Lombok, Indonesia

Gili Trawangan

Gili Trawangan is a small island off of Lombok and is best known as being a party island where anything goes. While another beautiful island beach isn’t exactly what we were looking for, we had to kill a few days before we could get to immigration, so this is where we landed.  The ferry ride out was beautiful and the island itself, though small and flat, was pretty.  There are no motor vehicles allowed on the island, so we thought at least we would escape that craziness. However, we soon realized the local transportation of horse and carts were equally as crazy.  These ponies loved to take off racing down the one dirt street, whether they were supposed to our not.  Instead of motorbikes we were now dodging crazy ponies. 

There was a nice beach and the water was beautiful.  The surf was totally flat and the snorkeling wasn’t really good, so we just lounged around.  The little cafes have small gazebo like places you just sit and relax. The drinks were cheap and there was some good food. We thought we would get some good sleep in, but between the loud music until 2am and the Muslim morning call to prayer at 5am, rest was a little hard to come by. It was a pretty stop and after 3 nights, we were on the local ferry and over to mainland Lombok.

Matarram/Sengiggi

After a beautiful ride down the coast of Lombok, we arrived in the capital city of Matarram and went straight to the immigration office to get our visa extensions.  Our initial 30 day visa was going to expire and after some research we found out we could extend the visas ourselves, saving over IDR 400,000 each.  We had heard that it was an easy process and you could even get it done the same day if a little more money was “offered.” In fact, most people said that they will try to make you pay more to have it done the same day. So we filled out the paperwork-had to get a little help translating-and waited for them to call us up.  After an hour or so they called Angie’s name and told her it was approved and to come back tomorrow before 10am to pay and then it would be done by 2pm.  She politely asked if it was possible to get same day service at all(wink,wink) even if it cost a little extra. They just looked at her and said no, tomorrow.  So then Kelly went up front and put on his smile and explained that we were willing to pay a little extra to get the same day service.  Again, they said no tomorrow.  What was this? In a country that is known for corruption and usually more than willing to take bribes for everything and we couldn’t even bribe them once. We must be really bad at the bribing game, not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

We decided to spend the night in Sengiggi, just a short distance from Matarram, and enjoy the black sand beaches for the rest of the day while we had to wait. The water was beautiful and the beach was black sand on one side and brown side on the other. Even though Lombok is 85% Muslim, it was once ruled by Bali and so still has some Hindu temples left.  Angie went to visit this one on the edge of the cliff and enjoyed the beautiful view. Our room sat on a hillside and had the intricate carved double doors that are seen everywhere.  The only problem is the doors are a bit small and short, so one has to watch their head. (Kelly learned the hard way.) That night we actually saw rain for the first time in a while, it rained hard all night! It was actually kind of a welcomed change, at least for a night.

The next morning we were up and on our way back to immigration to pay  and wait.  After one last final attempt to see if there  “was any possible way” to get it done a little sooner, we were told 2pm. It was worth a try. So we spent the next couple of hours taking in the chaos of Matarram.  Suddenly we had the cars, the motorbikes and the horse carts all in one area, craziness. We checked out another Hindu temple and spotted the mosque right behind it.  We wondered over to the mosque and ventured inside. It was actually fairly simple and just big and loud.  We snapped a picture before leaving and then headed to the mall to waste some more time away. After our wait was over and we had our extended visas in hand, we headed down to southern Lombok.

Kuta, Lombok

The drive to Kuta was filled with really nothing more than scenery and mosques.  Out here mosques are like Starbucks, there is one on every corner.  It was crazy to see the rice fields and simple dusty houses in the midst of these large concrete mosques. There really isn’t anything in Kuta, besides surf. The village where you stay consists of one really bad road and a few little guest houses and restaurants. The beach was empty and the sand there was like little beads giving your feet a tickling massage as you walked down the coast. The village was full of water buffalo being herded by their owners, grazing goats, and a hill full of monkeys.

We spent the next week surfing on some remote beaches, which was more like a 4WD adventure to get there. When the surf got too big for Angie, she rented a scooter and explored the countryside. With little traffic out here, it was the only place we would ever consider riding on a scooter. The village scenery was beautiful and was like a step back in time.  We would visit the wild monkeys and get them to eat out of our hands, watch the water buffalo roam and sink into the water, and learned a lot about local beliefs and culture through our surf guide.

At night we would wonder out to eat and the locals would talk to us and ask where we were from.  They never understand USA, it’s only known as America and then you get a big smile and “Barack Obama.” They love him over here! They name drinks after him (the local liquor is Arak, so it works nicely.) They are proud that he once went to school in Java and has visited other islands in Indonesia. They said they like him so much because he is good for Indonesia.? I guess they hate their own government, so they have to like someone.  We also were giving English lessons almost nightly to the little kids, trying to help them learn their sounds and letters. Their English is quite good and taught in the larger schools. They would help us with Bahasan Indonesian, sing Justin Bieber to us and giggle a lot.

Soon it was time to head back to Bali to enjoy a few days there before heading out to our next destination.  The 4 hour ferry ride went quick and is always a fun look into local culture and people, if not a back breaking experience on those hard seats.  We grabbed some of the local Nasi Goreng, which is a spicy rice with chicken, before the long journey. The food in Indonesia has some of the most spices and tastes we've found so far. We love how the food is served in banana leafs and brown paper everywhere you go.

Kelly sleeping on the long ferry ride

We had just a few days in Bali, we spent one day enjoying the beautiful Uluwatu temple of the sea and enjoy some more local monkeys here as well! They weren't quite as tame as the ones in Ubud, but they did manage to steal Kelly's hat and pull out Angie's ponytail holder. The surf was also firing and Kelly managed to pull into the barrel finally. It was time to pack up and head off to search for some dragons.

Ulawatu Temple