Bali and Lombok

A worryingly bumpy flight to Bali (having read about the dangers of Indonesian transport) thankfully only took a couple of hours and we arrived excited about our ten days in Indonesia. Sanur was our first stop, with a lazy day on the beach where we realised how powerful the Bali sun can be, both looking rather red despite spending most of the day in the shade.
Having hired ourselves a driver for the following day, we made the most of him and explored as much of Southern Bali as possible. The small roads can't really cope with the volume of traffic, especially around the airport, but our time in the car gave us a chance to admire the wonderful scenery.













The temple of Ulluwatu was our first stop, set high on a cliff top with amazing views of the waves crashing in. Reminded us a bit of Cornwall, though with added aggressive monkeys which we'd happily have done without! Little did we know there were plenty more to come in Bali...

A surfer's hangout was our next stop, with Padang Padang beach. We could see why Bali is famous for its beaches! The water is warm and clear and the sand lovely and soft. No time to try surfing, maybe next time, though I think we'd have to work on the look a bit before we could blend in with them!
Tanah Lot was our final stop of the day, a temple build out to sea which is only accessible at low tide. Rather a lot of locals there as it was a national holiday, who seemed obsessed with endlessly posing for photographs on the rocks. We got away from the crowds a bit with a walk along the coast, as we weren't that impressed with the temple itself or its 'holy water'!

We ended the day in Ubud, a very picturesque town towards the centre of Bali and some lovely accommodation which felt a real treat. Lots of Frangipani trees, buzzing insects and a little swimming pool. The little frog in the bathroom was a bit random but it wasn't doing any harm...

 We happened upon this lovely view walking along a path which took us into the middle of rural Bali, complete with rice paddies, ducks and a very rustic little cafe. Even some thatched cottages which reminded us of home. We weren't, however, so successful when hiring bikes this time. Steve's chain snapped and we ended up pushing them back for a few miles which wasn't much fun in the heat! We did get to visit monkey forest though, which probably speaks for itself. We were expecting tame and inquisitive monkeys but got a little more than we bargained for when one spotted a couple of shells in the pocket of my rucksack and decided to climb up me to reach them! The people who bought bananas to feed them didn't get much choice over who, or when they got fed! We didn't like the look of their big teeth, especially the mothers protecting their babies, so we didn't stay long!

A very slow slowboat took us to the island of Lombok which we were very much looking forward to. It sounded like a less touristy version of Bali, though perhaps slightly less friendly. We met a few great locals, keen to talk about their country and practice their English with us. There were, however, just as many people wanting to sell us something, usually for a great deal more than the locals would pay. It is understandable though gets a bit tiring and tedious! We were very keen to go diving whilst in Lombok, having heard great things about it. The Gili islands sounded like the best place so we signed ourselves up for an all inclusive deal with Lombok dive and made our way there after a couple of nights in Sengiggi.

Having successfully avoided the endless scams, hassles and badgering at the harbour, we got onto the 'public boat' to the Gili islands. This involved wading into the sea with big rucksacks and clambering onto the boat (or being hauled on in my case). The boat designed for 18 people had quite a few more than that and sat rather low in the water at a worrying angle, but we were kept from thoughts of sinking by a local celebrity who happened to be on the boat. There's no accounting for taste, but I think it's fair to say his excessively camp persona wouldn't go down quite so well at home!

Gili Trawangan was our home for the next three nights. Wonderful to be somewhere with no cars or motorbikes, where people get around on bikes or in horse and cart! Our rustic accommodation had only a cold saltwater shower which somehow seemed quite appropriate. The garden was complete with hens, cats and the odd goat who wandered in from next door. Only a few km long, we cycled around it comfortably in a day, racing away from a huge thundercloud which surprisingly never ended up leaving Lombok.

The highlight for us was a wonderful day diving. We'd heard tales of sharks and sea turtles and were lucky enough to see both. The wonderful visibility came as a shock to us after Cambodia, where it was only a few metres on some dives. We're still laughing about the sea turtles, who just don't look like they belong in the sea, swimming up to the surface then back down again. The sharks turned out to be very small and not quite as scary as the 'Jaws' type we'd imagined!

Gili Trawangan on our last evening

If we have one regret from our time in Indonesia, it's not climbing the volcano in Lombok - Mount Rinjani. But two 8-hour days trecking to the summit seemed a bit ambitious for this time. Hopefully we'll be back with better shoes, warm clothes and a lot of determination.