Blogs from Lombok, Indonesia, Asia - page 48

Hello Everyone! Travel has been extensive and internet not redally avaliable all the time. Here is a quick update from Indonesia. After spending some time in the Gili Islands corey and I decided to go back to Bali and head to Nusa Lombongon, a small island south east of Bali. As we pulled into Mataryam, the capital of Lombok, we hooked up with one of our fellow Canadians, and with one minute to departure back to Bali, we changed our ticket to Kuta, Lombok! Best decision ever! Kuta, Lombok is a hidden surf spot that draws hundreds of surfers in the high season; but thankfully for us it was still the low. This place has around 15 surf spots all within a 30min scooter ride! We rolled into town and heded right for the ocean. A ... read more

I had heard of these magical islands off the North West coast of Lombok called the Gili Islands. This string of islands boast some of the best diving, snorkling, and hammock recreation around Bali and Lombok. We chartered a shuttle to take us from Lovina, Bali to the Gili islands to put our new PADI certificates to use. Golo and Ingred, our German friends, saw a golden oppertunity and tagged along. Our first day on gili Air was breathtaking. Our bungallo was 20 meters from the beach which boasted a 2km reef 20 meters from the beach. White sand, hammocks and a bar that played Jack Johnson all day, there wasn't anything more we could ask for. For the next few days we snorkled in the morning, watched a movie with lunch and snorkled in the ... read more

With a big delay, the bus to denpasar arrived at 22:00. Immidiately got asked ridiculous prices by bemo and taxi drivers. Decided there and then i did not like bali. With the knowledge of having to go home early, due to financial reasons, i choose to head for lombok the next morning, just to get away from it all if you know what i mean. Afetr a very long ferry ride, and 1 hour on the back of a scooter, i spend the night in senggigi, sonya's place. Then went over to gili trawangan (island) for new years. Didn't have a blast, but wasn't really looking for it either. Just had some quiet beers on the beach with a german couple. On the first of january i went back to sonya's place in senggigi, wher i ... read more

After Sumatra (I've added photos to my previous entry) we flew to Bali which is another of the Indonesian islands. It was amazing how different this place was compared to Sumatra - loads of tourists and every local you meet tries to sell you something - transport, t-shirts, bracelets, hats, fruit, drinks, mats to lie on the beach, blow-pipes, bow and arrows etc etc. So, as you walk along in Kuta you get shouted at from everyone you meet to buy something. Also, the prices for everything was much higher here than in Sumatra (don't get me wrong its still dirt cheap) but the standard of living seems a bit higher as well which is cool. Anyway, we stayed in Kuta for a couple of days which although it has nice beaches and really good surfing ... read more

I almost didn't want to post this blog. I rather selfishly wanted to hide and to protect Gilli Trawangan's beauty - to save it for a time when I'll be back there again. But unfortunately the secret is already out. Somehow along this well worn tourist trail, all roads lead to Trawangan. The first person we recognized was the guy from the bus to Lovina. Then the Irish girl from Senggigi. After that I ran in to Andrea and Astrid, the German girls I'd met several weeks prior in Malaysia. Even Marcus was there. Weeks ago I dedicated an entire blog to our interaction in Malaysia. But the strangest of all was Ben. We first met in Cambodia 2 years ago! I saw him walk past and knew that I knew him from somewhere. He did ... read more