Indonesia Part 3: The Endless Beaches of Lombok Island and Gili Trawangan

When many people think of Indonesia, luxurious Bali is the first spot that pops into their mind. My geography of SE Asia was completely lacking before I traveled here, and I embarrassingly thought that Bali was a) in India and b) only a city. I decided, however, to pretty much skip over Bali and hop to the next island east: Lombok. I had limited time before I met Darryl in the Philippines, and I guess I wanted to go somewhere a little more remote and less well known.

Catherine had a more open timeline so kindly skipped over Bali as well as she would go there while I was in the Philippines. We took the most HORRIFYING PLANE RIDE ever on a prop plane from Bali to Lombok that consisted of me trying to crack jokes so Catherine didn't know how nervous I was, and Catherine beating me with a pillow to calm herself down.

I am pretty sure that we both thought we were going to die on that plane, but as we are both nervous flyers, who knows how much we were overreacting. (Later I found this airline is EU blacklisted and has a nice recent history of plane crashes that haven't made international news. That explains the $16 pricetag.)

Alive and well in Lombok, we caught a cab to a northern beach called Senggigi and settled into our luxurious accommodation. It was seriously exciting to have the following: a large room with two big comfy beds, CLEAN towels, a shower that was separated from the toilet, and satellite TV with English channels. Oh, and a really nice infinity-esque pool right on the beach across the street. 

The next morning the Seahawks were playing the 49ers so we stayed glued to my phone for updates from Google and more entertainingly, Darryl, who believed he and our group of friends were shaping the game's fate ("Oh my god we all held hands and there was a turnover!!").

Catherine and I agreed that if we won we were going to break all the rules and have a drink before noon, so everyone knows the outcome of that. We were cheering like madwomen; true American spectacles to those dining around us, and spent the rest of the day at the beach/pool and exploring the area.

Then poor Catherine got really, really sick. Like so bad we had to call a doctor to our hotel room. The hotel kept saying it was "very expensive" which turned out to be $40 - definitely affordable by US standards. So the rest of our time in Senggigi was spent recovering, and I couldn't complain because sometimes it's nice to have a vacation from your vacation, catching up on all the trashy TV shows I so love at home. :)

We then had a decision in front of us... which island to hop to next! From Senggigi you can go to one of the three Gili islands northwest, so we settled on the one that sounded like it was the most active, Gili Trawangan, and took a boat there.

We stayed in the most adorable bungalow full of lush gardens, about a 10 minute walk from the beach. They served us breakfast on our patio every morning and we even had our own bungalow cat who would sunbathe in our chairs - you know me and my animal obsession. What the island was lacking in was dogs. It's the first place I've been where I saw ZERO dogs.

Romance flowers on our beds

Gili Trawangan is a pretty small island with slightly coraled beaches (there is minimal garbage), and mostly crystal blue waters. The only things to do really are sunbathe, swim/snorkel/dive, eat, drink and island hop. Which is nothing to complain about.

The only downside to the island, or at least where we stayed, was that there was a mosque nearby that had recently gotten their hands on a powerful sound system. I have heard the call to prayer many times on this trip and think it is beautiful, but it is not so peaceful when it sounds like it is INSIDE of your room at full blast at 5am and then for hours throughout the day/night. The high ceilings in our bungalow only amplified the sound. Oh well, a cultural experience!

It rained for an entire day that we were there, leaving us a little stir crazy. It is wet season in Indonesia which doesn't really bother me, but if you are planning a trip to the area, it's best to plan it when there are less tumultuous showers. :) But I love a heavy rainstorm to cool down the endlessly hot days.

We both were in desperate need of new pedicures (first world problems in a third world place - Catherine's slogan) and wanted massages, and quickly found a place that would do both for about $15. Our first romantic couple's massage! The massage was amazing, but um, with an interesting twist. I don't think it's true for all Balinese massages, but at this place, the woman asked "Are you OK with me massaging your chest and stomach?" before she started. Sure, why not! I discovered this meant they massaged around and in between the special chestal region (scientific term) so that was definitely a first. I could hear Catherine stifling laughter at that point and later we ended up uncontrollably laughing about the whole experience. Because we are mature adults.

We left the little island after about 3 days and went back to Lombok, hiring a driver through our guesthouse to take us around the island before heading south to our next destination. By the way, the guest house owner was a fabulous Danish woman who also designs clothes, so she sweetly took my measurements for a bridesmaid's dress I need for Kim's wedding in June. :)

The tour through Lombok took us to a local market with vibrant fish and produce, but in contrast, also some of the worst smells I have encountered, probably from raw meat being butchered in the same areas for years without a real clean up.

There was a lot of garbage as well -  a big problem in SE Asia. Next we went to a temple that brought together all the religious groups in the area with shrines for all: Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists and Christians. We hired a guide to provide us with more background than I could ever possibly hope to recount!

We had two more stops that were really fascinating, starting with a woodshop where locals make everything from small bowls to large furniture.

The best part of this craftsmanship is that they place hand cut seashells in the wood in different triangular patterned designs.

We saw every step of the process and I would imagine that if these were made and sold in the US, they would sell for a tremendous fortune. Note to self: if I'm ever back in Lombok, ship furniture back to the states!

Expert weaving, gurl

Catherine and I were also set on seeing the weaving village where the famous Ikat fabric originates from. We got there and there were women weaving outside, who insisted (of course for a tip :) that we give it a try ourselves! So they strapped us and showed us how it is done.. I was not very adept at this so was glad they were ready to take over after a photo op.

The Ikat fabrics for sale that really caught our eye were very expensive, and none of the pre-made scarfs were what we were looking for, so we left empty handed. At least can now say we are semi-trained Ikat weavers. :)

Our driver took us to the beach we were keen at staying at for a few days called Kuta. There is a Kuta in Bali that is famous for its drunken Australian scene, but this Kuta is its polar opposite. It's apparently a world renown surfing area, but was pretty sparsely populated with no real night life. We didn't have a place to stay reserved, so our driver took us to a few spots before we found another ridiculously nice place with a pool, cable, large beds, etc. It was probably the nicest place in the area and still cost less than $35 a night.

The next few days consisted of catching up on travel planning, eating and suntanning... tough work. Both of us were happy for some continued downtime in the midst of our travels, but started to miss the hustle and bustle of a larger city.

I rented a scooter on our last full day and saw the real beauties of Kuta and southern Lombok. My scooter also had the fun quirk of a surfboard rack attached to it. ;) The view from the tops of the hills were incredible, and each bay I reached as I headed west seemed to be more vibrant than the last. This is definitely a place for romantic escape and removing yourself from the world.

Catherine and I parted ways after one night in Bali and I hopped on a flight to ... yay... the Philippines to see Darryl! That's its whole own chapter. :)

-Erin