Indonesian Islands

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After a few major essays on our blog, we've tried to keep this one as short as possible. This entry is also about our island hopping around Indonesia, so we have to admit that we haven't really been doing much... After all that early-morning volcano climbing in Java, we thought we were due a bit of R&R! We crossed from Java to Bali and did a circular trip to the Gili islands and down to southern Lombok before returning to Bali, ready to fly on to the Philippines.

We arrived in Bali by car ferry from Banyuwangi and our bus dropped us outside the capital, Denpasar. From here we taxied our way through the dense traffic to Ubud, known for being the cultural centre of the island. We had booked into a traditional Balinese homestay and the family were really friendly, bringing us fresh fruit and coffee every morning on our terrace.

Ubud felt a world away from Java...the main street is filled with boutique shops, individual cafes and art galleries, but the influx of mass tourism means that it was absolutely heaving with western tourists during the middle of the day and local men were constantly asking if you needed a taxi, special price. We found it best to escape onto the quieter back streets and out into the picturesque rice paddies. Life slowed down once we were among the terraces and apart from dodging the occasional scooter being driven with amazing precision along the edge of the muddy paddy, it was very quiet. There were a few men working out in the fields but we saw more ducks waddling through the water, presumably taking care of any insects.

We would have loved to visit Ubud before it became so popular, as it must have been such an authentic place to stay, and dread to think how it will change over another 10 years or so. Ubud has already expanded into the surrounding villages and out to the rice paddies, where we could see some large development projects had already begun. We imagine the price paid for a farmer's land far outweighs the money from growing rice, so who could really blame them selling it off? Although, if all the rice paddies end up built on then will tourists still bother visiting Ubud? (We'll ponder this in our own time...) Anyway, as a predominantly Hindu island it was good to see the locals still performing traditional offerings and decorating their temples and homes with fresh flowers each day. Hopefully this will always continue as it was a joy to see.

After reading mixed reviews about Ubud's sacred monkey forest 'sanctuary', we decided to take a visit and check it our for ourselves (as it is one of the town's only sights). There were signs all around the entrance telling tourists to throw any food or drink away before going in. As we stood outside buying tickets, we saw a lady have her water bottle snatched from her hand by a cheeky macaque. Ah, that will be why then! We ditched all our food and water and walked around the paths through the greenery and past a few pretty temples. Locals outside were selling bananas to tourists to feed to the monkeys and, as soon as a macaque saw a banana, he was all over the person until he got it... which generally resulted in some screaming from said person! Seeing wild animals harassing gullible tourists was a bit much for us, and the monkeys seem to have become overly reliant on the bananas and have turned into something of a pest, so we left with mixed feelings.

We spent the rest of our time in Ubud wandering around the market and tasting the local coffee. With plantations nearby, this was a coffee heaven and an ideal place to try the famous luwak (civet poo) coffee (thanks Paul for the tip). We found a small coffee shop which had one table and a range of beans in jars covering the shelves. The lady running the place allowed us to try three coffees and we bought the luwak cuppa just for fun! We were not sure that our coffee tasting skills were up to the job, as Mark couldn't smell the difference between a couple of varieties and Hazel thought the civit coffee was slightly sour when the tasting notes clearly say it has lower acidity! It was all good fun though and we came away buzzing...

The following day we crossed from Bali to the Gili Islands by hi-speed ferry. After reading the safety records of some of the boats, we opted for the reassuringly expensive "Gilicat" ferry. There are three main Gili Islands off the north coast of Lombok and we were staying on the largest one, Gili Trawangan (Gili T). When we arrived at the pier, we were met by a member of staff from our guesthouse who showed us to our room and gave us a map of the island to help us orientate ourselves. Then it was over to us to have a look around.

The main street (or track) on Gili T, runs along the beach front and is full of bars and restaurants aimed at tourists. However, as we ventured off the main track and away from the harbour side of the island then we saw a more authentic style of living. There were wooden houses with chickens and goats roaming the yards. Were we back in Laos?

