Récits de voyages autour du monde

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 1st

UBUD – GILI AIR ISLAND

We took advantage of a shuttle service to get to the port of Padang Bay (Bali). On board a speed boat equipped with eight 250-force engines, we sailed for about two hours to the Gili Air Island wharf, including a stop at Gili Trawangan Island. I spent part of the crossing on the upper deck admiring the beautiful mountain landscapes and a volcano. Surrounded by young adults, to the sound of the resounding pop music of the speakers, I felt free as air and serene. What a sense of well-being!

Upon arrival at Gili Air, we booked our tickets for our next boat trip and then haggled firm for a horse-drawn cariole to drive us with our luggage to our accommodation. (There are no cars on this small, moderately touristy island.) We like the Sandy Beach Hotel very much. Located in the north-east of the island, the place is heavenly and very quiet; the hustle and bustle of the city center is more than a kilometer away. The site is by the sea in a bias with the island of Lombok. The huts are placed around a large courtyard with lush tropical vegetation. Our room and shower room (with salt water only) are quaint and spacious.

After the welcome cocktail, under a blazing sun, we bathed in the saltwater pool. The water temperature was incredibly hot. We chatted with a lovely French couple throughout our swim.

Hungry, we ate Indonesian food at our accommodation’s restaurant, sitting at a bamboo table facing the turquoise sea.

Under the scorching mid-day sun, I walked to the north end to take a look at the northern beaches. I then turned around and Claude joined me. I bathed in the sea, very hot, shallow and against a background of corals. I then took refuge in my hut, having reached my maximum dose of heat and sun for the day. I took the opportunity to work on my travel stories. I was 10 days late. Fortunately, I take notes every day in my little notebook that accompanies me everywhere.

Claude and I went for a walk on the little sandy path that runs along the sea. The high tide at the end of the day and the play of colors in the sky made the place even more perfect! We ordered grilled fish from one of the small seaside restaurants, sitting on a platform, on large cushions in front of a small coffee table. We ended the evening chatting again with the French couple we met in the afternoon.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 2

GILI AIR ISLAND

What better way to start the day than a good breakfast by the sea? I then rented a bicycle ($5 CAD for 24 hours) and did almost a full tour of the island. (The north side is not passable by bike.) Arriving at the western end, I took a small path leading to the center of the island, discovering the homes of the natives of the island and their mosque. Disoriented, I made a loop taking me back on the main path that runs along the beach. I walked back to the harbour and walked up the street in front of it before returning on the way to my hotel.

I joined Claude on a bamboo platform facing the sea. We spent a good part of the day there, comfortably seated on large red cushions, in the shade of a large conifer. I brought my computer and, inspired by the beauty of the landscape, I wrote for a good two hours, trying to update myself in my stories. We were served our dinner on site: the dolce vita!

Our long snorkeling session delighted us. The seabed is full of beautiful corals and tropical fish with a thousand shapes and colors. We swam a long distance, joining divers as part of a guided boat tour. Several hundred metres from the strike, the seabed became deeper and the temperature was cooler. This is where we saw the greatest variety of fish. Unfortunately, we have not had the chance to see the large turtles that live in these waters. We had to be wary of the huge black sea urchins with long spines, which was rather scary when we saw them. But what an extraordinary experience! The Indonesian seabed is beautiful to discover.

Attracted by the pool, we dived into the water but it was so hot that we quickly came out. We went back to our shady platform for coffee and some lazing around. In the late afternoon, I went to take a shower and… Oh! What a horror! I realized that I had my upper thighs, from behind, completely burned by the sun! How is this possible? I had worn my dress over my swimsuit all day. Claude thinks I would have caught this sunburn during our snorkeling session. How strange! Did I have my butt out of the water while swimming?

We dined at our hotel restaurant, sitting at a table by the water, by the light of an oil lamp. Our grilled fish served with fries and vegetable salad was exquisite.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3

GILI-AIR ISLAND – KUTA LOMBOK

We packed our bags, had lunch at our restaurant facing the sea and drove to the port of Gili Air. The ferry crossing lasted only ten minutes. In the middle of the voyage, the boat began to pitch dangerously because of the strong waves. It looked like a refugee boat about to topple!

