The tales of AIRBNB


    Hello everyone!


    When we first arrived here in Indonesia we were staying in a place called Nusa Dua. Here we were able to catch up on sleep mostly. It has been extremely hard to adjust to the new time zone! We seriously would wake up at 5 am and go to sleep by 6 most nights! We left Nusa Dua exactly one week ago and headed for a Central island town of Ubud. We enjoyed the ride though new places and lots of fun sights. What we did not know is what we were heading toward… Bum Bum Bummm. So a few days ago I started looking for our next place to stay for this week. I found a very nice quiet looking guest house just outside the main area of Ubud. It was very quant with the fundamentals: air conditioning, wifi, and clean. It also had a nice looking little pool and breakfast included. When we arrived a very kind man greeted us with a big smile on his face. But, as we walked through the courtyard entrance we realized we had chosen a once in a lifetime chance to be Mowgli for a week……The area had been unkept for quiet some time and lets just say the pool was no longer blue. As we continued to the room to our surprise the air was working but the free flowing windows that did not close gave it free pass to leave with no remorse for the weary travelers that had just arrived. Just a few other fundamental problems were the already present tenants that would need persuasion to leave from THE MEN IN BLACK. Along with the door did not lock, and the bathroom well, the bathroom was not up to par. SO…. I say to mallory, “what do you think?” Already knowing we were not staying here. As I turned to look at her for the response her eyes said it all!


    I want to stop here to give you a little information about these peoples situation. Covid has hit this beautiful island very hard! The main income for a majority of this island is tourism. So needless to say an overwhelming amount of people here have either lost businesses completely or given up everything to keep them a float. Prices of everything have been cut by almost a third the entire time we have been here just out of there desperation for income. This man was not trying to scam us, put us in a bad situation, or be purposely dishonest, he simply was desperate for income. But with that being said the images and description we booked were not what we got. So after we were able to calm our emotions we had to come up with a new plan. I did not want to hurt this mans feelings, but I also knew I couldn’t let Mallory stay here. So we continued to stay positive and prayed that God would guide us to where we needed to be. We thankfully checked our reservation and it was able to be canceled up to three hours into the stay. We proceeded to cancel and started searching for a new place to stay. 


    We quickly found a place and the owner of the airbnb was able to come get us within 10 minutes! He was so nice and a total God send. We have been staying with him and his family in their guest house and it has been wonderful. He speaks great English, helps us with transport, cooks us breakfast and has shown us some unique experiences here on the Island. We are so grateful for him and his hospitality. Even though our day started out feeling discouraged God provided us with just what we needed! We have learned many lessons and I’m sure will continue to learn more. This is Putu ( in the blue shirt) and his parents, brother, and wife and kids. We had many great conversations with Putu some about Balinese Hinduism and were able to share with him about Jesus! We are sad to be leaving Ubud, but excited to continue on!

        

        - Brandon 






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