After reading a few blogs where people moaned about Gili T being too touristy, we were pleasantly surprised. We thought the rugged centre of the island and the sparsely populated northern beaches were nicely blended with touristy bars beside the piers. Having said that, we were visiting in the off-season, so are sure it gets much busier in August. Another nice thing about the island is that there are no mopeds. In fact there is no motorised transport at all. Only horses and carts and tourists on bicycles, which we had to dodge while walking down the road!

The first settlers on the island were fisherman, who used to practice dynamite fishing until they were better educated in the importance of the surrounding reef. Later, dive shops moved in and compensated the locals for not fishing on reefs and in good diving territories, which tourists find rather interesting and are willing to pay to see. Many of the locals now work in tourism on the island, although fishing does still take place, as you can purchase freshly caught BBQ'd seafood at the night market.

On our first day on Gili T, Neill and Alison (who had enjoyed a few days over on neighbouring Lombok) arranged for a boat to pick us up and take us all snorkelling around Gili Meno. The idea was to have a tour around the Gili Islands and, since we all had snorkelling gear, jump in at a few different points too. Unfortunately, much of the coral we saw was dead and when we found some alive, we found it awkward to stay still, as there was a strong current dragging us along. We did manage to see a turtle swimming out in the open water, so we jumped in for a closer look. He was swimming a couple of metres below the surface and kept coming up for air, so he was easy to see...unfortunately though, he seemed keen to head out to sea, and he left us struggling to keep up! Once he had swum away, we had a bit more success at seeing fish but the deep water meant they were pretty far away....so we decided to take some underwater photos of ourselves instead!

After a tiring morning of snorkelling, we were dropped off for a much-needed lunch back on Gili T. We showed Neill and Alison the cute baby turtles at the Turtle Hatchery, a visit which became a daily event for us while we were staying on the island. Dark clouds were beginning to form over Lombok, so in true British fashion we grabbed an ice cream and went for a wander along the beach in the rain! The Gili islands generally seemed lucky with their weather though, as the volcanoes on both Lombok and Bali seemed to cause moody looking clouds to form every afternoon, which we could see (and feel slightly smug about) from the beaches of Gili T.

That evening we took a very sweaty walk up a steep hill for stunning views of sunset over Bali, where the volcano made a picture-perfect backdrop. Like the rest of central Gili T, the hill was only inhabited by a few goats and some small huts with chickens pecking around the yard, lovely. As we'd stepped off the main street to find the path to the hilltop, we managed to find a local café (or warung) serving authentic Indonesian food on our way home...we had the tastiest chicken satay ever, some Nasi Goreng and some fried chicken, as well as some drinks, and all for only a fiver!

On day two we went for another sweaty-but-worthwhile walk and headed for the north end of Gili T, which has some nice beaches and a reef just offshore. We spent the morning sunbathing on the beach and snorkelling just off it. We didn't have to go far at all before we spotted a few sea turtles grazing on the sea grass. Once we got out far enough, visibility was much better and we managed to get some clear photos of the passing angel fish (or Gil, to any Nemo fans!). After lunch we walked around the end of the island to find the reef for some good snorkelling. There were lots of dead pieces of coral which we had to walk over to get to a depth where we could comfortably swim, as the tide was going out. Hazel was too optimistic and swam too soon and managed to get herself beached on some coral...oops. Luckily she only has a couple of scratches to show for it and still maintains that the injuries (both physical and to her pride) were worth it! Once we were out in the deep water, we could see the coral formations and we were pleased to see it teaming with fish, including a sea snake. The current was still strong but we were expecting it this time, so we had got in the water up one end of the beach and let the current drag us back along to where we had left our things.