Carrying suitcases and stallion were waiting for us at the port of Bangsal on the island of Lombok. On board the carriage, we went to our travel agency and then departed with the shuttle transport to Kuta Lombok, in the south of the island. The back bench where we were sitting was rather uncomfortable but the scenic road along the sea made us forget about this inconvenience. What beautiful bays, beaches and cliffs we saw! We passed through Senggigi, a popular city for its beautiful beach, then crossed the city of Mataram, the capital of Lombok. The Mataram Mosque is very impressive for its grandeur, its remarkable architecture and the jade color of its dome. Unfortunately, we went too fast and I didn’t have time to photograph it. After nearly three hours on the drive, we were disembarked at the Honeybee Home Stay. This accommodation is a five-minute walk from the main and tourist road to Kuta. Our spacious room on the3^rd floor overlooks a long gallery overlooking the small outdoor pool on the 2nd floor. From our large windows, we can see the mountains that surround us and tall coconut trees laden with coconuts. Upon arrival we were a little disappointed not to be directly by the sea as at Gili Air Island but, after we moved to our room, we started to enjoy the place.

We showered to help us withstand the extreme mid-day heat. We went to dinner at the first restaurant found on the main street. We came back to relax in the air conditioning in our room while waiting for the temperature to drop a bit. Around 4 p.m., two young hotel employees took us on motorcycles to Kuta Public Beach. They didn’t charge us anything; they made us this offer to go because they took pity on « mum and dad », considering us as little old people who could not bang on foot the 2 km round trip to the beach. I took an old shot, but I convinced Claude to accept their offer!

The large beach of Kuta is superb: golden sand, mountains to the west and east, large rocks on the beach, coral reef advancing in the water, etc. What a beautiful landscape!

Claude bathed and we then walked on the wide and long promenade that runs along the beach, discovering the fishermen’s port and their small village at the western end. The children were playing around the boats in dry dock, barefoot through the rubbish lying on the beach. What a pity that this part of the beach is so soiled!

We walked to our guest house, taking a side road that looked like a nice little country road. We bathed in the « boiling » water of the pool, under a beautiful sky at the end of the day.

In the evening we went to dinner on a street perpendicular to the main street. We opted for an economical masakan Padang buffet that turned out to be delicious.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4

KUTA LOMBOK

After our breakfast, we negotiated a round trip to Tanjung Aan beach with two scooter drivers (100K or $10 CAD). The drought landscapes are surprising and desolate to see. All vegetation is sorely lacking in water. The usually green mountains are dry and bare. The rainy season is two months late for the third year in a row. It is a disaster for farmers.

Tanjung Aan Beach, reputed to be among the most beautiful in Indonesia, was a favorite for us. The large bay is surrounded by huge rocks and mountains. The water is turquoise, and the sand is white and soft. Comfortably seated on sun loungers, in the shade of a straw-roofed umbrella, we spent the day bathing and relaxing. After our dinner which was served to us on the beach, we took a nap and then I went for a walk to the west end of the beach. I took care to wet my sarong and put it on my back so as not to get sunburned again. Under a blazing sun, I climbed the mountain in search of a panoramic view. I wasn’t disappointed! From the top of the mountain, not one but two huge bays were revealed to me. What extraordinary landscapes! I met an Indian and we chatted passionately about India, his native country.

On my way down to the beach, I jumped when a monkey jumped into a tree a few meters from me. I joined Claude at our beach location and had a last swim before our two scooter drivers came back to pick us up at 4pm, as heard.

