Lombok is the island directly east of Bali. It is 4 739 square km, so just little bit smaller than Bali. Lombok is a world of its own, with so much uncharted beauty here. I was recommended making a visit to this island from my neighbour, Pete of the Dale from back home, a cool cat who travelled to these parts of the world before it was cool. In case you didn’t read the last post, I’m currently travelling with my friend, Alfred. We met in Bali as he came off his Australian tour, and we decided to hit the Gili Islands of Lombok first. I have two weeks left of my visa at this point and he is just starting his month-long tourist visa. So he will circle back to Bali. I’ve had my fill for now. It was torrential down-pouring the day Alfred arrived, so we were happy to make for the gilis, where the sun is shining.
The Gili Islands!
These are the three tiny islands just off the northwest tip of Lombok. Gili translates to island in Indonesia. On the map, they look like little stepping stones out into the ocean. The one furthest one out is called Gili Trawangan, the middle one is Gili Meno, and the closest to Lombok is Gili Air. It is common for people to start on Gili Trawangan and either make their way through the other gilis, or to just see the other two on a day trip, as they are just a short boat ride apart. The Gili Islands definitely were a hit and ended up being the highlight of Indonesia for us. We knew we made the right choice right from the boat ride over. We arrived to our ferry in the downpour, it was literally ankle deep water to tread through to the boat. Within a few minutes, the rain let up and the clouds started to fade, the sun making an appearance. Alfred had the bright idea to go up onto the upper deck and it turned into a gorgeous mid morning. what better way to celebrate than a bintang. A few others made their way up, the bright idea catching on. The scenery was perfect, little green islands everywhere in the blue water. An hour later we dock, and with each step forward onto the island, we were in love, a love that only grew with each day. For different reasons, from different perspectives, that our friendship strengthened by getting to be here together.
There is a huge dive culture here in the gilis, which is why they were on Alfred’s radar; he’s a pretty avid diver! He was stoked to get into the water. But first things first, I will share with you the best part of the islands, in my opinion at least: no cars and more importantly, no motorbikes. There are only bicycles and horse-drawn carriages here. Such a nice change of pace from Jakarta, Balikpapan and Bali. Phewwww. I could use a breather at this point.
Gili Trawangan:
Gili T, as the locals and seasoned travelers call it, is the most developed and commercial of the gilis. Divers flock here for very affordable dives and certifications. Not to mention the bonus of quite literally being in paradise: The islands are tiny, with white sand and turquoise, crystal clear water. The marine life is the most bio-diverse on the planet. So you see some really cool and wild creatures in these waters. Many foreigners work here as instructors and underwater photographers. There is a culture and community that centres on diving here, that brings with it a lot of young hipsters and parties. But there is a lot more to life on the gilis than just this. And that very life I stepped into and immersed myself in.
Snorkelling!
I’m not a diver, it kind of scares me to be honest… just the idea of being in open water and being surrounded by the unknown. Don’t get me wrong, I love the ocean, I LOVE surfing, but I don’t want to be underwater for long periods of time. I definitely am interested in the marine life, and got some solid snorkelling in with Alfred when he wasn’t in the depths. Its next to nothing to rent your equipment from some local dudes. On our first snorkel adventure, we just swam from the shore and found sea turtles within minutes, fittingly at a beach called Turtle Point. They were so majestic and super chill! Alfred made me realize how lucky it is to see turtles on your first snorkel. There’s tons of beautiful coral here, that grows in underwater gardens in endless colours, only matched in the hundreds of tropical fish we swam with. It was actually unbelievable, they were every shape and size. Darting around, or just flowing with the current. The deeper we went, the more diverse they became. We even saw an eel! We booked a snorkel day trip together, and a boat took us out to three different spots. At one spot we swam to an underwater statue that is actually an art installation. It was built to enhance and preserve the marine life. Coral grows on it, so it provides food and homes for the fishies around. On our trip we met a couple really cool girls, Lizzie and Nicole, from Mexico city who have been travelling for over a year. They just started DJing so we actually went to their gig that night and then hung out a few more times. I definitely plan to meet up with them again somewhere in the world.
Alfred had a 3-day advanced open-water diving course, so I got the opportunity to explore on my own while he was out at sea. Our home base was the diving school, that was part-hostel. We shared a private room for 30cad, no problem. The gilis are dominantly Muslim, and we were right beside the mosque. And you know what that means: our stay was painted in the songs of the prayers. Luckily Alfred found this just as beautiful as I did.
