We had a lovely trip back to Bali from Lombok on the slow boat which was very relaxing. We opted this time for the air conditioned section which cost us each $7.50 for the 4 1/2 hour trip.
Even though Lombok and Bali are so close the difference is enormous with Bali being much busier and more affluent even up on the east coast where we are.
A lot of transport on Lombok is by horse and cart
or by bemos (very small buses with bench seating
along each side of the vehicle. We didn’t use these as we would have to fold ourselves in half to get into them and sit with our legs around our heads. 
Worksafe would love to see this truck on Lombok!
The main tourist area of Candi Dasa is along one main street and there are a lot of restaurants all touting for businesss. There doesn’t appear to be many tourists here but quite a bit of traffic up and down the main road which is used by noisy motorbikes and large trucks.Our little hotel with about 10 rooms is again right on the beach
and away from the street noise. We managed to get to the shops to
buy some tonic to have with our gin every night. There is an abundance of fresh fish and seafood here so that is what we have been eating. Our friend Gustu (the ex Qantas manager) is managing a hotel up here so we will catch up with him in the next few days. I also want to go up to the botanical gardens near here which are supposed to be beautiful and the temple gardens at Mengwi.