Lombok Style

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June 17th 2007

Published: September 24th 2007

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JenGui

Kuta, Lombok

Our first stop at a Lombok beach...and we looooooooooved it.

The public ferry to Lombok is a very interesting thing indeed. There we were, the 6 of us, packed into the ferry amongst the locals who were, as always, smoking like a bunch of little chimneys. Next to where we were sitting in the boat there were rows upon rows of huge communal mattresses. Indonesians, as Guillaume had described in the previous blog, have this amazing skills of being able to fall asleep anywhere at any time. It's remarkable, really. So we watched as they loaded up onto these mattresses, snuggled up with the stranger next to them, and slipped into a peaceful sleep for the remainder of the trip.
It was about at this very moment when Guillaume came to the conclusion that his good friend, Marc-Antoine, is not fully human...but rather a half human, half wizard. He came to this conclusion after Marc-Antoine had succeeded to win the game Mastermind, three times in a row...ALL on the second guess!
Spooky.
Guillaume was sure that Noemi was in kahoots and was giving Bro the old baseball signals, but she assured him that it was not the case and that Bro is indeed a wizard.
When we arrived in Lombok we

Stray Dog

that guillaume took a liking to on Mawan beach.

were quickly greeted by many people who were offering to drive us to our destination. That was the great thing about travelling in a group, we could afford to charter a minibus for the 6 of us and share the cost which ended up being cheaper than we would pay at home, though more expensive than public transport in Inodnesia and much faster. Seeing as how our friends were only staying for three weeks we had alot of ground to cover so it always ended up being a private minibus for us.
We got the driver to take us to Kuta, Lombok, on the southern coast of the island. It is a popular haven for surfers and beach bums alike. The coast and beaches around there are phenomenal.
We rented motorbikes one day and drove around to a beach called Mawan that was very impressive and completely deserted. Just how we like our beaches.
On our way back to Kuta, we stopped at a lovely gem of a resaurant called Astari. It has the most amazing location, perched untop of a hill that overlooks the coast and beaches that are scattered about the area.
They also serve incredible vegetarian sandwiches

Motor Heads

Thats right...we have a need for speed....actually we dont but it LOOKS like we might.

and brownies...need I say more?
Its the most perfect place to chill out, with funky tunes, many magazines to flip through, comfy floor cushions and a cool breeze coming in through the open doors.
The few days that we spent there are sort of a blur of motorbikes, eating fresh grilled fish, exploring beaches, returning to Astari a few more times, and chatting with the local surfers while watching their homemade surf videos.
From Kuta we travelled North to the town of Tetebatu. A nice little village surrounded by rice and tobacco fields with the great Gunung Rinjani watching us from a distance.
Guillaume and I stayed in a supercute little bungalow that used to be a storage house for rice.
We took a guided walking tour of the area during one afternoon. Our guide, Ron, showed us all of the lovely spices that they grow locally (vanilla, cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg, cloves, coffee and cocao)..lucky buggers!
It was a very informative afternoon, we learnt alot about the villagers and how the crops are grown. And Ron was highly entertaining from beginning (when he insisted on collecting a massive spider from the tree so that we could get a closer

Totally Chilled Out

At the Astari restaurant.

look) to end (when he jumped into a tree and climbed up high to fetch some fresh nutmeg for our friends to take home with them).
This is where Guillaume and I disovered our love for the deliciously fresh Lombok Kopi (coffee).
As a group we decided that while we were trying to get some more info about the Rinjani trek and waiting for the weather to clear up we may well do so while chilling out on a tropical island.
So we headed off to the Gili Islands with a stop on the way in some traditional weaving villages. We watched the ladies making the intricate designs which take a reeeeeally long time to make.Then the guide dressed us all up in traditional wedding costumes with our boyfriends.
Our first stop of the Gili Islands was Gili Air, standing inbetween the other two, having more tourist infrastructure than Gili Meno....with less of a psychotic party scene than Gili Trawangan.
It was definately going to be a time to relax and get away from the rest of the Indonesian mayhem. They dont even allow vehicles on the islands, just bicycles and horse drawn carts.
We stayed a few days and

Beach Exploring

Go team!

