Advertisement
Published: December 10th 2011
I am sitting here, staring on the screen and thinking what I could write. Can inactivity and relaxing harm the creativity? Apparently it can. Okay, I'll give it a try now.
Ryan's entry finished with us cooling down in the pool I think. So, yeah, we cooled down in the pool and chilled in the sun and cooled down in the pool again on our first day in Ubud. This was completely exhausting so we had a nice little nap before we went to get some nice food for dinner. Afterwards we met up with the Dutch couple and Paul for a drink in the XL Shisha Lounge and then we went to bed. Very unexciting but relaxing.
The next day started with a refreshing swim in the pool and a nice breakfast served on our terrace. At midday we decided that we should get moving and have a look around in Ubud so we went to Monkey Forest to see the Macaques. They are funny creatures to watch. Ryan picked up a banana and it didn't even take 2 seconds until a monkey climbed up onto his shoulder, got comfy and ate the banana. We walked through the forest a bit away of the other people and I tried to take a picture of one and it attacked me! It suddenly jumped forward and caught my foot. Ryan thought it was funny - the monkey and I were terrified. After I could escape the vicious monkey we continued our walk through the forrest to a little fountain where the monkeys were bathing. They really enjoyed themselves and a few climbed up a little tree next to the fountain and jumped into the water. This reminded me of the nice pool we had at our accomodation so we went back to jump into the water as well. In the evening we went to see a Dance on Fire performance with traditional Balinese costumes. It was absolutely amazing and our cultural highlight so far. Afterwards we had a few Bintangs on our terrace and relaxed as we were leaving Ubud the next day to make our way to Lombok.
The following day we started with a breakfast (banana toast again after one day with banana pancakes, (poor Ryan hates bananas) and at 11 we got picked up to be brought to the ferryport in Padang Bai. We arrived there just after 12 and tried to buy a ticket. We bought a combined ticket to Lombok and to Gili Trawangan for the following day and then the typical Indonesian waiting started. It went on and on and on. No one seemed to exactly know when the ferry would actually leave the harbour or when it is meant to come. At about 2 the ferry finally arrived and all the people, waggons, cars and motorbikes got off and then we could get on. We left Bali at 3.20 pm and after Indonesian 4 hours and an amazing sundown we arrived on Lombok at 8 pm. We got picked up by the driver who brought us to Senggigi where we stayed the night. After arriving there about 9 and being dragged into the office and a guy with a cheesy smile trying to sell us loads we finally found a place to stay for the night.
The letdown of the place was the closeness to a mosque but we are already used to prayers at 4 or 4.30 in the morning so we went to bed and hoped for a good sleep. We didn't hear the mosque in the morning but the reason for that wasn't our deep sleep but the powercut that is very usual on Lombok. No prayers (YAY!), no fan and light (NO!!).
We had a quick breakfast (pancakes - without bananas!!) and then we got picked up and were brought to the port in Bangsal for our boat to Gili T. Unfortunately, the boat had just gone so we had to wait in an allocated café where - what a funny coincidence - loads of people were waiting to sell us trips to where ever. We kindly refused and just before 10 we got told that we can go to the boat now. As we walked out of the café (awww how I love these coincidences) a few horse carriages where waiting for us to bring us to the boat (400 meters). They grabbed our bags a bit too quick and as nothing is for free I asked for the price. After hearing that it would be 20.000 IDR (almost 2 pounds) per person we took our bags back and walked. Once we arrived at the boat we were told that it is full and we have to wait for the next one but no one knew when it would come. After almost 45 minutes we could finally get on and 30 minutes later we were finally on Gili T - a beautiful island just 7 kilometers (4-5 miles) off the coast of Lombok. We found a place to stay were quickly and after a salty shower and some food we went down to the beach to relax. We had a nice nap and went for a swim. It was great and finally it feels like having a holiday and we can relax. In the evening we sat down in a beach bar and enjoyed the amazing sundown - it was incredible. We had some nice food afterwards and then went for a walk along the restaurant strip. Ryan admired the seafood buffet at every single restaurant and decided that this will be our dinner for the next day. Afterwards we had a few beer in a beach bar again and then we fell into bed and were asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows. Doing nothing can be so exhausting.
We got woken up today by some hammering close to our window and then we decided to find a different place to stay with no construction going on next to it. Once we had found a place we started to explore the island a bit and find the lookout point. We found a concrete path and followed it what brought us to the island's little powerstation. We could walk around it and after loads of steps and a windy path we found the lookout point and enjoyed the view. All this walking was very exhausting so we had to dip into the water once we got down to cool down. After having some food we went back to our room for a little afternoon nap and now we are sitting on the terrace, Ryan is writing in our travel journal and I am writing for the blog. In a while we will set off for a nice seafood dinner and tomorrow we'll have another lazy day at the white beach. Life is sweet.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.062s; Tpl: 0.009s; cc: 8; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0426s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
ElyseandPete
Wanderlusting Winter
Ubud
Where did you stay in Ubud that you enjoyed it so much? Was there AC? We are headed there in May and just checking out blogs before we go. Thanks.