Gili T is the largest of the gilis, but that being said, you can walk its perimeter in about 2 hours give or take, depending on how fast you’re going, and how many times you stop (there’s no shortage of stunning places to pick). The perimeter is full of resorts, bars, bungalows, and the interior has some local houses and forest areas, and a little mountain. I stopped a few times to swim, but most of the beaches are chalked full of coral so its a little sharp on the feet. There’s music bumping from every few beach bars any hour of the day. The inner part of the island is quite peaceful, and its like you stepping back in time. You must know I love this by now, traversing the worlds of past and present. I zigzagged through a few of these little inner-island streets and shared some hellos with the locals.
The night life on gili T is pretty wild, parties every night with DJs playing along the beach, and tons of bintangs and cocktails to go around. There’s a reggae bar here that everyone goes to on Wednesdays for live music, called Sama Sama (same same). and of course the full moon parties. I stayed on Gili T for four nights with Alfred before island hopping onto the next. Alfred found a bungalow to stay at for a week to write music, and we planned to meet on Lombok’s main island after the week was through.
Trawangan: translates to Tunnel in Indonesian … origins from WWII when Japan built a cave tunnel through the moutain here for anti-aircraft efforts. There are some shipwrecks from war times that divers can explore here as well.
Gili Meno:
This is the middle gili, the smallest, and the least developed/commercial. Meno actually means less in Indonesian. It looks like you could practically swim over here it’s so close. I spent a night here at a homestay, a very minimal little bungalow to myself(13 cad); just me and my thoughts. My host Edy and his family were beautiful, low-key, wholesome people. Once I got settled, out I go for the first walk and exploration, and of course some eats. A couple turns and I’d reach the beach, no fail, Edy told me. Famous last words. I took that inevitable a wrong turn, and found a little dead-end in the trees: a clearing, with a pile of garbage, your typical scene. At the pile, was a chicken and a HUGE lizard. My first thought was of Godzilla. We all froze in a stalemate staring contest, and BEELINED it all at once in opposite directions. Strange. Tropical climates are home to a lot of creatures (including myself). Anyway, on I carried to explore the island, what else was there to do. This is definitely a sleepy island, with just a couple beachfront restaurants and bungalows, and a few locals meandering around, selling bracelets and such. there’s a little turtle sanctuary here that helps to maintain the population. I visit the turtles, then grab a dragon fruit juice (my favourite… by the way it’s just called dragon here, so dragon juice ha), settle into a bamboo cabana, and open my book. A few chapters deeper into the Heart of Darkness, and it starts to rain, so I head back to my bungalow for some shelter.
Once it clears up, I make my way back out. I don’t make it very far, just outside my homestay, because I stumble on a soccer pitch with some of the local kids kicking the ball around. They see me as I see them, and we start kicking the ball together; instant friends. Their laughs are just perfect. I’m reminded of my own childhood and thankful I spent a lot of it outdoors. One of the boys is wearing flip flops that are at least 4 sizes too big, another little boy and girl are just barefoot like most people around here.
The sun starts to set and some of the kids run off, probably going home for dinner. The kids run free on this tiny island: they’re a safe community, looking out for one another. There are no polisi here, there is actually a prince who rules these islands, and implements laws and punishment if needed, mostly just in the extreme cases, but things seem to just be unspoken here. This illustrates the sultanate’s continuing presence through Indonesia.
Off I wander towards the heart of the island, trailing some of the kiddos. I see cattle roaming the fields, grazing in the grass, the bells on their necks chiming as they saunter along, joined by the Islamic prayers floating through the air, floating through time. I follow the sound, the blue and yellow mosque reveals itself, nestled in among the homes.
I stop at a little warung, learn the name of the restaurant translates to “Tip of the Tongue.” Contemplating this, the interplay of our senses can’t always be put into words. Our inner moments carry with them echos of our past. Travelling is really meaningful in this sense, as it draws out things you thought were long gone, but are right here within you. Things you love and are happy to be reminded of. And this is just another way the divide closes between you and the other. Were not all that different. The flavours on the tip of my tongue are here now, as I try some of their local food, a vegetable curry and some garlic sauteed greens. What memories will stand out in my future that I’m making right now? They will be peaceful, I know that. This pace of life sure is a peaceful one. Leaves room for being present in and loving each moment.
