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Published: September 27th 2007
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Next morning we drove to the port of Padang Bai to catch the ferry to Lombok. In the itinerary it said this took 4-7 hours. 4-7 hours? Thats quite broad! In the end it took about 6 but was a good chance to meet some locals, as I got introduced to some Indonesian music on a boys MP3 player (his favourite Western music was Westlife and Britney worryingly!) whilst I introduced him to the Kaiser Chiefs! But totally the most bizarre thing about the trip was the extremely loud house music they played on arrival into Lembar port. Bearing in mind that Lombok is predominantly Muslim and more quite a bit more conservative than Bali, no one really seemed bothered or surprised by it, as Crazy Frog dance remix blared out. Bizarre!
We drove to Kuta, the surfing capital of Lombok. Next morning we took a motorbike trip to nearby Mawun Beach. My driver was a complete speed demon, but a fantastic was to get around! The beach was beautiful and deserted apart from us - even better!Back at the hotel we clambered back on the bus aka the Blue Machine to go to a local local village called Pringgasela, we
are talking chickens and sewage in the street - but the ladies who weave for 6 hours a day certainly put our job complaints into perspective! We had a yummy traditional Sasak lunch, before heading to Tetebatu where we were staying the night at the Green Orry. I never did find out what an Orry was. Where our guide Sep gleefully told us that "we are not the best, but we are ok!".
A couple of games of table tennis and a few Bintangs later (local beer) rounded the day off. Up early the next day (although nothing really can be complained about after Mount Batur morning!) to do a sunrise walk where we ran into a load of local kids going to school - I dont think I have ever head my name used so much at once! After breakfast we headed out on ciudomos (horse drawn carts and not my favourite mode of transport) to a local market then onto a local warung (restaurant) where we ordered lunch and the lady there kept touching our noses and telling us how beautiful we were! - If you ever need a confidence boost, just come to Asia, just the other
day I was walking down the street, hung over and unshowered and got called a sexy mama!
Anyway we ended up in Sapit, where I wasnt loving going for a walk in the midday sun, but our lunch stop made it totally worth it! Ended up sat in a farmer's hut who's only word on English was yes (we taught him no) he loved posing for photos and even did a little dance for us (video on facebook!). If travelling was soley for those moments it would totally be worth it.
Another highlight of the walk was visiting a local village but also more specifically their toilet. If you could call it that - all the girls even had an audience. I', putting it all down to experience. You have to with these things! After the walk it was a rocky drive to Senaru, in the shadow of the much revered Mount Rinjani. Hotel there was lovely and apart from all the electricity going off when my room mate was in the shower, our stay there was very relaxed. Next morning was by far my favourite day in Lombok- we did a walk to a nearby waterfall, where we swam,
jumped in (I had the guts this time Gregg!) asnd climbed into caves. You know just another day in the office! To save walking back up the hill we cut through in a PITCH dark tunnel with water up to our knees - bit of a pleasure pain thing!
In the afternoon we transferred to Gilli Meno, 1 of 3 small islands off the north west coast of Lombok - small enough to walk round small. There we had a beach front bungalow, where you could through a stone into the sea from our balcony at a push (the fact we didnt have a sink seemed insignificant when we thought about this!) "Town" consisted of 1 bar (which we practically became regulars at) about 5 restaurants with attached accommodation and a shop/internet place and that was about it. The furtherest we got there was into the sea and across the other side of the island (which took about ten minutes) for a sunset beer. It was very chilled there and I loved the fact that I didnt have to wear shoes all day and all night! Highlight was probablyour second evening there when all the locals got together for a
bit of a jam session ("Welcome to hotel Gilli Meno!") around a fire and we were the only tourists lying there listening (again video is on facebook). Felt very far far away from everything. In a good way...
Back to reality the next day, leaving the island to fly back to Kuta, Bali, THE touristy place in Bali as I've mentioned. We had our final dinner eating seafood on the beach at the gorgeous Jimbaylan Bay and said goodbye to the rest of the group the next morning, leaving only the 3 if us original girls left. Next 3 days were the pure hell of sunbathing, shopping and going out in Kuta. It so happened that our stay coincided with the Kuta Karnival - including live music and a food festival - which we ended up eating most of our meals at as it was so tasty and so cheap! Had a couple of good nights out and enjoyed chilling out during the day.
Sept 11th came round quickley and it was time for me to leave and fly to Bangkok. I was sad to say goodbye to the girls and even sadder to leave Indonesia. I had a fantastic
time there and will DEF be back, next time to Java/Sumatra and Flores, who knows when but its a definite!
* Berugas - as in the photos, a small open hut to eat all meals, drinks, dance in the dark etc. As in "Welcome to my beruga" or "Maybe you want to lie with me in a beruga" Tempting but no.
** Banana pancakes - a staple Indonesia tourist breakfast
*** Buckets - to be filled with cocktails and ideally consumed on the beach
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