Lombok, Bali, and the Gili Islands

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The day after arriving in Mataram I left for Singiggi. This is a tourist town I was hoping to avoid but there was nowhere in Mataram to rent bikes and I didn’t feel like sitting on another bus to go to this little village in the foothills of Gunung Rinjani. Sengiggis beaches are really talked up in the lonely planet so it was abit of a disappointment. The sand is more black than white, they are narrow, and full of rubbish! I hired a bike from the place I’m staying and headed North along the coast. The lonely planet also states that Lombok is mostly flat but forgot to mention that the North coast is far from it. I was pretty determined to get to a town called Godang and go to the waterfall just outside of town without really realizing just how far this was. It was almost 50km with the first 20km being ridiculously steep and hilly. Even in my bike riding hay day (like 2 months ago) I wouldn’t have made it up some of those hills so after 2 months of doing very little exercise and most of my muscles evaporating or turning into fat this was not fun! I ended up walking up the hills then riding down and along the flatter bits in between the bluffs. After this though I arrived in Pemenang and it was almost completely flat the rest of the way. This bit was amazing and gave me a taste of rural Lombok life. I was riding through villages where they don’t even speak Indonesian – they have their own language. Apart from the town centers the place was covered in rice paddies scattered with workers in those awesome asian pointy hats. Lucky the ride was so scenic because the waterfall was nice but hardly worth a 100km ride… until the guide said you can go into the water and stand under it (or at least as close to it as you can manage to get). The water is only waist deep but you get drenched from the spray. The next day was Nyepi (silence day) in Bali which meant today they have a big festival parading around these giant paper mache monsters called ‘Ogoh-ogoh’ which drive away the bad spirits for the start of the Hindu new year. It’s not as big a thing in Lombok and business goes on during silence day (apart from the Hindu community) but they still do the parades and I got to see one in one of the towns I rode through. In the evening, they usually burn the monsters but I didn’t really want to be riding back in the dark so I didn’t get to see that. I made it back late in the afternoon – hot, exhausted, dehydrated, and with a massive headache!

The next day I took the boat to the Gili Islands – or Gili Trawangan. It was really bad timing all round. Not only was it the weekend, but Nyepi in Bali so pretty much every tourist in Bali took to the Gilis, places were full, prices sky rocketed, and the street was so full of people it was hard to get anywhere. So much for relaxing! Silence day in Bali means nothing happens (no buses, flights, boats) and EVERYONE must stay indoors making as little noise as possible and use no light! So I found myself in the kind of place I would usually go out of my way to avoid. I was surrounded by very white, very sunburnt people doing nothing but lie in the sun by day and party all night at the many trashy beach bars. I was in shock. Even my accommodation had a western toilet (that flushed!), a shower, and no mandi. You don’t need a word of Indonesian and the locals are unfriendly (unless they are trying to sell you something). I stayed way up on the Northern part of the island, oblivious to what went on at night. The whole Western side of the island was also deserted which was a nice escape.

The next day the flocks went back to Bali and it was very quiet and peaceful. I hired snorkel gear and spent the day snorkeling and lying around reading. Too bad I got so into my book I spent more time on the beach reading than I did in the water. The snorkeling was amazing ( in certain areas). I saw so many crazy looking fish, huge schools of them that rush into the coral as you get close . It was as if I was watching ‘Finding Nemo’, complete with a jelly fish colony attack, minus the trench. Unfortunately I’m not as small as a clown fish so had no hope in dodging them, so the only thing to do was to grit your teeth and swim to shore getting completely covered with stings! They weren’t bad jelly fish though – the stinging stopped after a few minutes and didn’t even leave a mark. The coral starts right on the shore and is too shallow to stand until you get to the drop off – a giant wall of scary dark blue water, and this is where I saw a giant sea turtle. I almost died it was so exciting. It was rummaging around in the coral and staying for quite a while even when I was only a meter or so from it. Even though It’s a typical tourist resort island, I’m glad I went. The sand was blindingly white which made the water go that amazing colour you only ever see in postcards and brochures, which I had long ago decided only existed after photoshop. The snorkeling was great as I said and as you look out of the water you can see the misty mountains of Lombok looming in the distance. None of my photos managed to capture how beautiful it was. The only thing I missed again was the sunset - which is aparently an amazing blood red complete with views of Balis gunung Agung - since it was overcast both days. It is the wet season after all.

I stayed 2 days then caught a boat to Bali. I bought the ticket from Natalie (the Canadian girl I’d been travelling with) since she wasn’t going back there. She’d bartered the price down at the office from 600, 000 to 350,000 Rp, then sold it to me for 200, 000. Bargain! It included a shuttle to Sanur where I eventually found a not-too-expensive room. The boat lands in Padangbai and I got slammed in the face by the thing everyone complains about in Bali – people throwing sarongs and pineapples in your face, following you around, pulling at your sleeves to get your attention. I seem to have mastered some sort of facial expression or body language though that makes me get hassled far less than the other travelers around me. Once I got to Sanur I had to make a fake airline ticket and get some photocopies for my visa extension so the whole day disappeared. I walked along the path that stretches the coast and got hassled enough by the stall holders to make me want to get out of Bali the same day I arrived. Sanur is also not the most attractive place – the beach is swampy and not swim-worthy and it has a very tourist resort feel to it.

