Lombok, Indonesia - Part Deux

We crammed so much fun with Sarah and Justin into our week on Lombok that it requires two entries in the blog. So after our snorkeling adventure to the Gili Islands, we took a day to just relax at the pool.

We did make a brief excursion into the coastal city of Sengigi for lunch and shopping. We grabbed some great food and some strange drinks at an "art market" which gave us some great views of the ocean again. The "art" was mostly stalls of cheap tourist trinkets, but the girls found a few nice keepsakes before we went back to the coast to our hotel.

After catching our breath for a day, we ventured off for one of our most exciting adventures yet: a trek at the base of Mt Rinjani to a series of springs and waterfalls. The hotel arranged a local driver who took us through some of local towns on our way to the waterfalls. After cruising through a local market filled with horses, buggies, and traders selling all manner of fruits, veggies, fish, etc, we moved into the more mountainous terrain of the rainforest. After about an hour in the car we arrived at the "monkey forest."

Literally on the side of the road over a beautiful lookout was an entire troop of grey local monkeys. It was obvious the monkeys were familiar with the occasional tourist passing by because they had their eyes focused on the bags of peanuts our driver brought with him. Once we started handing out peanuts, they were our best friends. The monkeys would even take them from our hands, stand up on a bench to get closer, or even pull on our shorts to say "hey, give me some more!"

So once the monkeys had eaten all our peanuts, we pushed on for another hour on the road to get to our lunch stop. We were now at the north side of Lombok at a little restaurant the overlooked valleys and mountains. Rain clouds were rolling in, but we could see the first waterfall in the distance, and we were ready to start trekking after a quick lunch.

A guide came down and took us through a winding trail from the restaurant and back into the rainforest. After about 15 minutes, we arrived at out first destination: a towering 125 m (410 ft) waterfall fed from a natural spring farther up the mountain. After a quick climb down to the mist, we started trekking again to yet another waterfall!

However, before we could get to our next geological adventure, we needed to cross a slippery concrete bridge that doubled as an aqueduct. Kate was not at all amused by this crossing...

However, back on solid ground we trekked through some beautiful scenery before arriving at yet another massive waterfall in the middle of the Indonesian rainforest. This one emptied into a very large pool which was deep enough that we could swim around near the powerful stream of water falling down into the pool. We couldn't get too close though, because the current really sucked you in where the water was falling!

However, the adventure wasn't over yet. On our hike back, we followed the river back across the scary concrete bridge and into an aqueduct tunnel straight through a mountain for about 600 ft of darkness! Despite the nail marks in my arm and slew of 4-letter words not to be repeated here, I have to say Kate handled it really well. Even the BATS and SPIDERS!

After swimming in the waterfall, climbing over trees, and sloshing through jungle rivers, we dried off and trekked back with some great pictures and even better memories. We drove home to the hotel to rest and grab some more great food at the hotel.

We can't express in words, pictures, or videos how much fun we had with our friends on Lombok. It was certainly an adventure to celebrate for years to come!

PS, here is Kate crossing the scary bridge (hee hee):

Lombok, Indonesia – A small island with a big heart

As our plane landed on the tiny runway, lush greenery, locals tending their fields, and a border of steep mountains surrounded us. Airport workers wheeled the wobbly stairs to our plane so that we could deplane onto the tarmac, and I knew this would be an adventure. Lucky for us, on this adventure we had two new explorers, Sarah and Justin all the way from Chicago!!

A driver met us and took us on a 20-minute journey to our hotel. Pulling out of the airport my first impression of Lombok was Thailand meets India as people in small shelters, cows and dogs lined the narrow roads. The roads w

ere a flurry of activity with many motorcycles weaving in and out of the dirt roads. Our driver expertly avoided the other vehicles as well as small carts pulled by horses, which a later driver referred to as the “Lombok Mercedes”.

As we awoke the first morning I couldn’t wait to see how property looked in the light of day and I wasn’t disappointed. Lush greenery and flowers decorated the grounds and a simple path lead to the infinity pool, the edge of which snuggled right up to the beach.

The beach was virtually empty our entire trip, apart from some locals selling goods. That is what makes Lombok such a gem - it’s the most “untouched” place we’ve visited. Though many visitors have taken the same path, you feel like you’re one of the first to explore what the island has to offer.

The first day we just relaxed by the pool and enjoyed the great food served by very friendly staff. Sarah and I also enjoyed a massage at the on site spa. The hotel had about 80% occupancy when we were there, but there were only about 30ish rooms and it never felt crowded. Breakfast and dinner on the beach? No problem, they had a lovely set up just feet form the crashing waves. The hotel food was great 95% of the time and the menu offered a good variety at much more reasonable prices than we’ve seen at other beach resorts.

The next day we booked a snorkeling trip through the hotel to the Gili Islands. We gathered our things and headed to the reception desk first thing in the morning as I thought we’d get into a car and head to the marina. The staff led us back through the resort to the beach where we met our guide who walked us down the beach where a few wooden boats were lined up…one boat that was about 3 feet wide and supported by wooden poles sticking out of both sides was being carried into the water by about 8 men. GULP!! This is our “fast boat”?? I was thinking more the speedboat route. It took everything I had not to sit on the sand right under my feet and say, “NO WAY!”

I have a long history with motion sickness. Most cars will give me a good bout of nausea so this tiny boat on a rocky ocean was intimidating to say the least. I had taken a preventative motion sickness pill, but I didn’t think it would overcome this ride. Adam has Sarah and Justin to thank for the adventure that followed because the only reason I got into that boat was because I didn’t want to ruin their day.

I hear there were some lovely views on the hour long journey to the Gili Islands, but that’s just hear-say as I spent the journey with my head in Adam’s lap…trying not to toss my cookies.

The rough journey proved to be more that worth it. On our first snorkeling spot we saw a sea turtle having a snack on the ocean floor. It was a beautiful sight to see! Coral lined the seabed and we made our way to the shore for a quick snack.

We then headed to another island for lunch where we enjoyed grilled barracuda, caught from the ocean a few hours prior. A short ride around the island and we did one more snorkeling stop right off of the shore. We jumped in the water and had an amazing time. There were so many beautiful fish! We could have stayed there and watched all day. Since the boat was tiny and almost everything was wet we didn't get any pictures snorkeling (trying to keep the cameras safe).

We'll leave this entry "to be continued" but there is a great trek to a waterfall to come...

Here's some pictures and video.