Our Asia Trip Diary – Part Five
It’s Wednesday and after two days in the city of Mataram, we’re totally ready to see some more of Lombok. We rent a scooter for three days and we arrange that we can leave our luggage for the coming days at the hotel in Mataram. We booked a cute guest house in Kuta for the next two days as our new base to explore the south. That’s where we’re heading first.
Kuta is the beating heart of Lombok and
there are lots of beautiful beaches. After five weeks of Indonesian food, we’re
craving something different. We found a Moroccan restaurant where we, for the
first time ever, spend a lot for dinner, almost €13. Okay, it doesn’t sound
like much, but Indonesian food is extremely cheap so we are not used to this. Anyway,
it was heavenly to eat something different for once.
The next day, we’re driving to Pink Beach. Accidently we drive to the ‘wrong’ Pink Beach. We take a sketchy road down and strand on a deserted beach. WOW. It’s truly amazing! We’ve never been to such a cute beach. It’s just the two of us. The water is crystal clear and we even spot a starfish under our feet. We feel bad we didn’t bring our GoPro into the water but after a few minutes an even bigger starfish stranded on the beach!
The next beach we’re stopping at is Tanjung Aan. It’s a large beach with a lot of bars and restaurants. Sadly enough this beach is like a lot of beaches in Indonesia, full of trash. It’s not the tourists that bring all that plastic to the beach, but the locals. We see them throwing away their trash everywhere and in the evening they burn parts of their trash.
We really love cruising around Lombok, it’s a beautiful island. It’s not as crowded as the islands we’ve been to before. There are a lot of roads where we don’t see anyone. We feel like this is more the real Indonesia.
On Friday we have to drive back to Mataram. The last beach we stop at is Selong Belanak. It’s a very cool beach and it’s the perfect place for beginner surfers. We take some lunch and we map out a route for our way back. We take a scenic route and the start is gorgeous. We have some amazing views along the way. But when we arrive at a little village, the road stops, and we need to continue on a ‘road’ that is no longer there. It’s a hell of an adventure and I’m taking my scooter skills to another level. I wonder if Marnick’s bottom will survive this trip.
In the late afternoon we’re back in Mataram where we prepare ourselves as tomorrow we’re going on a 4-day boat trip!
Saturday morning, they pick us up at 8 am with a minibus and drive us to the meeting point. From there, we leave with other busses to the harbour of Lombok. Our boat is already waiting for us with lunch as we only leave at 3 pm. After all the transportation, the boat tour can finally start!
On our first night, we watch the sunset from Kenawa Island. The boat keeps driving at night because the next stop is something very exciting! I’m already awake at 5am when I notice the boat stopped. I immediately put on my swimming suit and wake up Marnick as there are whale sharks around us. We’re able to spot three of them and even swim with them. This was a true once in a lifetime experience!
For the rest of the day, we keep driving and stop once for a refreshing swim. At sunset we see dolphins swimming next to us.
Monday morning we arrived at Komodo National Park on Komodo Island. We do the medium “track” (2 km) with a ranger and we ended up seeing three Komodo Dragons. Komodo Dragons are the biggest lizards on earth with a length of 3 meters.
Afterwards, we drive further with the boat to see Pink Beach, which is also on Komodo Island. The beach is coloured pink because of the broken red corals in the sand. We take our snorkels and explore the corals and fish at Pink Beach.
On the way from Komodo Island to the next stop, we see lots of Manta Rays jumping out of the water. We are ending our day with a sunset on Padar Island, the most beautiful view we have seen in Indonesia.
For the last day of the boat trip, there are two more beaches scheduled. As the beaches aren’t that spectacular to us and Marnick is feeling unwell, we decide to stay on the boat and swim around the boat with our snorkels. That way we can hide from the sun at any time on the boat and enjoy some time with just the two of us. After our 4-days adventure, we are dropped off at the harbour of Labuan Bajo (Flores).
From Wednesday to Friday we’re staying in Labuan Bajo. We want some time for resting and planning. We’re not only planning our last week in Indonesia but also the next country we’re flying to. Vietnam!
Friday afternoon we take the plane to Bali. In the evening we arrive at a cute hotel in the middle of Ubud. Saturday we start exploring the area starting off with Ubud Market and Saraswati Temple. Afterwards, we walk the Sweet Orange Trail, where we found the cutest restaurant in the middle of rice terraces.
I’m almost fully recovered from my abdominal pain, but now Marnick’s is sick… Hope our next blog is without any sickness!
