We could have stayed on Gilli Air for longer than our 6 day stint but time was running out and there was more of Lombok to discover. We were heading to another Kuta, this time hoping it would be nothing like it’s namesake in Bali. The drive there was spectacular with lush green hills and a succession of hidden idyllic beaches with rolling surf. This was promising as our destination was supposed to be ideal for learning to become gnarly surf dudes. We shared our hotel with a lovely bunch of Aussie surfers who adopted us into their group and showed us the ropes. They also set us up with an instructor who after a 30 second demonstration put us on a boat and sent us out to a rather large reef break. It was scary and knackering but we both managed to get to our feet a couple of times, Mark rather more stylish than me. As usual my sea legs failed me and I had to stop surfing every now and again to puke…thanks for those inherited genes mum!
After surfing we chilled out in the hotel pool and wandered along the beach watching to locals collect their dinner from the rock-pools. I finally ignored my dad’s voice of caution in my head and let Mark get a motorbike and we had a great time razzing all over the place visiting some of the most stunning beaches of our trip.
In the evening we joined some of the ausssies and local surfers and sang song and drank rice wine in the village. The day we left was market day and we had a mooch around the stalls selling everything from raw tobacco to machetes. Our 5 hour ferry ride back to Bali was thankfully calm and went by quicker than expected, assisted by guessing games of what odd food combinations would be in the wrapped banana leaves we had bought prior to leaving.
A chilled out night in Padangbai was necessary to recover from the journey and then we were on our way to our final destination of Tuban. Recommended by the aussies as the less shitty neighbour to Kuta. Here we stocked up on dodgy DVDs and made good use of the flash pool in our neighbouring hotel. we found a fantastic restaurant who served excellent Nasi Campur and played great music. We bugged them so much about what the music was they presented us with a copied CD on our last night. We have loved coming back to Indonesia and can’t believe this our last stop in Asia.
Paradise again! The standard for idyllic beach destinations had been set pretty high after visiting Fiji but we are pleased to report the Gili islands, just off Lombok, didn’t disappoint. Taking the high speed boat from Bali over to Gili Trawangen we were lazing by the side of the turquoise sea in no time. Trawangen is the largest of the three islands and though it has a small local population it is the most developed for tourists. This is good when you want to use free wifi, eat western junk food and watch latest cinema releases in private beach-side cinemas, but no so good when you want to pretend you are Robinson Crusoe. Cycling around the island we found a few quiet spots to chill out in with a steady supply of Bintang beer but after a few nights we were ready to head over to Gili Air for a more relaxed pace.
On Gili Air we checked into a smart new Italian owned placed right on the sea front and spent the next five days chilling in our own luxury beach hut and taking on their all-you-can-eat breakfasts. With so few tourists and a cystal clear sea we decided to put our recent scuba diving training into action; I signed up for an advanced dive course and Helen a fun dive. Despite having a very ropey time in Thailand, Helen now dives like a mermaid. The flat sea, wonderful visibility and giant turtles must have helped with the transformation. Since I was taking a course it was back to the books for an hour or so each day to learn about navigation, buoyancy, deep and night dives. Each skill was then put into practice under the guidance of my private instructor and diver-extraordinare Tony. Our time spent hanging out with the Blue Marlin guys was great and the diving was amazing, especially the night dive into the pitch black sea!
Temporarily leaving Australia behind we set off back to Indonesia for some serious relaxation in Bali and Lombok. Arriving late in the hustle of Kuta we quickly settled into our old Asian routine of hotels, cheap beer and eating out three times a day. So long to camping and self catering!
Kuta isn’t particularly great unless mountains of counterfeit goods and a dirty beach are your idea of a good time. The only part of town not drowning in tack is the sobering memorial to victims of the 2002 terrorist attacks here. This is why all the smart kids head straight to the unfortunately titled Waterbom waterpark; Kuta’s saving grace. With loads of rides, no queues and endless sunshine we were in our element. After six weeks of driving around all day we got some much needed exercise climbing steps up to the rides, again and again and again.
