AspiringNomad

Well, it was a bit of a hectic 24hrs to get from Kota Kinabalu to Lombok, Senggigi, but I made it! The flight was less than pleasant being sat on the very last row near the toilet. That will teach me for being tight and not paying extra to select a seat! I met Made, my pre booked taxi driver at the arrivals hall, and I was so pleased that I did. Hundreds (and that is no exaggeration) of men were all waiting around to see which tourists they could prey on that might get into their taxis. It would have been a nightmare trying to haggle them down to a sensible price. Made was probably weirded out as to why I was being quite so grateful to him, but after hearing ‘taxi miss?’ for the 100th time, I was really done with politely saying no and thankful I had Made by my side leading me to his car.

After about 15mins, I arrived at a lovely, quiet hostel. Having pre determined that I was going to make it to Lombok the following day, I was eyeing up the ‘fast boat’ transfer options that they had available. Without much consideration, I organised to be picked up at 6:30am the following morning to continue my trip to Lombok. It was already 9:30pm when I arrived, I needed to shower, eat, and find some accommodation for the following night! After getting all my chores done and chatting briefly with Mum and Dad (Dad was busily buying some beers in a spanish shop as mum was guarding the bikes), I managed to get 5.5hrs of sleep in before my alarm went off. A 2hr shuttle bus took me to the ferry boat in Pandang Bai. Calling the lack of organisation here a bit chaotic would be generous. All the tourists had their lanyards on with various boat transfer companies plastered on them, but no one seemed to know which boat was which, and there was no one there to tell you. Just to make it a bit more stressful, we were also all standing in the direct heat of the sun! Once a boat had revealed it’s identity, a whole herd of people ran towards it with their luggage trying to get on. It was actually quite entertaining to watch, but when it came to my turn, it wasn’t so fun. Glad to be out of the sun, I found a seat next to an Australian girl who was also on her own. The stifling heat of the boat was suffocating, but she told me that once the boat starts moving, we can head up onto the deck above. So, that’s exactly what we did. Everyone moved their way upstairs and found a space on the ground to sit. It was less than comfortable, but the sea air was a relief. This was until I realised I had no suncream on and 2hrs in the burning sun until I arrived in Lombok. I plucked up the courage to ask the Russian woman next to me if I could use some of her suncream. She probably thought I was a bit stupid for not having any with me, but let me use it anyway. Now, I would like to address how deceiving the phrase ‘fast boat’ is used for these transfers. I’ve done the math, and last time I checked 17mph, is not ‘fast’. As I sat there, very uncomfortable and slowly burning to a crisp, helpless, the Russian woman asked me if I wanted a beer. I tried to decline as I thought adding alcohol to the mix is probably not a good idea, but she bought me one anyway and we drunk our beers in the blazing heat together for the duration of the trip. The journey was intense, and I was so relieved to get off the boat in Bangsal, Lombok. The taxi men started again, harassing the tourists as they left the ferry port, trying to avoid being scammed in the process. One guy followed me all the way up the high street until I went into a mini market. I was then approached by a taxi man at the cold drinks section, and I had completely given up at this point. I was cornered and he was offering me a better price than a Grab Taxi, so I reluctantly accepted his offer and got into the car, hoping I was going to be taken to the right place for the right price. My taxi driver, Gherul (who was the cousin of the man who cornered me in the mini market), was actually really sweet. He was giving me advice about different areas of Lombok I should visit if I get time and where to avoid. I took his number once I was dropped off for future trips.

Finally at 13:30 I had arrived at my hotel. I dumped my backpack down and collapsed on the king-sized bed that I had requested (this backpacker likes a bit of luxury every now and again). After I had pulled myself together, I sat out on the balcony and took in the amazing view.

It was the first time in 7 weeks that I had really been left to my own devices, and I found it hard to believe that 7 whole weeks had already passed. As I sat and thought about all the cool, amazing, and wonderful things I have done and seen over the past few weeks, I had a little cry about how it’s all coming to an end. But the end is not going back home, it’s starting a new job and a new life in Sydney, and that realisation had only just, in that moment, started to sink in. I have been so distracted for so long now with making plans for this trip and organising flights and hostels and being entertainment 24/7 by the people who I have travelled with, that I had completely forgotten that I am making this big move to the other side of the world. I started to think about all the organising I have to do for my arrival in Australia and for my new job and just as it started to stress me out too much, I realised how lucky I am to be in my position. Sat on a balcony with a cup of black tea, looking out across a band of vibrant green trees leading to the bright blue ocean. If I am going to have a little cry about missing home and the people I love anywhere, here is a pretty damn beautiful place to do it!

Once I pulled myself together for the second time, I realised that I’m probably a little exhausted and slightly burnt out from the heat. So I planned to do pretty much nothing that afternoon. I caught up with Becky on Facetime and researched the area. I nipped to the nearest mini market and made myself at home in my room. After having dinner at the hotel, I got an early night ready to explore the next day.

