We had to leave today as Pupi had to be in work on Monday. Packed and had a late breakfast, then organized our tickets.

At 1:00 took a taxi to Depensar where we checked out the bus station. We had a couple of hours to kill--the bus wasn't leaving until 3:30, so we stuffed our bags into a locker and took a passing bemo to the traditional fruit market.

This was a dark hot indoor market containing closely-packed stalls which had nearly every variety of fresh fruit you could think of on display--and that was only the ground floor. Upstairs was rice and many different kinds of spices. The ground floor also contained a large variety of the offerings placed before the temples, as well as joss sticks.

Hot bored-looking vendors, all women on the ground floor, exhorted us to buy their produce. Several women "attached" themselves to us as "guides", but though we made it clear that we didn't want any--Pupi knew her way around the market, one of them could not be shaken off, and eventually drove us batty with her comments, so we had to leave.

Took a taxi back to the bus station, and it good that we weren't stuck for time, because although we had the exact address with us, the taxi driver couldn't find it. After driving around for 20 minutes we spotted some shops we recognized and were able to direct him from there.

I grabbed a quick coffee at a nearby cafe--I was beginning to feel drowsy in the heat, while Pupi took care of the bags. Then we were off, once again covering the tortuous roads through the mountains of central Bali.

It was dark by the time we reached the port, and the bus had to wait for about an hour for the ferry to arrive. On the boat I went for a ramble and a pee. At a food counter where I bought some pot noodles got into conversation with a Chinese girl who lived in Singapore. She warned me to beware of the thieves in Surabaya, saying that they were sometimes in collusion with the hotel staff. She painted a pretty gloomy picture of the place (which, apart from the bit about the thieves, turned out to be not far wrong). The main attraction on this deck, which contained seats, was a chap hawking money-belts which could double as a cap, a scarf, a belt and a vast number of other items, all of which he displayed, to the amusement of his captive audience.

At the train station at the other side we still had half an hour to kill, which we spent in the VIP waiting room. On the train we were provided with blankets and a pillow, then with water and a small meal--most people chose the ubiquitous Nasi Goreng. Slept fitfully, reading Paul Theroux whenever I woke up.