Our Asia Trip Diary – Part Four
It’s already week four in Indonesia! It’s Monday and we’re still in Nusa Penida, the small island next to Bali. After a recovery day for Marnick, we’re ready to hit the road of Nusa Penida for one last time.
This morning we’re going to the famous T-Rex viewpoint at Kelingking Beach. We leave early in the morning on our scooter because we want to avoid crowds. We’re very lucky, when we arrive at this gorgeous place, there is only one other couple. We admire the view and there is even a rainbow popping up just above the T-Rex!! We take some photos but decide to not climb down this time to visit the beach. Not because we’re traumatised because of what happened two days ago, but because it starts to rain. We think it’s fair to have some breakfast while sheltering from the rain.
We drive to our next stop, where we planned to climb the stairs next to the cliffs to see some beautiful views, the Guyangan waterfall and a temple. When we arrive they already ask for a parking fee and we have to rent a sarong to climb the stairs because it’s a holy place. At this time we’re so done with all these tourist fees in the Bali area that we refuse to pay again. We drive a bit further, where we can enjoy the view for free. The road was a bit tricky, but we get to an amazing viewpoint on top of the mountains. The place is called MantaCliff, and the name doesn’t lie. From above we see some Manta Rays swimming underneath us, wow!
When we still have our scooter, we decide to drive back to Goa Giri Putri Temple. It’s a temple inside a cave, which we accidentally passed by two days ago. Also at this place, we have to wear a sarung for the temple which we can rent for 5.000 IDR (€0,34) each. This time we think it’s a fair price, so we dress up and start climbing up. Surprise! When we managed to climb to the top of these big stairs with our long sarungs, we have to pay a 50.000 IDR donation each to enter the cave. Okay, that might sound not too expensive, but you have to know they are asking money for literally everything here. We’re quite pissed because it wasn’t said or shown when we started this climb. But we enter anyways, and we did get free water, maybe to calm us down. We must say, it’s a special place. If we would recommend it? Not sure… It’s a nice cave, but the temple is not that special in our opinion. There are tons of these kinds of construction lights everywhere, shining bright white light.
On Tuesday we take a ferry to Lombok. We’re so happy to leave this Bali area behind. Don’t get us wrong, it is beautiful. But it is extremely touristy and that comes with a lot of scams. Above that, we didn’t feel the locals were genuine.
From Lombok, we want to visit Gili Air, a small island in the North-West of Lombok. Little did we know that our ferry would first stop at that exact island before heading to Lombok… So after one night, we already leave Lombok to go to Gili Air. This time we don’t take a speedboat but the local boat. We buy a ticket for 20.000 IDR, although we know locals can buy it for 16.000 IDR. We heard from the guest house owner that the ladies at the ticket booths don’t get paid well, so we don’t mind paying a bit more. The boat leaves when it’s full, which is 60 people. We’re lucky, the boat is already full when we arrive but we still fit in with our big luggage and can leave immediately. We’re the only westerns on the boat and we’re sitting between rice bags and all sorts of foods you can imagine.
Last night I started feeling unwell. I had a lot of pain around my abdomen. It was not over yet and when we arrive at our hotel, I can’t handle it and started crying. It’s just too much for me. That’s when we decide we were going to take it slow for a few days.
So, that’s what happened. We stayed at our hotel for the rest of the week. Except for eating and chilling around the pool, we don’t do much. Although we mostly stay inside the hotel, we really love Gili Air. It’s an island as we imagined when we were kids. No cars, only bicycles and horses. Prices are slightly higher and there are a lot of nice places to eat. Seasons are changing, and we notice. Every afternoon, it starts getting dark and we have tropical storms daily. As we’re just chilling, we don’t mind. It’s actually refreshing after a hot day.
We do try to see a doctor, but there is only a medical centre on the island. So we decided to take a public boat back to Lombok coming Sunday, where we can see a doctor. Saturday night I feel so sorry we didn’t even see the whole island nor did some snorkelling. So, before we take the boat to Lombok, we rent two bicycles and bike around. When we pass a snorkelling spot, we stop and jump into the sea. I decide to rent a snorkel and fins. Marnick is more into relaxing and just sits in a bar, watching me snorkelling. The sea is shallow for a long time, but after some swimming, I do find some coral reef that is still alive and see colourful fish. It’s beautiful and sad at the same time when you first have to cross all the dead coral to finally see some ocean life…
I feel happy again when leaving Gili Air on Sunday, after some snorkelling and a lot of painful days. But now we’re in Mataram, Lombok, to go to the hospital on Monday. I already feel a bit better but Marnick persuades me to see a doctor anyways just to be sure.
Monday we go to the hospital. Everything here goes very smoothly. They take X-rays and CT scans to check my ribs, but also my lungs and liver. Luckily, there was nothing to see, so not a bruised rib as we feared for the last six days. It must be in my muscles and of course, the fatigue and stress around the pain are not helping. I have to sit it through and take some painkillers. We’re both very relieved.
Today is Tuesday and we take a day to put it all together. Maybe that’s a better way than saying “taking it slow” as we did before. As that actually meant planning, booking accommodation, keeping up with our finances and blogging to us.
I’m not fully recovered yet, but I do have my energy back to travel around! Now it’s Marnick who’s getting sick, so let’s hope that will not escalate.
See you on our next blog!