Back in town, Claude and I shared an excellent vegetable soup to wait until supper time. We spent time in our room, in the pool and on our balcony before going for pizza in a hippie-looking restaurant.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5

KUTA LOMBOK

This morning, I got up late: 8ham. Claude had got ahead of me for breakfast. At 9:30am, Mustika, our guide and driver came to pick us up by car (200K or $20 CAD for the day). We first went to visit the Sasak village Dusun Sade. Three hundred inhabitants live in this small traditional village. A man from the village told us about the customs and customs of his ethnicity for about ten minutes. He explained that young people marry cousins. So they’re all interconnected. The boy must chase after the girl of his liking and catch him. If he succeeds and the girl agrees, they marry together. If she refuses the marriage proposal, the boy must pay an amount to the girl’s family. The Sasaks live mainly from their annual rice crop and local handicrafts sold to tourists. There are nine Sasak villages in all on the island of Lombok. The Sasak were the first to inhabit the island.

• 

• 

• 

We attended a traditional warrior dance show with a small gamelan orchestra.

Mustika then took us to Mawun Beach. To get there, the mountain path crosses small villages and offers a stunning view of the bay below. We also saw the holes of the gold seekers in the area. Some were lucky; they became rich and built large luxurious houses contrasting with the small local dwellings. Mawun Beach is beautiful and not very busy. Located in a medium-sized and almost closed bay, it is surrounded by high mountains. These mountains are suffering badly from the current drought in Indonesia and are brown rather than green. The sand is pristine white, the sea is turquoise, and its bottoms are rapidly deep. The only shadow in the picture is the waste that arrives by sea and comes ashore on the beach, leaving a line of rubbish that indicates how far the tide rises. What a pity! This paradise beach loses its appeal because of this serious problem of waste that is difficult to ignore when you spend the day there. Several brightly painted wooden boats are anchored at the eastern end of the bay. Fishermen go out to sea after the mid-day heat, after 3 p.m.

We settled in the shade of an umbrella for the day. We bathed several times. How good and lukewarm the water was! We dined at the beach restaurant with fish, rice and gado gado and went for a walk under the blazing sun. While waiting for Mustika to pick us up, we chatted with the beach vendors, showing them pictures of our Quebec winters. Mustika arrived at 4 p.m., as heard.

On the way back, we met a procession going to a wedding ceremony. The villagers were dressed in their beautiful traditional costumes.

Arriving at our guesthouse, we bathed long in the small pool, happy to get rid of the beach sand and salt of the sea. The water was so good that we didn’t decide to go out!

We went back to dinner at the same restaurant as the day before (masakan Padang). We then went for a walk on the Kuta beach promenade. We sat on a bench in the main square, facing the sea, enjoying the tranquility of the place. We came back by a new path, discovering a tourist corner that we had not yet seen.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6

KUTA LOMBOK – NUSA LEMBONGAN ISLAND (Via Padang Bay)

We had lunch early and waited for the shuttle which was to pick us up at 7.30am. As she did not arrive, I checked our reservation and realized that I had given the wrong date, December 9th. damn! The receptionist quickly found a private driver to take us to Bangsal Wharf, located northwest of Lombok (400K or $40 CAD). The journey took 3 hours. After passing the arid area of the south of the island, we arrived in Mataram, the capital of the island (400,000 inhabitants), where traffic was heavy. After this city, the road is mountainous, and the vegetation is greener and lusher. Crossing the Monkey Forest, we came across several long-tailed macaques. Sitting on the guardrails, they wait patiently for drivers to stop to feed them.

We arrived in time to take the speed boat to Bangsal. I managed to get a refund for the shuttle I had booked by mistake for December 9th. The Indonesians are honest and it’s remarkable!

We waited for the boat in the shade of a tree, unable to bear the burning rays of the sun. How hot we got! The fast boat crossing lasted two hours. Sitting in the shade at the back of the boat, I chatted throughout the crossing with a very friendly Indian woman from Bombay. She invited Claude and I to visit her, which we will certainly do if we ever return to India.

Arriving at Padang Bay on Bali Island, I bought our return tickets for December 9 (Nusa Lembongan – Sanur – Denpasar Airport: boat and shuttle; $25 CAD per person). We are embarked on a smaller boat for the 30-minute crossing from Padang Bay to Lembongan. We just had time to eat our lunch consisting of « masakan Padang ».

SEE MY NEXT ARTICLE : LEMBONGAN ISLAND.