Lombok is the island directly to the East of Bali. During our ferry ride to Sengiggi, Lombok it started to rain. And when rains in Indonesia, it rains hard. We arrived safely to Sengiggi and checked into a hotel. Our balcony overlooked Sengiggi Bay and from here we watched the rain come down for 2-3 days straight with only a few breaks in the storm. With this rain came the loudest thunder either of us had ever heard. Echoing around the bay the thunder would leave car alarms beeping in its wake. When the sun finally came out we were ready to see what Northern Lombok was all about. So of course we rented a moped. Mopeds in Asia are so incredibly cheap to rent, for the last month or so of our trip we had a moped everyday. We explored the Northern part of Lombok in one gloriously sunny day after the storm broke. We rode our moped along the coast and stopped at some of the most beautiful beaches we had ever seen. Remarkably these beaches were all empty. It was almost eerie to stand on such a pristine beach with no one around. When you travel you live for moments like those. This solidarity is the appeal that Lombok has compared with Bali. Lombok is still being discovered, and besides a few longhaired surfers you are fully immersed in Indonesia culture. The capital of Lombok is Mataram, which is a bustling city that made us almost feel like we were back in India. We made our way to the Southern part of Lombok, Kuta. Kuta is a surfer’s paradise. The beaches here have great surf and are much less crowded than those in Bali. The beaches here go for miles. We stumbled upon many picturesque beaches and spent our days laying in the sun and catching waves.
Being away from home during Christmas is always a little hard so we wanted to make it special even if we were in the jungle instead of in the snow back home. We have been hearing about the tiny but funky little islands off of Lombok. Gili Meno, Gili Air and Gili Trawangan or the infamous “Gili T”. These little islands are perfect for anyone seeking a remote island resort. On these islands cars and motorbikes are prohibited so you may either walk, bike, or take an adorable horse-drawn carriage from place to place. This is what makes the Gili islands so charming. We stayed on Gili T, which is known as the party island. There were plenty of Australians wearing Santa hats dancing around but we had a blast. The Gili Islands are famous for their scuba diving and snorkeling with turtles. On Christmas we ordered a fresh BBQed lobster and had a fabulous seafood feast. The Gili Islands are only a short ferry ride from Bali and should not be missed.
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