scene of a horror flick.

Grabbing what was definitely the last available bed in town was a coup by anyones standards, and we were still buzzing from the high of having been rescued from a potential roadside slumber after our double tired disaster just a few hours earlier.

After a most unpleasant sleep (I burrowed myself somewhere near the bottom of the bed) I awoke to find the husband ill from the night before.  Apparently he'd not just returned our empty glasses to the bar next door after I went to bed, he'd also added a few more of his own.  Oops.  Cue killer hangover the next morning and a flustered wife marching up and down the still-sleeping main drag trying to procure Panadol (the famous 'period pain' remedy) for the husband.  He'll never learn.

Soon though, the reality of sleeping in a glorified parking lot got the better of the husband, and he somehow forced himself up and back on the road again we went.

Our tenacity was to be rewarded later that day as, after an uneventful day of driving and NO VOMITING, we pulled into the glorious Rinjani mountain resort.  The husband earned back his place back in our good books after procuring the most amazingly beautiful hotel room perched on the side of the mountain with views to literally die for.  We were once again happy.  Sipping tea as the sun when down, we sighed and gazed contentedly at each other.  

I was so grateful for our good fortune that I gave the husband permission to go off the next morning on a five and a half hour trek while I manned the monsters (not as easy as you might think given no telly, no guard rails to keep them from falling off the side of the mountain, and some contraband sweets they managed to find which made it impossible for them to not try doing the former.)

At one point I found Dumpie trying out a gymnastics move on two bars, hanging precariously like a monkey on the only things keeping him from certain death if he fell.  Racing towards him he jumped off and started climbing upwards, forcing me into an ant colony which soon had me hopping up and down in pain as I got bitten and tried yell-whispering  "Dumpie! Get down!  Get down now!' to no avail."  It no doubt made for great entertainment for the rather staid German family staying in the villa next door.

Never mind.  The husband eventually returned, having decided against taking the 3 day/2 night summit trek thank goodness, and we jumped back into our car and took off for the ferry port.

Gili Islands here we come!  (Queue huge sigh of relief as departing Lombok...)