Lovin' Lombok

We hired a car for $20 pd in Sengiggi. Now that's a bit of a weird place. It's a kind of beach resort but tired and empty looking with abandoned shops, empty cafes and tired looking hotels. On the west coast of Lombok, it's beautiful coastline. We arrived mid morning and our friend and fixer, Gana, arranged for us to rent a car. Lee haggled him down and we are now exploring Lombok without having to rely on expensive tourist shuttles or public transport (that doesn't let you explore the remote parts of the island).

From Sengiggi we drove up to the north coast, stopping for lunch at Lombok's finest hotel, The Oberoi. An expensive diversion it turned out but worth taking a peek at a beautifully designed hotel. Then further north following a road so close to the sea it felt like we were driving along the beach. Like Bali, Lombok has black sand beaches in the north. Then we turned inland and upwards to Senaru, nestled in the Rinjani foothills. This mighty volcano is almost 4km in height and has been a little active just recently. You can see the smoke spewing from one of it's newer inner cones (only a few hundred years old) around the edge of the crater lake.

Except we didn't climb up as I have been a bit sick so a 3 day hike was not really an option. Lee and the kids took a hike to the waterfalls which they said were amazing. Meanwhile I went in search of a chemist. I have had a bad chest since Kathmandu and it's just not getting better. In fact my asthma seems worse by the day. So I went in search of some prednisolone, a steroid that can help relieve the wheezing when the ventolin isn't working.

I stopped to ask someone where the pharmacy was, and he told me to follow him on his bike, then took me to a local hospital. People are like this all the time here. Always happy to help you. Makes you feel very safe even though it's so undeveloped and remote. The clinic was just great. Maybe not high tech but super clean, and where a doctor saw me immediately. I was checked over by the nurse and prescribed 3 different meds to take.

'You have bad asthma'
'Yes'
'Are you taking anti malarials?'
'No'
'Sometimes they mask malarial symptoms and bad chest could be symptom, we have two cases of malaria just now'
'But I don't have a temperature'
'Yes, you do'
'Oh, might I have malaria?'
'No, you have bad asthma'

It cost a grand total of $3! I may also have tropical sprue or 'just' gastritis but will need to get some proper tests done when I get home if I'm still crook (we've been hanging out with a lot of aussies here).

After Senaru, we drove around the black sandy north coast where the empty but well surfaced road almost seems to be on the beach. Lombok is a great place to hire a car. It's so easy to get around and there's rarely traffic outside the towns and villages. The coastal villages in the north are pretty and well kept, with a stunning Rinjani backdrop. Then as we dropped down the east coast, we could see more of Lombok's gilis (Gili means small island in Sasak, Lomboks main language). These are as yet undeveloped, so we tried to find a homestay so we could hire a boat to go snorkelling. But the ones listed in LP are closed now and the only place we found looked like it hadn't been stayed in for 5 years with cobwebs and huge spiders and more damp mattresses. I just couldn't face it nor the kids inevitable complaints so we continued down the completely empty east coast (aside from the port town at Labuan Lombok).

The SE peninsula is difficult to reach by road we were warned, so we turned west towards Praya and then south to Kuta Lombok. Nothing at all like Bali's Kuta. This coast is pristine and rugged with white sandy coves and rocky outcrops. More intrepid aussie surfers come here, so there's a few guesthouses and hotels in Kuta. As you reach the SW tip, there are more gilis, and it's a day trip from where we're staying, so we're definitely off to explore those.

As for where we're staying. What can I say? Novotel are genius. They bought a huge stretch of beach, east of Kuta, 12 years ago and built one of the most delightful 'resorts' we've ever stayed in. Lee hates resorts. They're not my favourite but sometimes, I find, a necessary break from backpacker digs. A mid range guesthouse would normally cost us about $15-20 per room in Indonesia. A treat place is normally about $50-60. Novotel's Mandalika resort is usually $120-40. We only went to have a nosey round thinking there's no way we'll be able to afford to stay there, and would we want to anyway? They have an early summer deal on, with a family room for $75 per night.
But what this includes is phenomenal! Huge buffet breakfast with an eggs, waffle and pancake station that can keep you at breakfast for hours. They serve until 10.30am and non of this clearing everything away at 10.31am. I mean you can laze around in the restaurant until much later, grazing on the 15 different kinds of doughnuts and pastries or indulge more exotic tastes (though I'm not a fan of asian food for breakfast myself - unless it's aloo paratha and curd of course). So lunch is unnecessary. Then there's the endless activities for the kids. Archery, introductory diving (in one of 3 gorgeous stone walled pools), kids club (with a Wii that Tevo helped them install), Indonesian cookery classes, woodcarving, petanque, sea kayaking, volleyball, the list just goes on and on, and it's all free. The kids absolutely love it here. As we all do. Lee says it's his favourite 'big' hotel he's ever been to.

But the best thing about this place is it's Sasak style bungalows and rooms, built to really high standards, beautifully kept gardens and just all round sympathetic design. Normally, places like this exist on an over developed coast, where everywhere looks the same and there's no nature left. This place is like a little tourist paradise, with surfing and snorkelling galore. Plus we aren't trapped here, as it's a short hop into the village for great food. There's a lovely vegetarian cafe at the top of one of the hills, with huge vistas, where you can laze about playing scrabble and scoffing spinach feta samosas or spicy potato bondas. And we have a car so we're free to explore. The villages just north of here have traditional weaving, pottery, markets and the like.

There's another huge plus to this place. The kids have made some new english speaking friends. Jessica is 11 and Thomas is nearly 10 so they each have a playmate. From Sydney, their parents are working in real estate here and so they're living at the hotel for 6 months. Jess and Tom are as overjoyed as Tevo and Roisin to have new chums, and they are inseparable already.

We have been here a couple of nights now and are having a thoroughly relaxing time (and the meds have done the trick). I feel like we're 'on holiday' in a more traditional sense than being on the move as a backpacker. Except we're a lot more scruffy than the usual clientale, but that's ok. The staff are lovely and the fearsome four have the run of the place, so Lee and I finally get some time to ourselves. Bliss for everyone!