The next day I caught a taxi to the immigration office near the airport to renew my visa. After waiting an hour for them to open and being sent around to various different people, paying for the package, filling out the forms, I’m told I can’t extend without an Indonesian sponsor. This is so retarded – because I got a visa from an embassy rather than on arrival (which can’t be done coming from East Timor), they won’t let me get it renewed. Being really upset and stressed, I caught the taxi to the bus station out of Denpasar to catch a bemo to Ubud so it was a very expensive morning! I then sat in a bemo waiting for more passengers for a good half an hour before paying the driver an extra 20 000 to take me on his motorbike. The problem with Bali is everyone has their own motorbike or car so it’s very hard to get around by bemo since there just aren’t enough people to fill them up. Because of time, I only stayed in Ubud for the day and arranged a bus to Tirta Gangga for the next morning. I was worried I’d hate Ubud anyway since it’s the next tourist magnet after Kuta in Bali but its such a beautiful place I could put up with it. It’s different in that it’s focused more on cultural tourism and you notice that regular Balinese people still also live here. There are a lot of walks you can do out of town but I had trouble finding any of them. I’ve also been having a lot of trouble with my knee the last few days which got really bad today so I really struggled with the steps (which you need to go up and down to walk in the nice areas). I ended up in the Monkey forest but didn’t stay long – especially after seeing a man get attacked by one of the big monkeys who stole his camera. Don’t worry, he got it back.

Arriving in Tirta Gangga was like a dream and reminded me abit of Moni in Flores. It’s a small village – just a cluster of houses along the main road turned tourist attraction because of hiking possibilities and the water palace. Its really not far from Ubud so I had the whole day left – I went walking along any random path I found off the main road which took me into the rice fields and past lots of little poor farm houses and workers. I ended up right in the middle of the fields just walking along the muddy ridges between the paddies trying to get back to the main road. I also walked up into the hills where there are also a lot of trails and great views. Tourists think these are great hiking trails, but really they are a network of paths leading to people’s homes – the only access they have. I went to the water palace in the afternoon which was pretty cool. It’s a bunch of pools and ornamental ponds with fountains and nice plants. I’m not so into visiting palaces, but I love water, so it turns out I love water palaces. You could go swimming, but I didn’t really feel like it since it was pouring with rain and quite cold. There was also a strange man masturbating not far from me, stealthily moving around so that whichever direction I faced, there he was. This was a little uncomfortable so I went for a walk up the hill, bad knee and all where he continued to follow me. He was probably harmless but you never know – it was just him and me and lots of trees so I hid out in my hotel for an hour or so. The water palace was much busier when I went back in the evening – full of school kids who use it as a public pool and also a washing facility.

Since my knees weren’t up for a long hike the next day I decided to move on. Since deciding to extend my visa I was set on making it to Northern Sumatra so this was a major blow when I found out it wasn’t an option. BUT I really want to get there, and I’m probably the most stubborn person I’ve ever met so I decided to do it anyway and so starts the epic journey. It means skipping a lot of things I’d planned, but most of these were hiking related activities so my bad knee actually made this decision easier. I caught a public bus to Gilimanuk – port town in Western Bali and a ferry from here to Java. This was seriously the slowest ferry I’ve ever been on – it took 1 hour to make the 3km crossing so I could almost have swum it faster. Now that I made it to Java its time for a new blog entry so this trip is to be continued…

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Photos

Sengiggi at dusk
Apparently there are amazing red sunsets with views og Gunung Agung from here but it was overcast this day

FRUIT!!
Part of the post-Nyepi feast buffet at one of the swanky hotel/restaurants

steps to the hill top villages
running away from masturbation man against the will of my knees

Hanging out on my front porch
Time to get my conservative look on for Java

Comments

[mia]

well i just cant get enough of the rice paddie shots! (and complete with a pointy hat - amazing!) it sounds like the 100km bike trip was worth it, im in love with that feeling you get from standing at the bottom of waterfalls - it kind of makes your skin tingle. you must be seeing so many places that touristy peeps miss out on and thats an accomplishment (even if that means cycling 100km round trips!). and the snorkerling sounds fantastic - i dont remember if i told you but me and felicity went snorkerling with benji in byron and saw turtles - they are so majestic the way they float (rather quickly) through the current. and its starting to sound like you just cant trust those guide books!!!!

[Colleen Evans]

Wondering about internet service
I last heard from my daughter on April 8,2011 she was in Bali headed for the Gili Islands next day. She is backpacking and usually emails about every 3 days, she knows I worry about her. Is the internet service that bad in the Gili Islands? Trying not to panic in Florida. Thankyou, Colleen [e-mail]