Day 43: Permuteran to Genteng

Goodbye to Bali. We’ve jumped on a ferry and sailed across to Java for the next stage of our journey. 

We also said goodbye to the staff at Pande Guest House who’d been fantastic, from the moment we arrived drenched and dirty two days ago. They hosed us down, gave us a lovely room, organised our snorkeling trip, sent us to a brother’s restaurant for a lovely meal, and a friend’s restaurant for a second lovely meal. 

The ferry was amazing. Buying a ticket wasn’t too hard - we were forewarned about the paperwork to fill in before purchasing a ticket and we only accidentally skipped one step, which we soon corrected. Then we cycled straight up onto the ferry.

The entire straits seemed crammed with ferries - all heading in different directions despite the fact they were all going to the same destination. However, once over the other side, it became clear why. There was a queue to get a dock to offload on, and each captain seemed to have a different strategy to use up the time. It looked like mayhem, but there was probably a plan lurking underneath it all.

We came off the ferry, turned left and headed south west along the main road. We stayed on pretty much the same road all the way to our destination in Genteng.

On the way we passed through the thriving metropolis of Banyuwangi. This gave us an interesting lunch and the surprising revelation that we’d missed the Tour de Banyuwangi by several months. It could have been our own little Tour Down Under.

Genteng is a medium sized town with not a huge amount to recommend it. Sarina did manage to ferret out a very nice restaurant for dinner though. Up a residential street it was set back from the road and served us a lovely dinner for a total of $25 AUD.

It’s noticeable the change from mainly Hindu Bali to mainly Moslem Java. Gone are the temples on every corner and we now see mosques, hijabs and no signs advertising Bintang beer. It’s a great place to cycle though, with all the lorry drivers who’ve been held up by us waiting patiently and then coming past with plenty of clearance. Great to see.