Advertisement
Published: April 6th 2005
Edit Blog Post
Honeymoon?
Not exactly what Vanessa had in mind when she envisioned a honeymoon on a remonte island. (Please note, the back of the cart literally states "Honey Moon") GILI ISLANDS, LOMBOK: After Sanur we headed for the Gili Islands, a remote "untouched" group of three islands off the coast of Lombok (4 hours south of the Island of Bali). Our journey entailed a two hour bus ride north of Sanur and then a five hour ferry ride to reach the islands. Due to the length of this travel day, Vanessa encountered her first "Asian toilet" and it wasn't pretty! Let's just say that it's all about aim!!! Our first stop was Gili Air, an island so tiny that Dave and I circumnavigated it in an hour and a half. Totally remote, with a smattering of cheap hotels, Gili Air has no cars or motorbikes (which is what the majority of Indonesians race around on at break neck speed) but, rather transportation is entirely on DONKEY CARTS. Needless to say, Dave adored the donkey carts but, still felt the need to negotiate our fare with our SEVEN year old driver. I kid you not, they have these kids working young! We stayed at Sunrise Ricebarns a really picturesque group of open- air houses in classic Indonesian architecture converted into sleeping quarters etc.. Although beautiful (we slept under mosquito nets and
Snorkeling in the South Pacific
Although we literally witnessed a boat sink 1 hour after this photo was taken, the rough seas didn't put that much of a damper on a great snorkeling trip where we saw turtles and various tropical fish. played cards every night on our deck) the knowledge that our shower (in our decaying, dirty bathroom which periodically harbors a 3 foot iguana), was entirely salt water did put a damper on our "island getaway". Considering the amount of sunscreen these two whiteys need to apply and sweat accumulated just during one day of beach time, it became very clear, very quickly that salt water does NOT wash this off! Regardless, we had an amazing time snorkeling among the coral reef off our hotel's beach. We also indulged in an organized snorkeling trip where we saw turtles and giant clams. Unfortunately, because Indonesia is a developing country, the saddest thing about the islands is the garbage that can wash up in the ocean. Since I've seen less than three garbage cans in this country, it's safe to assume that they do not have an organized sanitation system and it's very disheartening to walk along the beach and see potato chip bags, empty water bottles and random plastic items strewn across the sand.
GILI MENO, LOMBOK: Desperately seeking fresh water showers, Dave and I vacated Gili Air for Gili Meno. Meno is another tiny island with a beautiful beach
Sasak Rice Barn
This was our home on Gili Air. A fantastic (Dave is obviously typing now) place to stay and finished as a traditional Rice Barn. Although it lacked fresh water, it was certainly a unique abode for our visit. and a very laid back vibe. Unfortunately, we were unaware that we would be trading water for electricity! The Locals' vague description of "government" was our only explanation of why we did not have electricity from 9am until 6pm. Luckily, lazy days on a semi deserted island do not require much! Little did we know that a nasty surprise was in store for us: as we hit the beach in the morning, we were surrounded by five hawkers with five more making their way down the beach toward us. This was a phenomenon we had not experienced on Gili Air. They sit down right next to you and begin with "you wanna necklace? bracelet? sarong? Cheap, very cheap!" And once you politely say, "No thank you", it begins ALL OVER AGAIN! "Look, look, necklace, good quality, cheap, real pearl, how much? how much you wanna pay? Cheap, very cheap!" It's truly unbelievable. Eventually they also asked our names, where we were from etc... The Indonesians are very friendly and, I believe, genuinely nice but they have yet to learn that their extreme brand of selling is a HUGE TURN OFF. Other Westerners were flat out rude to them and in
their defense it's hard not to be. Even intrepid Dave had a breakdown and resorted to hiding in our bungalow because the hawkers found us at our lunch spot as well. Let's just say there was A LOT of card playing on Meno. Luckily all the hawkers were not native Meno islanders and caught the ferry every day at 3pm so, the island was all ours in the afternoons and it was truly beautiful. Lots of shell seeking and soaking in the sunsets! I must also mention that every meal was right on the beach, gazing out on the ocean and drinking our Bintang (Indonesia's answer to Heineken).
Senggigi, Lombok: Fleeing Meno after only a couple of days, we headed to the big island of Lombok in the hopes of encountering a little more civilization. This is our only 'failure' destination. Here we truly have a gripe with Lonely Planet which downplayed Sengigi's dire straits. Essentially, this is a town that investors poured a lot of money into predicting it would be the next Bali. Unfortunately, with the Asian stock market crash, Bali bombings and terrorism in general- this town is a depressing, deserted wasteland with lots of hotels and TONS of desperate hawkers! Very disappointed, we only stayed one night and headed back to Bali. But, every cloud has it's silver lining and at our hotel we met two lovely Dutch couples in their sixties. The husbands were brothers who were born in Indonesia and spent their youth in a Japanese prison camp in Java during WWII. They were then refugees in a British camp and eventually made their way to Holland. Their trip to Indonesia was a kind of pilgrimage where they visited their father's grave (he had his head cut off during WWII !!) and even returned to Java where they had been prisoners. One of the best aspects of traveling is the amazing people you meet along the way!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.106s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 7; qc: 54; dbt: 0.06s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
anonymous
non-member comment
Donkey carts, Asian toilets...
Amazing! Why don't you both come clean and just admit that you are on a 3-month tour of Jamesville. Next up, our Ferry to the Rez, and slumming it at the Grove... - Aaron