really took advantage of being there. We did a full day snorkelling tour of the three islands on the most outstanding GLASS BOTTOM BOAT.
It was really great, we got to see alot of great sea critters; turtles, huge fish and a shark that the guide saw swim behind me.
It was a really lovely day aside from when the guide dropped us all off into jellyfish infested waters and we got stung all over our bodies.
Dinners were always good to us on Gili Air; fresh grilled fish meal (for about $3) with icy cold Bintang beers on the beach.
On this island is actually where Vince recieved two great nicknames from the locals, one which will stick forever....
Noodle head....and Beans.
Good old Beans....are you singing the ice cream song now, with as much gusto as we have in our memories?
After chilling out there for a few days and succeeding to cut a deal with a local for the Rinjani trek...
we agreed to check out the scene on the infamous....Gili Trawangan. Known for its wild mushroom parties and hungover foreigners.
Goody.
It was a totally different vibe than Gili Air...different planet altogether maybe.
It was very

Teeny Weeny

Oh my..have you EVER seen a pineapple of this size before?

built up; posh multi-level restaurants, pumping discotheques and good old english pubs in the sand.
It was not quite our scene but we had a good time nonetheless.
Gili Trawangan has a certain feeling to it....easily described as a tropical, third-world version of Saint Catherine/Saint Laurent.
It had a real seedy air about the place. With everyone and their grandmothers trying to sell mushrooms and pot on the sidewalk. Not only them..but every restaurant in town advertised their "bloody fresh magic mushrooms" outside on a chalkboard.
We did indulge a bit (on food and drinks, I mean) and let ourselves order many cocktails (Arak Attack to be exact) and lots of western food. Our budget was definately busted on that island.
Another fun drug-free activity was to rent bicycles and ride to the western part of the island to check out the sunset...and it was so lovely.
During one night someone walked into our hotel room while we were in it. We werent quite sure if it was a doped up tourist mistaking our room for his or a sneaky local trying to break into our room while he thought we were out getting doped up.
It was not our

View from Astari

Not at bad view at all.

most favorite place to be but we have fun anywhere we go and Gili "Tra-la-la" was no exception.
When we left it was time to start our Rinjani trek. But first we had to get to the town of Senaru where the trek would begin.
We were met at the Bangsal Harbour by a man named Harry who was the puppetmaster of all things TREKKING in Rinjani....he seemed to us to be like the Donald Trump of Senaru....he owned the restaurant, the hotel and the trek company.
We were so blind to the obvious foreshadowing thrown in our faces, when we ate lunch at Harry's restaurant and we discovered a dead bird on the floor under a table and the cook just picked it up with his hands and threw it out the window and continued to cook our meals.
Then Harry showed us to our rooms which we would sleep in before we started our trek the next morning...and Guillaume tried to turn on the water and the tap fell off in his hands, which proceeded in having water spray all over the bathroom which Guillaume then turned around, slipped on the water and fell, landing ever so UNgracefully,

The good laugh

on the disgusting bathroom floor.
That afternoon things got a bit better....we took a walk to the most impressive waterfall that i have ever seen in my life.
Maybe it was full of locals having their weekly bath, and maybe it wasnt so tall or beautiful...
but it was truly all about the moment that we arrived...
the clouds were just parting in a manner that leaked a sliver of sunshine in through the mist lacing the swimming hole which inturn led to a rainbow...connecting into a perfect circle.
Something that i wasnt sure even exsisted. we saw both ends of the rainbow and no end to the rainbow...
and in the centre..when i looked up...
was my darling Guillaume. COULD THAT BE ANY MORE MAGICAL?!??!?!
I dont really think so.
After those few minutes of heaven, we left and headed down to the town centre of Senaru...because we heard that it was Sunday...and on Sunday they hold their Weekly STICK FIGHTING MATCHES!
Ya..i said stick fighting.
It was a strange and exciting event to witness.
Crowds of people anxiously waiting around....
and in the middle, two young men equipped with a wooden shield and a stick.
The goal is

Walking through Tobacco Fields

in Tetebatu

to hit the opponent with the stick until one person is bleeding from the HEAD and he is the loser...obviously.
So we got arrived in time to watch about three matches and they were brutal, and violent and intense.
And to go along with it a gamelan band sitting off to the side of the fighting ring, pounding out that eerie and beautiful music, making things just that much more intense.
We went back to Harrys restaurant/pet cemetary for dinner and had a fun time swatting the bugs out of our faces while trying to shove the unappetising food into our mouths so that we could just go to sleep and wake up the next day to start the exciting ascent of the glorious Mount Rinjani.

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