On Tuesday morning I was up and about at 7am. After breakfast I dropped in some laundry, got the key to my little moped from the hotel and headed to Mangsit Surf School further north of Senggigi. I’ve wanted to try surfing for pretty much as long as I can remember, so I was excited to finally get the chance to do it. My instructor, Izzy, was out surfing when I arrived, but the guy in the hut called him over when we had agreed that I could have a surf lesson that morning. Izzy taught me how to stand up on the board on land, and after doing the motion a few times, we headed out into the sea. You might remember that I am a little scared of big waves after I was sucked under one in Crete in 2007, whilst we were all cooling off in the sea following the Samaria Gorge hike. However, Izzy’s enthusiasm put my worries aside, and I followed him out through the waves into the calm part of the sea. Without much preparation, the first suitable wave approached. I lay, ready on the board and he pushed me forward, shouting ‘stand up, stand up!’ As you can imagine, my first attempt was a fail. But this was expected, and I didn’t let it affect my confidence. Attempt number 2 was slightly better, but it was the getting back out to Izzy that was causing the most problem. Wave after wave, I was being tumbled under with my board in tow. Until the waves calmed again, I was pretty much stuck in the worst zone of the sea, and I had to accept defeat and come to terms with swallowing about a gallon of sea water. Once the waves had finished with me, I looked up to see Izzy, hopefully holding his thumb up at me. I’m sure I looked a bit shell shocked but returned the hand gesture and swam back out to him. With sea water running out of my nose, he seemed unphased that I had just spent a few minutes in the oceans version of a washing machine and prepared me to go again! Finally, on the 3rd attempt, I was able to stand up and for the next 3hrs I was pushed into the waves to surf and swam back out to Izzy over and over again. In between waves, we waited on the calm ocean, chatting about life in Lombok and England and how much he loves to surf. When I started to find it difficult to swim back out, I had to persuade him that I was really too tired to carry on. Reluctantly, he told me he would meet me at the shore and, after one last run in with the fairly violent waves, I was quite literally washed up to shore. (This made me laugh writing about it!)

I needed to get some cash out and Izzy was keen to ride my moped to the nearest ATM. He was telling me the rules of the road and he took me about 1km to the bank and back. After taking some photos, Izzy and the other instructors recommended a cafe nearby on the seafront to get some food. I sat there, exhausted, but full of adrenaline after a great morning in the sea. I refulled on some spring rolls and a pineapple juice and headed south along the coast road to another little cafe, also on the sea. I facetimed Arron whilst having some fruit and an iced coffee and filled him in on my morning whilst he was on his way to work. Back at the hotel, I realised that the lack of suncream I had on during the morning had serious consequences to the back of my legs (there seems to be a reoccuring theme here and I will eventually learn my lesson). When it hurts to sit down, you know it’s bad! The sunburn combined with the board rash was fairly unpleasant, but I was still on a high from being on this amazing island. That evening, I headed out on the moped again to a restaurant a few km away. Unexpectedly, it was in quite a romantic setting with fairy lights along the beach with candles on the table. Feeling a little awkward asking for a table for one, I was sat with a great view of the sea. After a delicious meal, I went back via the pharmacy for some much needed after sun and surf rash cream! The women in the pharmacy supplied me with the necessities, and I spent the next hour covering myself with creams before bed!

On Wednesday morning I was feeling a bit exhausted. Turns out surfing actually really takes it out of you! So I chilled out at the hotel, around the pool and on the balcony before eventually heading out on the moped for lunch. I wanted to go a bit further this time so picked a place about 30mins north. As I arrived I realised it was probably the least touristy place in the area. The beach had been taken over by wooden shacks occupied by people cooking fresh seafood on coals at the rear and a few seats and wooden swings looking out onto the bay at the the front. None of these places were officially restaurants or had names so I just picked one that had a friendly looking man and woman nearby and asked if I could eat there. They seemed really happy to host me and I sat with the most amazing view of the beach, as he prepared me some fresh squid (that he was thrilled to show me) he recommended that I have some vegetables to go with it. As he laid the food in front of me, he advised me that the veg was only a little bit spicy as they mixed it with some tomato puree. He clearly underestimated my uncultured western tongue and the spice was, I would say, pretty damn spicy! I didn’t want to seem rude, so I ate it anyway along with the delicious squid and rice. I nipped back to the hotel to get some long trousers and continued on to Pura Batu Bolong, a temple situated on an outcrop. I timed it as the sun was going down which made the whole thing very atmospheric. Two people began their ritual of lighting incense sticks and laying them on the statues with flowers, a few men were fishing on the areas that were not occupied by the temple and the waves crashed up onto the rocks with the sun setting behind. While it wasn’t the most mesmerising temple in the world, it was it a beautiful location.

I then drove back to the Bamboo cafe that I had been the previous day for drink as the sun finally dropped behind the clouds to the right of Mount Agung (a volcano in Bali that you can see from Lombok). I dropped a few things off at the hotel and walked across the street to a restaurant which like all the other cafes and restaurants here, was also on the beach. I made a pit stop at the minimarket for some snacks and an iced coffee for the morning and headed to bed.

At 11am this morning, Gherul my trusty taxi man picked me up to take me to Tetebatu. Tetebatu is an area of Lombok known for its abundance of rice fields and waterfalls and has a beautiful view of Mount Rinjani. The plan is to enjoy the rest of the week exploring this area and go to the Black Monkey Forest, waterfalls, rice fields, and just lay back and enjoy the surroundings. It’s much cooler here, about 22° so it’s nice to lounge about comfortably. I’m currently sitting on my little balcony with a beer, there is a mosque in the distance beyond the rice paddies and I’m pleased that I get to finish my 8 week trip here, in the tranquil setting of Tetebatu.