Unfortunately all good things must end as we bade farewell to Waterbom and headed north to Ubud, the cultural centre of Bali. With temples, artists and musicians galore we spent a couple of days nosing around town and took a long and sweaty walk into the surrounding countryside. As Bali is a predominately Hindu island the many familiar deities and puja offerings bought memories of our trip to India flooding back.
After leaving the jungle we had a mammoth day of bus journeys until we reached Berastagi in the Karo highlands whose cool air was a light relief from the sweltering jungle. Known for its two nearby active volcanoes, the following day we attempted the smallest one, Gunung Sibayak (2450m). With legs not fully recovered from the jungle trek we ambled our way up the fairly safe and dry path to the volcano summit. For the majority of the climb it felt like any other mountain but suddenly when nearing the top, the fresh air became sulphurous and all you could taste was eggs. It was just as you’d hope a volcano would look, steaming, ferocious and something not quite of this planet. We sat down wind of the eggyness and tried to enjoy our packed lunch unable to fully appreciate the amazing views as the clouds refused to clear.
The climb down was much more luscious with thick jungle undergrowth that often masked the ramshackle steps we were attempting to following. The three hour descent was really spectacular and we were highly rewarded at the bottom with a session in the hot spring baths. Naturally heated water from the volcano was pumped into several pools at varying degrees of temperature. I’m afraid bathing in this eggy warm water was so relaxing we forgot to take any photos. The minerals clearly had some kind of impact as they turned our wedding rings blue and despite being laundered twice our bathers still smell eggy.
Heading off to Indonesia was Mark’s idea and something I was a little concerned about. Sumatra has had numerous natural disasters of late and with our track record it didn’t seem like the best place to visit. I couldn’t have been more wrong however and for me this has been the absolute highlight of the trip so far. Landing in Medan we saw a country that was far more similar to India than any other on this trip, making us feel right at home. The general standard of living was nowhere near as high as in Malaysia and the costs of food, transport and accommodation reflected this. We boarded a cramped minibus to Bukit Lawang, a town on the edge of the jungle that was devastated in 2003 by flooding. The area is famous for jungle treks and one of the few places on earth to see wild Orangutans. We were soon accosted on route by ‘Jungle Man’ Thomas who became our local guide and insisted Mark ride the remaining journey up on the roof of our bus like a real local.
Our two day, overnight in the jungle experience began early the next morning and after an hour we were all about ready to collapse and die. We’d not expected the terrain to be so hilly, nor such a lack of trails. It felt like a true Tarzan experience though, swinging on the vines clambering through the densest jungle imaginable.
During a brief rest stop we munched on some local fruit and saw our first Orangutan ‘Sandra’ with her 6 month old baby. They were so beautiful and we felt really honoured to be experiencing this in such an intimate way; just us and our two guides. They gracefully swayed through the canopy towards us and accepted the bananas we placed in the trees for them. I had a massive lump in my throat and was so pleased we’d been able to live out Pauline’s ‘Judith Charmers’ experience on her behalf.
The jungle was abundant with wildlife; snakes, spiders, bees, gibbons and macaques. Thomas described much about the flora and fauna to us. Every time he stopped to explain somthing we had a chance to catch our breathe before heading off again. After lunch we were visited by ‘April’ our second Orangutan and she allowed us to get much closer. At times she ate fruit from us that we held between our teeth - though she may have just wanted a cheeky monkey kiss. Once all the fruit was gone she also ate my left over rice directly from the Banana leaf I held out for her. This made all of the hideous physical activity to get here worthwhile.
Our camp was described as a tent but a plastic roof would have been more accurate. Nevertheless we kept dry when it rained and were fed and watered until ready to explode. By 7pm it was pitch black outside and we whiled away the hours playing silly games. We all slept fairly lightly, trying to not imagine what may be crawling across us in the night.
Tying several tractor inner tubes together our guides constructed an inflatable raft. We all climbed on-board and floated back down the river to our hotel through raging rapids. It was a bit like a water ride at Alton Towers and definitely much easier than the getting there. Back on shore we were filthy, smelt disgusting and totally exhausted but felt it was one of the best experiences of our trip so far.
