Our trip began with a night stopover in Bali, as no flights to the island of Lombok would leave after we arrived from our afternoon flight. We enjoyed a fresh fish dinner on the beach and toasted the start of our trip with some Arak, the local hard liquor of the island.
On Sunday morning, we headed for the airport. Upon arriving inside the terminal, we looked up at the screen to find which counter to check in for our flight. Low and behold, our flight was not listed. After finding a friendly security guard, he cut the line and inquired on our behalf. Turns out, our flight was rescheduled for 3 hours earlier than planned. Those with Indonesian phone numbers were texted prior. Those without were standing at the counter with us. Now, we had 4 hours to kill before the next flight left.
A Polish family with three adult children and their mother were traveling together. We decided to make the best of a bad situation, so we left the airport with our bags and went to the closest beach to the airport, just 15 minutes away. Arguably, Kuta Bali is the most famous beach on the island. The beach is lined with umbrellas and small tables with local business owners vying for any business that comes strolling down the beach. Behind the restaurants are the surfing companies selling lessons and board rentals.
While the first few surfer dudes put the idea in my head, it was about the 6th guy that got lucky. By then, I had convinced myself a surfing lesson would be a good idea. But, I had no sunscreen, towel, money, or bathing suit. That was all in the luggage I already had checked. So, I asked if the gentleman could help solve my problems and he went to work. Sunscreen was the easy one. Upon not having a bathing suit for me, we attempted to trade the one he was wearing for my pants. However, unlucky for the both of us, they didn’t fit. So, he ran off to find a bigger friend in search of pants. Two minutes later, he came back holding some slightly bigger board shorts. Slipping them on (not so easily), I was ready for my surfing lesson.
After some practice with the technique on the beach, we hit the ocean. I am proud to say, I was successful on my first try; I couldn’t believe it. While it was only a few feet high, I rode my first wave in. Beaming, I swam back out to my instructor. I fell the next few times, but got the hang of it pretty quickly. By the second half of the lesson, we were waiting for the slightly bigger waves. I was also practicing turning the surf board to the side as I rode the wave as I’ve seen this on the television a few times. I also learned how to speed up and slow down so I can keep pace with the wave. The surf instructor is a pro.
After my lesson, I was handed a light scarf, the closest thing the man could find for a towel. I took it, ran to an ATM, and found Elseline with her new Polish friends to head back to the airport. Best cancelled flight experience I’ve ever had.
Upon arriving in Lombok, a friend of Elseline’s picked us up. She has been to the island 5 or 6 times already, so she’s made many friends there. We stopped by our home on the hill, gazing upon the landscape and ocean in front of us. Really a spectacular view. And we arrived just in time for sunset. We quickly got ready and headed to his home for some dinner and to meet his family. After a nice visit with some good local food, rice wine, and palm wine, we headed to another family Elseline has become friends with over the years. We would meet them twice more during our stay.
The next morning, we rented a motorbike and headed upon the coast, driving along the ocean. In Indonesia, they drive on the left side of the road. Luckily for a motorbike, I also didn’t need to become acquainted with driving on the opposite side of the vehicle.
After enjoying a coconut with a view on the way, we stopped at a beach with a lot of local restaurants. These businesses have a small, makeshift grill out front and some chairs and tables on the beach. We were the only tourists on this particular beach. We were served a grilled red snapper, picking our way through the bones. We watched the local primary-aged children play with styrofoam boats they crafted with some editions of sticks and leaves. I went for a quick swim in the ocean and Elseline bought a few pieces of jewelry from the man who sat to talk to us for a while before jumping back on the bike.
We continued up the coast in search for the turn off to take the mountainous route back. While there were impending dark clouds, the rain mostly held off. We drove through a road littered with monkeys on each side. There’s a beautiful viewing point we were traveling to, but the place had been momentarily conquered by the monkeys, so we drove past with only a quick glance. We know not to mess with the local gang of monkeys. Humans lose that battle every time.
We finished our drive through some local villages where we were greeted with smiles and waves from anybody close enough to catch our attention. For dinner, we went back to Elseline’s friend’s house, where the whole family was invited over for a barbecue. There must have been 15 people joining us.
After spending the past two days in the towns of Senggigi and Mataram, we set off for the small island of Gili Air. Upon arriving, we dropped our stuff again and went immediately to the dive center to check in. Elseline would do a refresher course and I would fill my paperwork for our first dive in the afternoon. It would be our first experience diving together and my first time diving since Komodo.
I find the feelings and sensations I have when scuba diving challenging to put into words. It is such an immersive experience. It is both technical and beautiful; constraining in some ways and freeing in others. We would go on to complete three dives, one in the afternoon and two the following morning. For the first morning dive, Elseline and I split up so I could do a deep dive. The videos provide a glimpse into the different wildlife and coral we saw. From what I can remember, we saw many turtles, moray eel, stonefish, lion fish, nudibranch, blue-spotted stingray, clownfish, pufferfish, and many schools of colorful reef fish in all sorts of shapes and sizes.
After diving, we spent the evening catching the sunset on the far side of the island. We rode the bicycles we rented for the duration of our stay on the island back to our little villa on the beach for one final night before heading to our hike the following day.
In the center of Lombok sits Rinjani, a large volcano that symbolizes deep meaning for the local people of the island. For some, climbing Rinjani is equivalent to traveling to Mecca for the Hajj. One of the five pillars of Islam is to travel to Mecca, Saudi Arabia after the holy month of Ramadan. However, this is too expensive for many on the island, so climbing the volcano is the natural substitute. For others, it keeps the island in balance with the spirits. When the people do something bad, the volcano reacts.
Climbing the volcano takes three days and since our trip was short, there was no time. Plus, Elseline climbed it seven years ago. So, instead, we climbed Pergasingan Hill. We were picked up from the port and drove to the town of Sambaleon to gear up. We had two local porters guide the way and bring the camping gear for us up the mountain. Although the official name is “hill” and not “mountain,” this seems to only be a technicality as the hike was pretty steep for 2.5 hours up. I climbed hills when I was 7 to go sledding. These were the thoughts I had as we hiked up the mountain through the tall grass…
We made it to the top about 30 minutes before the darkness settled in. Good timing, I’d say. Our new friends setup camp as we enjoyed a light sunset over the horizon.
The next morning, we woke up around 5:30AM to fulfill the purpose of our trip: catch a real glimpse of Rinjani during the sunrise before the clouds settled around it. The weather held and we were treated to a beautiful sight of Rinjani and the sunset off to the left. After some breakfast and coffee with a view, we made the trek back down a different way, catching some new sights as we carefully picked our way through the steep trail.
Our trip on Lombok ended as it started, with visiting Elseline’s friends for a nice dinner out at a local restaurant. And in the morning, the same friend who picked us up drove us the hour to the airport for us to start our journey back to Ho Chi Minh City.
In just two weeks, we will travel again. However, this time, it will be four days apart with a whole grade level of students. We may find the experience to be less of a vacation, but some time outdoors nonetheless.