Gili Air:
I wake up with the sun, and make my way to the docks, saying goodbye to my little family as I go. I catch the slow boat over to Gili Air with the locals, booking my stay on the boat ride over. Back to winging it; its a way of life. Air means water in Indonesian, just to throw you off a little. As soon as I step foot from the boat to land, something settles into place. On my walk over to my new place, another little bungalow (16cad), everyone greets me with a smile. Its just the way of life here. As you make eye contact and the sides of your mouth rise, so do your spirits. It’s like we are both in on a secret that the rest of the world must uncover before it’s too late. This island is the perfect balance between the other two gilis. More laid back than gili T, with a little more going on than Meno… something in the air being just right. (This is a scene straight out of Goldilocks.) I settle into my place, run by a British girl who works alongside the locals. This marks the tone over the next few days: seeing the integration of locals and foreigners. Everyone gets around on bicycles here, lots of families; the kids so naturally making their way around, locals and foreigners enmeshed in their day-to-days, just coexisting. My soul just feels settled here. You know the song “This must be the Place” by the Talking Heads. That’s playing in my head as I make my way. There is a real air of supporting local businesses here. There’s a couple yoga studios here so I booked a few classes. Nice warung eateries, of course a bakso cart. I had dinner with my yoga instructor one night after class, and she filled me in on the history of the island, and a few other things its important to be aware of. I learned about how hard this island was hit with the pandemic lockdown, as the main source of income here is tourism. And actually just a few years prior to covid, the gilis were devastated by a tsunami. All the businesses along the coast were flooded and wiped out; almost everyone had to rebuild; if they could afford to. I mean, I know Indonesians are resilient, but to recover from these events and still be smiling, that’s shows some serious strength. It really puts things into perspective. Something else I leaned is that the women aren’t allowed inside the mosques here. The Islamic women must pray from outside or from home. Something I can’t get behind or understand. And then I reflected on how I’ve never heard a female voice coming through those speakers. Somehow they didn’t seem so beautiful to me. There are a lot of things in the world that don’t make sense. I try to focus my energy where they do, and just observe at a distance, all that I don’t fully understand.
On my first night here, my host recommended a bar called Legends, on the north side of the island. I walked over in the evening and took a seat down the beach to gather my thoughts before going in. The past couple days of being on my own again allowed some deeper questions to flow, “How is my life changing and how will I meet these changes? Where do I want to end up after my travels?” I allow the thoughts to flow through me, witnessing them, respecting that I am aware of them. I remind myself that travelling is a provider of questions as much as answers. I’m not in a rush to find the answers yet, or for that matter to settle on some. The books I have been reading pose some big questions of purpose… Joseph Conrad’s, “Heart of Darkness” is finished now; “Pincer Martin” by William Golding and F Scott Fitzgerald’s “Tender is the Night,” are on the go now. These stories all carry protagonists who are travelers confronting another angle on life. Turning the page, just as I am. And ultimately, I just think this is the first place that has made me consider what life might be like here, if I were to just never leave. On that note, I start to hear the music in the distance, and start to settle back into reality. A cat comes and sits in next to me, purring away. This is an island of felines, by the way; no dogs. Tons of cats are treated so nicely here!! my hostel adopted a little orange one named Sante (relax).
The music calls to me and I start moving towards it. A DJ is playing from a booth up in a tree-house, people are chilling around on bean bags, there is a bar with swings as stools, a few little tables, all right here along the beach. I order a drink at the bar, comes in a paper cup with a wooden straw. I’ve noticed these islands are quite conscious of sustainable products… someone has to be. I lean back, and take in the world from yet another vantage. The DJ is working the place nicely and people start to dance. It seems like everyone knows each other. Turns out they do, and about half are a community that have been coming and going to the gilis for many years. Most of them are from Spain, mostly around Barcelona. And a handful actually lived here during the pandemic lockdown. The other half are locals that have intermingled into the crew, some really cool people. A few come over, introduce themself, ask me to join in some dancing and we have a really solid time! One of the best nights I’ve had in a long time. We exchange Whatsapp, and from here I fall in love with Gili Air.
