Lombok

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We arrived in Kuta Lombok at about 10am after an early flight from Surabaya. We were happy to arrive early as accommodation has been hard to find during the high season here. We showed up at our preferred homestay and they had one room left available.

Our first impression of Kuta Lombok was very positive. This is truly backpacker beach heaven with beach bars, good restaurants and miles of endless white sand. It's touristy here but not as crazy as I imagine the Gilis and Bali will be. It feels like the place has not yet been totally discovered and it is thankfully not covered in big resorts yet although apparently developers are sitting on land here already. Our first day was very unproductive as we spent most of the day alternating between the beach bars and the pool at our place enjoying our first beers in a week. That night we went to a local restaurant called Warung Bule. We had heard great things about this place and it did not disappoint. The owner was an executive chef in 5 star hotels before returning home to open up his own place. The food and service could only be described as high end and all in with a couple beers our nightly feasts only set us back about $25. We ate barracuda, Lombok style spicy chicken, green Thai curry, prawns and other local fish. Check it out if you're headed to Kuta you will not be disappointed.

The second day we decided to rent scooters from the homestay to go check out the neighbouring areas. I know it sounds pretty crazy to rent scooters in Asia but it was fine and the traffic wasn't too crazy. Even driving on the opposite side felt natural and it wasn't long before we were weaving left and right like the locals. We tried to double on one scooter (with Jay driving of course as she has absolutely zero trust in me and thinks I'm reckless ... good judgement) but those things don't handle all that well with my full weight on the back tire. We set off on our own individual scooters each controlling our own destiny on the roads!

First we went east only a couple of kilometres and found our own little abandoned beach paradise. This beach was shared by a resort down on the one end but our spot was quiet. We hung out and swam and read our books for an hour or so before getting back on the road to check out a little nearby fishing village. This was a hotspot for surfing but the surfing here is all huge reef breaks offshore that you have to rent a boat to get to so it was a little out of our skill set to say the least. After watching the local fishermen do their thing we packed up and headed west towards the other side of Kuta. This drive was absolutely gorgeous as we climbed a huge hill overlooking the various bays and beaches before sweeping down into farmland and remote areas inland. We rode for hours just enjoying the landscape and freedom that two wheels brings.

The next day was pretty quiet. We watched the Lions game on our iPad which was streaming Nicks laptop back home on which he was live streaming the game from the internet. Pretty cool what technology can do these days. Travelling in the smart phone era is totally different than when we went on our big Europe/Aus trip. It's crazy to think the iPhone was brand new back then. Now everybody has their faces buried in smart phones or tablets as every bar, restaurant and hotel has free wifi. People are totally connected with everything going on back home at all times. It's kind of sad really but that's the world we live in. We're guilty of it too but we are still reading books the old fashion way (I know crazy eh?). The rest of the day was spent in the pool or ocean and we had our last meal at the best restaurant on Lombok.

Now we are off to the Gili Islands just off the NW coast of Lombok. This is now a must see stop for any tourist in Indonesia and we're excited to finally get there. We are leaving for the port town of Bangsal where we will meet the boat to go to Gili Air and more beach paradise.

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Photos

Kuta Lombok
The main beach in the town of Kuta.

Kuta Lombok
Goats like the beach too!

Kuta Lombok
Our own personal beach paradise we found just east of Kuta.

Kuta Lombok
This is beach heaven at Tanjung Aan.

Kuta Lombok
Fisherman in the small fishing and surfing village of Gerupak.

Kuta Lombok
Our rides for the day.

Kuta Lombok
We found some beautiful views from the hill tops around Kuta.

Kuta Lombok
Tobacco farm. Tobacco is one of the main crops around here.

Kuta Lombok
Fuelling up. They sell petrol in one litre jugs around here. It's kind of a weird system but no pumps required and most people ride scooters anyway. I guess cars and trucks gas up somewhere at a proper gas station.

Kuta Lombok
Cruising down the road.

Kuta Lombok
This one's for Heather. This is Jay taking a selfies while cruising 60 kmh down the wrong side of the road on a rented scooter in Asia. Safety DOES take a holiday!

Kuta Lombok
Another selfie with me in the background. It felt so good to cruise through the area on our own wheels.