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Published: February 13th 2009
We are off to Lombok!
Padangbai from the ferryBraving Indonesian seas in the Rainy Season! Wednesday 4th February 2009
When we left the port of Padangbai in Bali, the sea was blue, the sun was shining and the public ferry, despite being ancient and tatty, didn’t give us too much cause for concern. Once the shelter of this pretty Balinese bay was left behind, however, we knew that we were in for a very rough crossing. These old ferries don’t seem to have stabilisers and she rolled about relentlessly on the grey swell. John was OK but I had to stop myself looking at the horizon, which disappeared from view every time the ship dipped and rose on the swell, to avoid throwing up (pleased to say I didn’t). It wasn’t too bad on deck but when the rain lashed down and one had to beat a hasty retreat inside, the lack of air was a problem! It wasn’t crowded, however, only about 100 people onboard and it could take plenty more. There were only four other tourists apart from us, two English lads and a Belgian couple. The crossing took four hours and we were grateful to touch dry land in Lembar, Lombok. We didn’t stop there,
Terra firma!
Coming in to Lembar Harbour on Lombok as the ‘Lonely Planet” says, there is nothing to stop for. A shuttle bus took us on to Senggigi, up the east coast, where we decided to stop a few nights before moving on further north to the Gili Islands (where we are now).
Senggigi Thursday 5th February 2009
Senggigi is OK, not great but OK. We found good cheap accommodation (only about three pounds each per night) which had air con, our own clean outside bathroom and a good restaurant by the beach. Hawkers here are a nightmare; very persistent. I ended up claiming to be a qualified masseuse, trained in Thailand, in business in Spain with my daughter-in law (who is indeed a qualified Thai masseuse) so that the ladies would leave us alone! During our first meal in the beachside restaurant last night, we had over twenty hawkers approach us, offering massage, pedicure, and manicure or selling trinkets. There are not many tourists right now, so we are a target. I thought that if one more lady grabbed my hand offering a manicure, I would be in danger of slapping her, which would be a very dodgy thing to do; all one can do is
Ploughing paddy fields
Near Mataram, capital of Lombok say “No thank you’ as nicely and firmly as possible. Word soon got around that we were not buyers, however, and today we haven’t been bothered much at all. Across the road there is a disco, where all the locals congregate at night until about 3 a.m. What with the disco, the 24 hour motor bike traffic and the early morning Call to Prayer from the mosque, sleeping isn’t the best option here! Lombok, however, is truly beautiful, lush green mountainsides, paddy fields and sweeping bays along a scenic coast, with sunset views across to Bali, Whereas Bali is a traditional Hindu enclave, Lombok reflects the majority of Indonesian culture because it is almost exclusively Islamic.
Bensal and on to Gili Air Friday 6th February 2009
Bensal harbour, about twenty kilometres north of Senggigi is the jumping off point for the Gili Islands. This morning, the little outrigger shuttle boats couldn’t get in to the harbour due to the rough seas, so we were taken along a narrow, waterlogged horse track to a beach the other side of the headland, to try to get on a boat. Chaos! Backpackers coming to and from the islands, boat “captains” touting
Senggigi sunset
First one seen in cloudy rainy Indonesia! for more money, rubbish and horse shit everywhere, and no loos. There are three islands, Gili Meno, which is very quiet, Gili Trawangan, which is bigger, more developed and supposed to be a “Party Island’, and Gili Air which falls somewhere in between these two extremes, leaning to the quieter life. We wanted to go to Gili Air and bought tickets accordingly. Unfortunately, since nearly all young backpackers head for Trawangan, there was only us and a French couple heading for Gili Air. The shuttle boats are designed for 10 to 15 passengers, so unless we paid more, which we refused to do, we were told we couldn’t go! We were also pressurised to buy return tickets at higher prices, otherwise “You might not get back!” This is clearly bullshit; the locals go back and forth all the time with provisions. Eventually we got on a “public’ boat (much smaller than the ones in our photos) without paying any more money, together with the French couple and about a dozen locals with their baskets of fruit and veg. After about ten minutes the boat sprung a leak, a small bucket was used for the rest of the journey to bale
Pestered by hawkers
Senggigi Beach, Lombok out the water, the swell was about ten feet and the engine was sputtering, cutting out and then chugging back to life again. Even the locals started to get anxious, babies screaming and waves soaking our backs. We were glad that we had taken our boots off so as not to be weighed down if the boat capsized! This made the ferry from Padangbai to Lembar seem like a luxury cruise in comparison. No exaggeration, it was a bit daunting! We eventually reached Gili Air, waded ashore, got on a “cidomo” (horse and cart) and arrived at Sunrise Cottages. There are no motor vehicles on the Gili Islands, bicycles and cidomos only.
Gorgeous Gili Air Sunday 8th February 2009
This is a little tropical paradise! Well, it could be a bit cleaner, but its still very beautiful. Since the nightmare sea crossing on Friday, we have been playing Robinson Crusoe and Girl Friday. Here at Sunrise there are just twelve detached ‘lumbung” houses (only three occupied), with rice thatched roofs, set in a lovely garden by the beach. Our lumbung is two-storey, with a bedroom and balcony upstairs (reached by a wooden ladder) an open living area downstairs,
Bensal chaos!
Amongst the crap! with hammock, sofa with mossie net, chairs and table and a wicker door through to our open-air bathroom at the back. All this, plus fresh fruit (mangoes, pineapples and bananas), pancakes and coffee for breakfast included, for a fiver each per night. If the Indonesians were just a little bit more industrious (most people sit around doing little) and a bit more enterprising, this could be the ultimate holiday destination. In contrast, the Fijians, who are less well off, i.e. they don’t all have mobile phones and scooters, sweep and clean pathways, take great care of plants and gardens and clean debris from the beach. In one way, however, Indonesians are very enterprising in that they are all travel agents! Everyone here wants to book our tickets for us (which we can and do book ourselves) for the boats, bus or even a pony and trap! Everyone has a brother who does “tours”! Nevertheless, it is great!
It hasn’t rained on the island since we arrived (although the mainland has had rain) but the sea is still too rough for snorkelling, which is a shame because it is rated as a good area, but not a problem. It
Bensal transport
At the end of the muddy track on the "beach" takes about an hour to walk all around the island. This is Ultimate Chill and we love it! We don’t know how long we are staying here; we are in no rush to leave! Tomorrow, however, we have to make the boat trip to Gili Trawangan to get some cash (there are no ATMs on Gilli Air). It isn’t that it is expensive, it is very cheap, but we stupidly didn’t bring enough with us. In the meantime, it’s a Bintang beer, a paperback book and the hammock!
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