When I get asked what my most memorable travel experience was, there is no doubt that I tell the same story every time. So, grab your popcorn and find a comfy seat as I tell you all about the time I got stranded on an island.
It all started when my dad had planned a birthday trip to Lombok, Indonesia for my mom’s 40th birthday. For the first few days, everything went great. We would have barbecue nights on the porch of our hotel room with family friends who came along on the trip, laughing for hours, swapping funny stories and slurping hot cups of instant noodles while the resident gecko chirped along in the background.
Then, out of nowhere, things took a wild turn. One sunny afternoon, my brother and I were hanging out in the hotel pool, when suddenly, we noticed smoke slowly filling up the sky. People around us started heading inside, and soon enough, our dad told us to get out of the pool too. It turns out, the nearby volcano—Mount Agung, was about to erupt.
Terrified, we all took shelter back in our hotel rooms as the skies were getting hazy and the air started to smell smoky. From a distance, we could see the volcano with dark smoke surrounding it. To make things worse, we had planned to fly home the next day, but our airline started sending notifications saying our flight would be delayed indefinitely due to the volcanic ash in the air.
Not knowing when we would even be able to leave this place, my dad had to check the airline’s status every morning. At first, we thought it was just a waiting game, but soon it became clear that our airline wasn’t exactly being honest with us. Other airlines had already started flying, but ours kept holding off without any real reason. After three days of waiting, we decided to switch hotels since the resort we were staying at was pretty luxurious, and we needed a more budget-friendly option.
My parents found a decent-looking hotel nearby online, but you know what they say about trusting online photos. We checked out of our original hotel and hopped into a cab, heading to our new hotel. Lo and behold, it was nothing like the photos. In fact, there were banners outside indicating that the place was about to close down from bankruptcy. With no choice, we went in anyways.
The receptionist led us to our room, and it was the most rundown hotel room I had ever seen. The walls were peeling, the air conditioner had been ripped out of the wall, and a lizard was crawling on the ceiling. My mom wasn’t having it—especially since they had advertised a completely different room online. After a long complaint session, they finally moved us to their “VIP room”, which was significantly better and even came with complimentary massages as an apology.
After two more days of waiting, we finally managed to get flights home with another airline. The delay meant I had to miss my school award ceremony, but after the stress and uncertainty, I was just relieved to be back home safely. It’s safe to say this trip is my most memorable one, and I doubt anything else will ever top it.
Words by Nastassja Kate Lim
Featured image courtesy of Benjamin Voros via Unsplash. No changes have been made to this image. Image license found here.