5/25/10 - 5/29/10 (senggigi)

Senggigi - Kuta(Lombok) - Candi Dasa

Five nights in Lombok, the less developed neighbor to the East of Bali. The main draw to the Lombok area is the Gili Islands know for snorkeling during the day and partying by night. We were also interested in visiting the local volcano called Ringani. Senggigi is one of the islands larger cities south of the Gili’s and we thought it would be a good base of operations. Senggigi turned out to be quite a sleepy town built for tourists without actually having many. We ended up having our pick of many empty restaurants geared for Westerners and Australians. We were eagerly greeted by anxious hostesses trying to pull us in for a cheap meal. While snorkeling was on the original agenda we decided the salt water probably wasn’t the cure for several of my open wounds from our Ubud motor bike accident. We agreed to save it for a better locations such as Southern Thailand and instead rented a motorbike to explore the surrounding area. The best cure for a little motor bike anxiety is to get back on the horse. Annie had read in the Rough Guide that the drive up to the Gili’s from Senggigi was a highlight and so we hit the road. The drive proved to be pretty fantastic and was lined with dramatic ocean cliffs, lush rice fields, and swaying palm trees. We made it up to the harbor where many of the Gili fast boats docked and stopped into a local cafe for a cold beverage on this hot day. We ended up meeting a local tour boat coordinator and got into a lively discussion about the differences in marriage between the US and Lombok. In Lombok, instead of asking the father for permission, you instead go to head of the village for his blessing. 

While in Senggigi, I also got to work on my haggling skill-set and opened negotiations with and eleven year old for a pair of knock off sun glasses. You have to hand it to the little man, he was tenacious and all about customer service searching the entire town for the exact pair I had requested. In the end I had a hard time justifying purchasing the glasses after an initial cleaning that scratched them beyond being useful. Annie and I also met a really nice family that ran the local internet hub. I have to say my one vice on this trip has been staying up to date with Lost and our time in Senggigi coincided with the series finale of this program. It has been a real challenge to navigate the internet and download these rather large episodes and it was a bit of a relief to have the end near. The finale was two and half hours and proved to take and incredible amount of time to download. Fortunately, the owners had two kids who took a liking to our scrabble letters and entertained us for significant portions of these long download sessions. As for Lost, a bit of a let down for all the work required!

After a few days, Annie and I started to get antsy and had heard nice things about Kuta Lombok on the southern center of the island and thought maybe a change of scenery would be welcome. We decided to forego the Ringani multi day hike due to time constraints and instead check out Kuta. I coordinated a driver named Ogi who agreed to show us some sights on the drive down. Ogi took us to a traditional sasak weaving village and we were instantly greeted by a guide who showed us around. She told us there are 500 peopling that live in this self sufficient village and they are supported through the weaving of the women. The women work for twelve hours each day, every day of the year and each weaved garment is uniquely designed. The guide even got Annie involved in the weaving process and then made a very strong pitch for us to purchase. While they were beautiful, both Annie and I didn’t really have a use for these items and tipped the guide and escaped back to the car. We enjoyed the visit but could have done without the heavy sales pitch. 

We arrived in Kuta, midday and soon found a hotel to drop off our baggage. We hit the road in search of some lunch and after a short walk, stumbled upon Cafe 7. Kuta turned out to be a small fishing village and not nearly as developed as Senggigi. The main road runs along the beach with one side lined with modest hotels and the beach side has many grass hut shops. Kuta is also known as a surfing town and this was target audience for Cafe 7. It was easily the newest place in the area with a gazebo structure and grass thatched roof. We felt instantly comfortable with a mix of indonesian and western foods. After some conversation with the staff we met the owner Tengko. He had a reggae style and laid back vibe cultivated with ten years living in Europe before returning to Lombok. We soon discovered he was a good man to know in town and could set us up with whatever we needed. He quickly coordinated a motor bike and made several suggestions as to places we should check out. He also told us to return for dinner because they would be featuring live local music. We finished up lunch and headed out via motor bike to explore Kuta.

Over the next few days we drove all over the Kuta exploring the local beaches. My comfort level on the motor bike was getting better after the accident and it was severely tested on the local roads. I have never seen such tattered roads lined with hundreds of pot holes and often demising in dirt and gravel. We were often stopped by local live stock including chickens, pigs, and the occasional herd of water buffalos. We returned to Cafe 7 for some lively Indonesian surf music and discovered an all organic hill top cafe called Ashanti with breath taking views of the coastline. Kuta turned out to be a great decision and gave me a sense of the lifestyle out of a classic 60’s surf movie based in Mexico. After a few days we were ready to return to Bali and coordinated a bus back to the slow boat that would take us to Candi Dasa. 

The main thing that was put into perspective from our trip to Lombok was how fortunate we are in the United States. Lombok has big aspirations with the build of their international airport that will open next year but has a ways to go to catch up to Bali. We were surprised to see some of the local markets and I will long remember the smell that went along with them. Most of roads are filled with as many horse and buggies as they are motor bikes. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it did help us appreciate how plentiful our home really is.