I spend the next day on my own, writing and wandering; it’s raining on and off. The weather changes so fast here. I feel so strong and confident in who I am, where I’m going and who I attract into my life. I find that I love every street I walk down. There are beautiful big and little trees, tiny little local homes, quaint little warung restaurants. One corner a cafe plays Indonesian traditional music, the next, Miles Davis’ trumpit fills the air. Healthy food and beautiful looking fruit and juices everywhere. Everything comes from the Earth and Nothing costs too much. Everyone is rich. What is your definition of rich?
The following day I meet with my new friends for a full moon party at another corner of the island at a beach bar called Zipps. and it’s like I’ve known them my entire life. I love being around them, they take me right into their circle. When the party ends, we grab some bintangs from a shop, and we take a walk to the opposite end of the island to watch the sunrise, things just settling into place with the new day. They’ve rented a villa for the next few days, and invite me to stay. You guess what my answer is. We hang out, party, get to know each other, become inseparable in our time here. They adopted me into their family and it’s the sweetest thing ever. Four are from Cadaques, a village southeast of Barcelona, Nuria is a scuba instructor, Carlitus a boat operator, Alex is a chef and Elsa owns a restaurant. Dan is their good friend from New Jersey of all places, who has relocated to northern Bali, and owns a diving company up there, with locals as instructors. Three local dudes, Ale, Ibadi and Sigi are their good friends, who join the party each day with us. This is their home, so they find local prices for us on the things we do. Everything here can be paid later, no one counts dollars here to the cent here. Thats just arbitrary, not the way it should always be. Here, life is just built on a system of trust. Its all about keeping the moment going, because really its all that we’ve got. The villa was unbelievably nice, and it was our home for a little while.
They say this island is sticky and I can definitely contend to that. My feet just stuck to the ground here, what can I say. I just kept staying another day, then another and another. We made plans to meet-up later in Bali before I leave Indonesia, so I peeled myself away, and off I went to Lombok to meet Alfred!
Main Island of Lombok:
After a week apart, it was so great to reunite with Alfred. Time is a fickle thing when you’re travelling. When you’re in it, it slows right down and a day can feel much longer than one back home. And looking back, it seems like it went by so fast!! Travelling alone is my number one thing in the world, but being with Alfred is somehow always better; we are kindred spirits. Both refreshed from our time: he wrote three songs and I was in love. Both solid gili outcomes. I took a slow boat from Gili Air and he took one from Gili T, and we actually docked at the same time without really planning it too closely. We got a car from the dock to Mataram, which took us about 45 minutes for 10 cad. We drove through a monkey forest and saw tons of proboscis monkeys along the way. This island is stunning, full of tropical trees and rice fields. Alfred rented a motorcycle in Mataram, so from here we got to do a trek down to Kuta. (We just missed motorbikes so much!) The rental shop was locally owned by a family, and the nephew, Henry was our guide, keen to share his home with us. I rode on the back of Henry’s bike, one of Henry’s friends took Alfred’s guitar, another friend took our packs, so we were rolling deep with entourage, which made it even more fun.
We took it slow, so Henry could show us around. It’s just in their nature, the locals want to share everything with you, and at a nice pace, they’re not rushing through their day. First we stopped at his little village where his mom cooked lunch for us. Lombok means chili- meaning it’s the island of the chilies. This is not an understatement; I’m pretty good with spice but this food was on another level. We ate sticky red bean rice wrapped in banana leaves for dessert which helped to cool the the fire down. Henry is a musician too, so he and Alfred had a jam-sesh while I got to meet the rest of Henry’s family, mostly adorable aunties and uncles. Families stick close together here in Indonesia. It’s where the people draw strength and pride from. After our lunch we headed out and made a stop at a Batek weaving shop. This is a fabric that has permeated Indonesian society since at least the 5th century. This is a wax-resist indigo dyed fabric. Its origin is in Egypt, has travelled to China on the silk road, and historians still disagree about when and how it entered the Indonesian archipelago. That being said, it represents an important artifact of Indonesian history, one that has lasted through the ages. They dressed us up in wedding attire, and we staged some pictures. And of course, we bought a couple things to support the business. I got a dope bucket hat and Alfred got a tunic that he can wear at gigs.