As we've already mentioned, one of the island's highlights for us was the Turtle Hatchery on the beach. It had three tanks for the babies, which were cleaned out every day and the turtles themselves occasionally got a good scrubbing with a toothbrush...Apparently they like it! Every year the sea turtles climb up the beach and dig holes in the sand to lay their eggs. The locals used to dig them up and sell them for food, but these days they are collected and reburied at the hatchery so that when they hatch they can spend the next year in the safety of the tanks. As the turtles are bigger when they are released, they have a better chance at surviving in the open sea. Most importantly though, the babies are really adorable, and we enjoyed watching them swim around in their tanks and try and give in to their instincts to swim out to sea, frantically paddling at the glass facing the beach!

Our final day on the island was Hazel's birthday. We got up for a morning swim in the pool before a breakfast of fresh fruit, banana pancakes and Lombok coffee. Hazel had scoped out a good spa for a pedicure while Mark diligently went across the road and ordered Hazel some fresh juice and a latte for himself while he waited (a man's gotta drink). Mark also found a nice slab of chocolate brownie, as he insisted that Hazel had to have some sort of birthday cake despite being on a remote island. (He also insisted later that birthdays mean bubbles, so also managed to track down some Australian fizz to mark the occasion). After a quick change into swimming gear, Mark, Hazel and Hazel's blue toes went to one of the smart resorts overlooking Lombok and grabbed a couple of beach loungers and a couple of pina coladas. We spent the day soaking up the sun and splashed out on a tasty western lunch. It was so nice to have a change from noodles and rice 😊 In the evening we found a BBQ restaurant and chose a selection of meats, which we have been missing tucking into over the last few months. The steak and the ribs were absolutely delicious...thank you, imported Australian tenderloin!

We had really enjoyed our time on Gili Trawangan and were sad to leave. Had we not already planned our stay on Lombok, we might well have stayed there longer! We took the public boat across to Lombok (we decided that even though safety was a concern, we could probably swim the short distance to land if we had needed to). Most of the tourists were boating to Bali, so our boat was predominantly Indonesians taking a trip on their Sunday mornings. A few "Bule, Bule"s later (the local equivalent of 'oi, white man', but apparently meant in the nicest possible way), we arrived at Bangsal.

Our accommodation in Kuta (Lombok) had arranged for a driver to fetch us, as it's a 2 hour drive away from Bangsal and meant that we didn't need to negotiate with the swarms of drivers who bombarded us at the harbour. We were staying in Yuli's homestay, which was just outside of Kuta and had immaculate grounds and two swimming pools which were both super warm from the sun. (Mark even claimed it was warmer than he liked his baths, which is pretty hot) Kuta town felt very old-school, with wooden shacks lining the roadside. We arrived around midday and it felt like a ghost-town, with only local people staring at us and chickens, goats and buffalo wandering around. We headed to Kuta beach straight from the town and were very disappointed with the amount of rubbish washed-up on the shore, and a distinct lack of the promised white sand. It was also a Sunday, so as we walked along, we were harassed by crowds of local children who wanted to take photos of the "Bule" and sell us bracelets for "special price, not tourist price". After this experience, Hazel was hoping we would be able to go back to the Gili Islands instead of staying in this backwards place without a decent beach she could lie on!

We decided we would persevere with Kuta and, back at our homestay, Hazel cheered herself up by chatting to Paul on Skype and drinking a large Bintang (Mark's not sure which one did the actual cheering?!). Yuli (the owner) came over for chat and agreed that Kuta Beach wasn't very nice and equipped us with a moped and a map of where south Lombok's best beaches were... This is where our time in Kuta got much, much better.

