The first and only time we ever got scammed in bad way, was when we arrived on the island Lombok, Indonesia in December 2013. We booked a trip from Kuta Bali to Kuta Lombok, which included the pick up at our accommodation, the ferry to Lombok, and the pick up at the ferry in Lombok to get us to Kuta, which was like an hour drive if I remember correctly.
The driver told us we would need to pick up two more tourists on the way, which wasn´t really a problem for us. We drove like half an hour and ended up in the middle of nowhere. There was nothing besides a few shops and the driver told us to take a seat at one of those plastic tables to wait for the other two.
After we´ve been waiting for like 45 minutes and started to get impatient, we got told that the other two won´t come and we would have to pay a lot more money to our driver so he would get us to Kuta, otherwise he would just leave us here.
Fuck no!
I mean I always give good tips, especially in poor areas, but getting scammed for my money in such a rude way? My Ego went crazy and we started arguing wildly with him -which is never a good idea in Asian countries- for like 10 minutes, before he just left.
Well… fuck!
We had no idea were we where and nobody around spoke a single word of English. Vivian and I were absolutely terrified for a while but decided to keep our shit together and thought it´s probably best to wait right where we are.
We´ve been waiting for another hour, when a Rasta looking dude approached us in broken English: “Kuta Lombok?”
Devastated and in the worst mood but now willing to pay any price to finally get to the south of Lombok I just asked:
“How much?”
- “Oh no no you already pay, come on friend”
Sceptical but with no other choice we went to his car, which was a different one then the one before. During the ride he was very friendly, offered us cigarettes, and was blasting reggae tunes. I still couldn´t trust the situation but in the end he really got us to our destination.
At least we were lucky enough to find a really nice accommodation after only 10 minutes, that fitted our budget. Breakfast was included and also a pool.
The next day we decided to rent a bike to discover the island and the beaches. The island and nature it self was so beautiful and breathtaking. Very scenic drive and perfect weather that day.
After driving for 15 minutes we realized that the fuel gauge must have been broken, because the bike went out while we where driving up a really steep hill.
Luckily we just rolled back down to find one of those little side shacks, where they sell gas in old Coca Cola bottles.
The beaches were absolutely wonderful and only very few people around.
Besides of the bad experience Kuta Lombok was a really nice place. It was still very undeveloped and only very few tourists around.
I really hope you enjoyed the story and pictures!
Thanks for your support ;-)
-Marcel