Why does it always rain on me?

If there's one theme in our stories from Indonesia, it must be that things never run perfectly smoothly. That rule was in full effect during our trip to Gili Trawangan.

We stayed at Hotel Vila Ombak; probably the nicest hotel on the island. They had just finished a row of new cottage rooms a month before and we were in one of those. It was a nice place with a good pool and definitely a step above the backpacker dives for $10 a night.



But then it rained. While we were sleeping on our first night, we heard the rain pouring...into our room. It seems in their rush to finish construction, they neglected a few details. By morning, the curtains were dripping water and anything we set close to the walls was soaked.

We moved to the room above us the next night and later figured out why our room had flooded. On the balcony to the upstairs room, several inches of water pooled and drained into the room below. (We noticed that after we moved, a new couple immediately moved in below....'cause that makes a lot more sense than fixing the problem....)

But there's more. Because it was New Year's Eve, the hotel organized a huge party and built a stage over the ocean and several huge tents to cover the seating on the beach. The dinner was compulsory and overpriced, but we figured it would still be fun.

But then it rained. The roof they built started leaking. And then water started pouring through and onto the tables. Tablecloths were soaked and water glasses were being filled by rain, yet the waiters were still bringing people to these tables, saying "Here is your table, sir".

And then the roof collapsed. Not the whole thing, but it collapsed onto the table next to us. We thought about making a run for it, but decided that the rest would hold after they started cutting holes to let water drain through the roof. So we grabbed our umbrella and stood in the buffet line to get their crappy food (we found much better food under one of the other tents after we were already full).

But here's my favorite part. They brought a famous Indonesian DJ to perform, and all the kids who never drink came over from the main island. Because the ferry boats going back didn't return until the morning the party kept going all night. Or at least the music did. Our room's thatch walls didn't block the sound, so it sounded like we were inside a club. At around 2 am, we put in ear plugs and tried to sleep. When the music finally stopped at 9 in the morning, I said to Hillary, "I'm not sure I can go back to sleep now that it's so quiet." Luckily right then, construction started up next door!