The following morning, after some fresh fruit and more banana pancakes (yum), we sped off to find our first beach. Although, if you have seen Mark driving a moped, you will understand that saying "sped" is a little bit of an exaggeration. We drove off through the small country lanes, past local children who waved frantically at the bule and past buffalo, even stopping for photos. After about half an hour we realised that we were not close to the coast at all and had taken a wrong turning all the way back at Kuta, doh! We re-traced our steps and started again, this time with more luck on the directions, but less luck with the road surfaces. As the road deteriorated into a track, which in turn deteriorated into loose stones and giant pot-holes, Hazel was having a rough time as she tried to hold on while Mark manoeuvred the bike over the bumpy surface. Having come this far, we were not put off and continued onwards... We finally arrived at Tan Juan Aan Beach where a bay of sweeping white sand meets the turquoise sea. There were very few people around and it felt like being back on the remote beaches in Western Australia. There were a couple of shacks selling food by the beach and after all that faffing around on the moped, it was now time for lunch. We ate large helpings of Mie Goreng under a grass umbrella and spent the rest of the afternoon lying on bamboo loungers, which made the bumpy ride well worth it (although this isn't what Mark thought later, when he realised how burnt his thighs were where his shorts had ridden up to expose some very white thighs whilst riding along on the bike!)

Our second day of our "Lombok Beach Crawl" took us about half an hour west to Selong Belanak Beach. We first stopped for petrol. This was sold at a wooden shack by the roadside where a lady poured a vodka bottle full of fuel through a funnel and into our tank. We were then good to go! We were told that Selong was the best beach in Lombok and it didn't disappoint us. Again, there were very few people on the beach and most of them were in the water with surfboards chasing waves. Having stopped at the only nearby cafe for smoothies and cheesecake, it was now midday so we relaxed under a bamboo gazebo for an hour or so.

The next beach on our list was Mawaun. This was just off the road on our way back to Kuta. The track led to a sheltered bay with a steep slope of sand into the sea. Mark discovered that the slope continued well into the water, as he became submerged within a couple of steps while trying to paddle! We counted the sunbathers on the beach and there were only 8. Bliss! This was our favourite beach 😊 There were actually more locals trying to sell snacks than tourists and we succumbed to the "Ananas Guy" who spent most of the afternoon sleeping while balanced on a narrow plank of wood. However, when we showed interest, he promptly turned a pineapple into a lolly for Hazel to eat.

Later that afternoon some local children came onto the beach and were playing quite close to where we were sitting. As they slowly and sheepishly approached we became nervous that they were after our bags or ipods. Once one of them had plucked up the courage to talk, she said "mister, can I have the pringles tin?" We explained that it was empty but that seemed to be ok, so we gave them the empty water bottle too. We were amazed when they all skipped off banging the tin and the bottle like drums, while we stood there looking at each other having never seen anything like it!

On our ride back to Kuta we stopped at a cafe on the hill top for views across the southern Lombok coastline. As we were going at "Grandad's pace" on the bike, we had time to see the surrounding plantations of watermelons, palm trees and what we think were runner beans?! We also passed what we thought was a gold mine, as we had read somewhere that illegal mines had been popping up around Lombok. This was the only explaination we could think of for the shacks and rock pounding in the middle of nowhere.

On our final day, we decided to give Kuta another go and visited the far end of the beach and walked through the town. The beach got slightly better as we walked down, but there was little shade and it wasn't a patch on the beaches we had seen on the previous days. We met a couple who had spent £30 getting a taxi all the way from Sengiggi, after being told Kuta Beach was the best on the island and were in dis-belief that this was it. We explained that we had been in the same position only 2 days before, and pointed them in the direction of Mawaun...fingers crossed their driver took them without making them pay extra!

After our initial scepticism, Kuta turned out to be a good choice and we were especially pleased as we didn't think it was the kind of place we would normally go on holiday. We imagine it puts off a lot of people as you need to rent a moped to make the most of it, and there are really only homestays to stay at.

Another place we wouldn't normally have chosen was our next destination, Kuta (but this time the infamous Kuta, Bali)...There's not much that we can say that's hugely positive about this other Kuta, although it is near the airport and the accommodation is cheap. We thought it might be worth a look as neither of us has ever been to Magaluf, although I think we now know why....we can even hear the pounding bass from the nearby club in our hotel room! Oh well, the pool and the beach are nice...

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