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Published: January 8th 2011
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Kuta ,Lombok
The kids are gorgeous. Their English is better than Paddy's! Ha Hi Guys,
Happy New Year or as the locals say Selamat Tahun Baru
Bali to Kuta, Lombok. A couple of hours on the ferry!
Now when we read about Kuta and it said no ATM's it should have given us an indication it was out in the sticks. Also lack of home work we got off the ferry to be greeted by cowboy taxi drivers to be told it was 2 and half hours to get to Kuta. Oops I misread that and thought it was a 40 min ride.
When we arrived at the hotel in the back of beyond the taxi drivers told us to be careful of Mafia on this part of the Island. Gulp! The hotel was quite nice but the area left us out of our comfort zone. We were booked in for 3 nights and departed after 2. It was an experience, the pack of wild dogs on the beach, one of them tried to have a go at Paddy! ( There was warning signs everywhere because rabies is rife with the wild dogs. ) Then there was a near incident with a water buffalo, we were walking along the
Kuta, Lombok
The Irish Bar street on the opposite side of the road, a water buffalo was giving us the eye and I swear it was thinking of bolting for us. I naturally done the brave thing and hid behind Paddy. We did meet a few locals who were lovely. Children on the beach were real characters and their English was amazing. Then the local Irish bar had a couple of young Indonesian guys who were good company. After a few Bintangs in the Irish bar we had difficulty finding our way back to the digs because it was pitch black you couldn't see your hand in front of you and then this lovely lady and her son took pity on us and we got a lift back to our digs on the back of their scooters. It was a kind gesture of good will and not a attempt to get money. ( Which makes a change ) These were the highlights of Kuta, the rest just made us unsafe/uncomfortable!
An early departure and we headed to Senggigi the main hub for tourists and locals alike. This is where we saw the new year in. There is a few good pubs and restaurants. We
Senggigi, Lombok
Green Leaf Villa,
Luxury! found a great bar with live music, ( best band ever! ) the guys of out the band were good fun. Senggigi has lots of touts trying to sell bracelets, DVD's and sunglasses. We invested in a movie and it turned out to be in Spanish haha!! Our accommodation is a 20min walk out of Senggigi and it's a fab villa with pool, a perfect place to spoil ourselves for the new year.
Lombok is a very pretty island lovely beaches and landscape but for us has been blown off the map for
The Gili Islands - Oh My Gawd - Paradise
Lombok to Gili Trawagon 30mins ferry crossing, duped at the ticket office, you have to be so on the ball with these guys gggggrrrrrr!
Gili T
As soon as we step off the ferry it's paradise, white sand beaches and the beautiful crystal clear blue sea.The Island and the people are so laid back here they are horizontal. I am not sure but the relaxed atmosphere could be something to do with the magic mushroom shakes that are advertised in most on the pubs. ( Don't worry Mam we didn't try any, ha!
Senggigi, Lombok
Green leaf!
Howay the Toon ) The place has a great feel, it's bustling with tourists and travellers. We find ourselves a homestay for £12 a night right on the beach. The Island has no cars, bikes or scooters the main transport is horse and cart which is quite novel. We explored the island by 2 pink bikes with baskets on. ( sorry didn't manage to get a picture of Paddy ha ) It is 8km to get around the whole Island. After we cycled out of town and around the corner the path disappeared and it was all sand so really the bike ride consisted of pushing the bikes around the Island, it was fun all the same. 2 days wasn't enough here but our ferry was booked back to Lombok. We avoided the public ferry it was only about 80p for the hour long crossing but it was packed with tourists their bags and surfboards, locals, chickens and god knows what else. We were told 3 tourists had died just a couple of months go because of a rough crossing ( no life jackets ) and overloaded. The boat capsized and they were trapped underneath. Not worth the risk just to save a
Gili T
Best Snorkelling few pennies.
Our final crossing was Lombok to Bali on The Ocean Star a smart looking fastboat with life jackets. The crossing had my heart in my mouth, lots of rubbing of the St.Christopher! We set off and it was choppy as hell. Everyone was chit chatting until we hit a few bumps and then silence loomed over the boat. One of the crew gave a lady a life jacket, this didn't look like good sign to me. My knuckles were white with sweaty palms. Paddy lay back and snoozed! Eventually we arrived back on Bali. I felt like kissing the Captain for getting us over safely!
Back on Bali what a contrast from the Gili's. The traffic here is mad from the harbour to our digs about 50kms and it took 3 hours.
Yesterday we visited The Thai Embassy to apply for a 60 day tourist visa. We filled in the paperwork and had to leave our passports which feels strange and hopefully if all is well we pick our visa up on Tuesday and Wednesday head to the...
The Land of Smiles Again, Hooray!
We are sad our plans have been toned
Gili T
Strange big fish! down because of the incident in Oz but we have had a great time in Indonesia even the scary parts and the bits extracting you from comfort zones are good to look back on and laugh!
I think a piece of our heart is in Thailand so we are bursting at the seams to get back again and explore further. First stop invading Johnny's again just in time for the Toon Makum Derby ooh I've got goose bumps.
Take Care Everyone
Karen and Paddy
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Ruthie
non-member comment
Sounds like you had a good new year and glad you've picked yourselfs up after OZ. Are you not off to south America now? Have fun in Thailand! :) xx