From Kuta Bali to Kuta Lombok

The plan was to aclimatize with all the Western comforts before heading out to rural Bali. After two days we were ready to leave Kuta-Legian, but had two more nights booked, so we tried to make the best of it. We surfed Kuta Beach, had a few decent meals accompanied by Bintangs, and did very small amount of shopping.


Now, there is nothing wrong with taking a holiday in Cancun, if your Canadian, or Mallorca if your British, or Kuta, Bali if your Aussie, but drinking late and getting up at noon isn't my idea of a holiday at home, let alone one that takes me half way around the world. With package tour destinations also come elevated prices, wispers of elicit drugs and tipsy teens. We were more than happy to leave the decently impressive Kuta Bali Resort and the crazy Legian club scene (which we didn't patricipate in, except for having a few beers at the Irish Pub, and another few at British Sports Bar talking politics with an Aussie miner) for a 4 hour (6 hour including the hour we spent before leaving the dock and the hour waiting for the boat to leave so we could moor on the other end) to Lombak.

Lombak is the island furthest to the left in the Nusa Tenggara arc, which also includes Komodo Island, the home of the famed dragon. There are quicker ways to get to Lombok, either by fast ferry or small airplane (both costing around 50 or so Euro, of 500,000 Indonesian Rupiah*). The slow ferry is the cleapest (32,000 Rupiah, or about 3 Euro) and from it you the an awesome view from your spot on the less-than-tidy floor of the outside deck. We did see a pod of about 50 dolphis palying up along side the boat making the trip even more worthwhile.

We finally got off the boat around 6:30pm, and shared a taxi to Kuta beach on the South of the Island with two young Brits, with boards in tow. Kuta is well known by surfers for it's aweomse waves and chilled out atmosphere. We were especially lucky to have reserved a room at Yuli's Homestay (www.yulishomestay.com), a B&B run by a local woman (Yuli) and her Kiwi husband (Mike).

So far, Kuta Lombok has been the relaxed sort of place we tend to enjoy. We've found a couple of places serving good food (Warung Bule and Astari - http://ashtarilombok.com/) and have spent a number of hours checking out the numerous beaches stretching along the South coast, while really getting to see how rural Indonesians live. *1 Euro = 11,000 Rupiah 1 US Dollar = 8,000 Rupiah 1 CND Dollar = 9,000 Rupiah