Onwards and outwards… It was nice to be sitting on the back of a bike for a change, and being able to fully take in my surroundings with Henry’s narration. There are over a hundred mosques here, another island dominated by Islam within the archipelago. It started torrential downpouring for the last thrity seconds of our ride, it was so dramatic, but we made it to Kuta unscathed otherwise. Alfred booked our accommodation for us, a little beach club called “Rascals.” Let me tell you how nice this place was. We splurged a little (if you can consider 40 each per night splurging). The luxury we had had as a result was unbelievable. We had an outdoor rainforest shower where I took some of the best showers of my life. And the cabana pool bar was unreal. Breakfast, fresh fruit juice, young coconuts, amazing coffee. Living life.
We had met some Canadians back in Gili T, from Tofino BC who we ended up meeting here in Lombok! We took them to Henry’s grandmother’s restaurant just outside of the main strip on this first night. She made us some incredible food- I had grilled fish with sambal and Alfred had some chicken curry. Henry played music for us and it was a whole vibe of an evening.
Catching some Waves:
We came to Lombok to catch some surf, as it is well known for some beautiful waves and beaches. The Indian ocean is one of the best oceans to surf for more reasons than the warm temperature! You want to catch a swell, that starts with the wind that blows over a large stretch of sea. The Indian ocean delivers uninterrupted and consistent swells, which are sets of surfable, with long peeling waves!!!
Alfred had his motorcycle, so I rented a little motorbike from the hotel. We motored down to Tanjung Aan beach for some surfing on our first morning, again with our Tofino crew. I was super stoked for this as its been too long since the last time I was out in the waves, since before the pandemic! We rented some longboards and hired a boat to take us out into the ocean to where the proper waves were coming in.. It was pretty busy as the weather was actually perfect. But perfect weather is not always the best for surfing. It was a little too calm, not windy enough on this first day, so the waves weren’t too big and came less often. Rinse and repeat for two more days and we got some nice conditions. A little more cloudy, quite a bit windier which meant less tourists, but more avid surfers… and of course some bigger, more consistent waves! We caught some solid rides. We tried out some 7 foot boards on the last day and what a challenge. Its a lot harder to balance, and a LOT more challenging to paddle hard enough to get to where you need to be.
This is the best part of surfing. Its not just about riding the wave. Its a lot more complex than this, and can take a lifetime to start to get it. Its about choosing the right position in the water, reading the ocean so you can catch the right wave when it comes. Standing up and riding that wave is nothing in comparison to the paddling required to be in the right place at the right time.That as well as just reading the weather and choosing the right day, time of day even, to go out. Travelling through we didn’t have these options too much at our disposal, except for being able to choose the morning. If we lived here, we could dial in more to the conditions. But through this struggle, this challenge, you truly become immersed with your board and the ocean. I can’t think about anything but exactly where I am and what I’m doing. About how bad I want to ride the wave that I’m pushing myself so hard to get to. And when you catch it, and you stand up and ride it as it caps and you carve along, there’s no greater feeling. The freedom of the hard work and resettling into the calm water with your board, waiting for the next one. I live for this.
Mount Rinjani
Another island, another mountain to fall in love with. This mystical mountain lies in the north part of the island of Lombok. Unfortunately it's the wrong season to climb it, but the seed is planted for next time. I had the brilliant idea to ride up on the motorbikes to catch a glimpse in person... and Alfred came along because he didn't want me going alone. I just couldn't resist. It's about an hour north of Kuta on bikes. Through the local towns, we wound our way up the island. Once you're outside of Kuta, it's very uncharted, very different than Bali. Alas, we got rained out of our ride. Torrentially rained out so we took shelter at the most local Bakso cart I’ve seen in my time here in Indonesia. A mother and daughter, the cook and us, all under one makeshift roof. Shelter knows no boundary. We were in this together. The rain finally let's up and the clouds part, so we're able to take off back down the island. But let me tell you, there were puddles like small lakes, some practically the size of Lake Erie. Back in the south it's sunny and beautiful. Damn monsoon season dampening my mountain vibes. We jumped in the pool, got a drink and I vowed I was done with motorbikes forever. (Not true)… we had a great night out with even more canadians, some girls that Alfred met from Nunavet on the boat from the gilis. We got a couple drinks and bid Lombok farewell.
We fly back to Bali the next morning, just more night here before Alfred and I must part ways. He's off on a diving trip to Raja Anpat, a world renowned diving spot near Papau New Guinea. And only a couple more days in Indonesia for me before I take another Giant Step in my journey. I’m ready for change. Stories from Vietnam coming up next!!!
Everything you describe makes me feel like I’m there along for the ride. ❤️