lombok

Ever since I set foot in Indonesia I have heard constant whispers about a magical place called the Gili Islands, 3 islands located off the northern coast of Lombok ( island east of Bali). People rave about these tiny islands and all they have to offer- brought in by wooden long boats to beautiful beaches, no motorized transport, white sand, crystal clear water, amazing diving and snorkeling... I was beginning to think this place might be too good to be true. But to my surprise and delight, the Gilis turned out to be everything they're talked up to be!

We first stayed on Gili Trawangan, "the party island." Now how to describe this place? Imagine loads of travelers (the majority of which are messed up on Lord knows what) crammed onto a beautiful, tiny island. It might sound terrible, and kinda is depending on your mood, but it's beautiful enough to withstand the obnoxious people. Despite getting asked questions like: "So, you like came here for the beach and shrooms, too?? Ya bra, Gili T is the shit. Riggggght?" from a 67 year old Australian man who was still drunk at 9 in the morning, we had a blast :) Much like Vasae, Robert and Bene are the kind of company that always ensure a good time no matter where they are. We enjoyed our days hanging out on the beach (fantastic people watching), ending each day at the sunset bar before going out for dinner and some Bintang beer. Pretty good schedule if you ask me. We decided to shake things up and take the boat to Gili Meno, the next island over known for being more chilled out, to go snorkeling for the day. Immediately upon reaching the island we made plans to move. Gili Meno is bonkers beautiful.. Same amazing setting (it's a long stones throw from Gili Trawangan) but without the crowds and a better, more laid back vibe. Hello, paradise! I have found you again. 

In a wonderful accident-turned-miracle we were able to rent a house, an entire house!, for the same cheap price as a bungalow. We were all a bit silly about the extra space, the private little walk out to the beach, the secluded spot... if that house had had a kitchen I think I would've stayed forever. The same basic schedule ensued- days spent at the beach, snorkeling, lazing around and simply enjoying the island. Life is good.

Here we are one day after playing around a bit on the beach. The night before one of the local staff emerged from the water with an octopus latched onto his shoulder. "Look what I caught for dinner?!" he bragged as he walked past our bale and over to the grill. Well, we had delicious and, needless to say, fresh octopus that night for dinner. This place is a dream. Robert and Bene were joking around that I was their best catch of the day :)

For some strange reason we decided to move on and leave Gili Meno (I will be back, just you wait and see) and headed to Kuta, Lombok. Not to be confused with Kuta, Bali - Kuta, Lombok is a much smaller, much more laid back, surfers paradise. It was high-time my surfing skills were revealed to the world.

Naturally I was nervous about finally unleashing my skills so the first few days we enjoyed the amazing beaches of Kuta. As you can see below these beaches are much different than the ones at the Gilis but absolutely stunning in their own right.

We found a surfing instructor, headed to Gerupuk, took a long boat out to the waves and before we knew it were mastering the waves with the best of 'em... Yeah right. I got my shit rocked. While I did get up on the 2nd wave (not so bad, huh?!) I did fear drowning each time I got to the end of the wave and/or fell off the board. I'm sure to the super-cool, super-experienced surfers out there the waves were tiny but to Benedikt and I they were huge. Despite our nonmastery we had a blast. Surfing is SO fun! I now understand why generally all surfers are smokin' hot- because they beat their bodies by paddling for hours on end. Not this girl; I couldn't lift my fork for the next 2 days.

Sadly, it's time for Robert and Benedikt to go back to Germany and I will miss them terribly. They have become 2 wonderful friends that I know I will see again. Next stop, Germany? We shall see :) In the meantime I'm going to rebuild my shattered dreams of being a pro-surfer and try my luck at being a really good beach goer. Wish me luck.