Kuta

Day 1 – Yay, they let us stay!

We got up in the morning, packed, had breakfast and said our goodbyes to Didit before jumping into a car that we had booked to take us to the immigration office and then onto Kutu in the south of Lombok.

Arriving at the immigration office resplendent in jeans (not the nylon nasties from two days ago) we went to the counter where we were asked to pay the extension fee and then given a ticket to wait, Shell had to go on a mercy dash down the road to find a toilet!!  When our number was called we had to go into an office to get our photo’s and fingerprints taken, so I guess there will be no cat burgling for us whilst in Indonesia!!  We were then given back our passports with a 60 day stamp in it – hurrah!!

Once back in the car we had a journey of around 1 ½ hours before arriving in Kuta.  Our room here was nice and big with a seating area outside set in some lovely gardens with a couple of pools.  Even better there was an honesty fridge well stocked with Bintang’s that you could help yourself to and keep your own tab!!

After unpacking we decided to check out the beach so wandered through the small town and down a dirt track and we were on Kuta beach.  Where we arrived seemed to be the fishing boat part and was pretty dirty so we walked along it for quite a while in blistering heat, but we still found no tourists and the beach was still pretty dirty which we found hard to believe as Kuta is renowned for its beaches.

 

As we weren’t feeling it on the beach we headed for a cafe just off the beach that looked pretty funky, but were disappointed when we received a flat beer, which was replaced with a warm sprite with a dubious piece of ice in.  We also got a bit of lunch which was also pretty disappointing, so we got out of there pretty sharpish.

 

Deciding to go back to our homestay, stopping off for a quick cold beer along the way.  When we got back to the resort we had a swim in one of the pools and helped ourselves to the honesty fridge.   After our swim we also spent some time blogging and getting a bit of shut eye.

In the evening we headed for a Moroccan restaurant that was number one on tripadvisor and we thought it would make a nice change from Asian food.  We ordered a mixed mezze for starters that had some tasteless hummus and for our mains we both decided on a Lamb Tagine which turned out to be pretty much a lamb shank with some spices and the odd prune/apricot.  So you can say we weren’t exactly blown away and it was very overpriced.

Dinner done we returned to our room to have a couple of honest Bintang’s and watched a bit of TV before going to bed.

Day 2 – Beaches & Bikes

Our breakfast was served in little huts in the garden area and consisted of eggs on toast, a fruit plate, Lombok Coffee and a large freash fruit juice – possibly our best breakfast to date.  The room and breakfast cost around £13 per night for both of us.

We then went to reception and hired a scooter for the day so we could go and explore the area and the other beaches further up the coast.

 

Riding East of Kuta for around 20 Km through beautiful scenery of padi fields, small villages, mountain views and palm trees we then found ourselves at the first beach we had marked off on the map, Selong Blanak.  We parked up and whilst trying to lock the bike we were immediately accosted by a beach guy that wanted to hire us some sun loungers.  We took a look at the beach which was a stunning crescent of powder white sand with crystal blue water and decided to take him up on his offer.

 

Laying on our loungers the heat was stifling leading us to get in and out of the water to keep ourselves cool.  Whilst we were sitting there we were entertained by watching people learning to surf and by some oxen being driven across the beach (Not something you see at St. Brelades Bay!!).

Around and hour and a half later we thought we would move on to find the next beach as we had a number to try and fit in and only a day to do it and also to get some wind around our bodies to cool down.

 

A short ride later and we discovered Mawan beach, after paying the obligatory beach entrance fee and parking up.  The beach itself was once again very beautiful with powder white sand and a lovely coloured sea, we could now see why Kuta was famed for its beaches.  There was also a nice big tree on the beach which provided shade from the sun, so we sat there for a while and had a cold drink whilst watching the beach vendors trying their hardest to sell their wares to the few tourists that were on the beach.

 

However we didn’t stop there that long and were soon searching for the next beach.  We rode along for a bit and took another turning which after a while turned into more of a bumpy dirt track, a bit further and we found the beach.  It appeared that this was a bit more windy and wild, a beach more suited for serious surfer type so we thought we would head off to get some lunch.

 

We rode on for a while heading back the way we had come when we suddenly hit a bit of a commotion with people and police in the road.  Once we got closer we noticed there was a western couple on a bike by the side of the road and we presumed they must have had an accident so we pulled over to see if we could help in any way. 

When we got speaking them they were an Australian couple who had just been mugged, whilst riding along someone had snatched the woman’s bag that contained her camera, phone and money.  The guy gave chase and caught one of the muggers but let him go when assistance didn’t come quickly as he was worried about if the guy had a weapon on him. It was such a shame as this was their first day on holiday.

The police were on the scene and they said there was nothing we could do for them so we said goodbye and got on the bike, now ensuring that the bag Shell was carrying was put around and between my legs at the front of the bike, so not on show. (Although Shell pointed out that it may have been a bit insensitive to say we were going to do this whilst still in the company of the Australian couple!!)

For lunch we stopped at a hillside restaurant that had fantastic views over the whole of Kuta, for me it consisted of a plate of tempura chilli peppers stuffed with mozzarella and a cold beer, Shell just stuck to the liquid option saying she would eat later.

 

After the lunch break we then decided to find the other beaches to the west of Kuta, but after riding for another 20-30km we had not come across any of them and were a bit lost (once again I’m going to blame it on a lack of sign posts).  So I just decided to head down a road that I thought would get us to the coast, which it did but the bay we arrived at seemed to be a massive fish farm rather than a beach to relax on, so we just took some nice pictures and headed back the way we had came.

 

On our way back I found a turning which I figured must head to one of the beaches we were looking for so we took it.  A few more miles down the road and we did find the beach of Pantai Segar and once again it was a very pretty beach only marred by the large exclusive Novatel hotel resort that was on the edge of the beach (which was slightly tired and run down).  We had a walk around whilst the local kids tried to flog us coconuts and then we found a little beach restaurant where we had a couple of beers whilst looking at the view.

 

It was now getting to be late in the afternoon and the clouds were drawing in so we thought we would head for home which we could see was just a few miles around the coast.  Unfortunately we did not beat the rain and it began to tip it down and soon our T-Shirts were soaked and when we arrived back at the resort we looked like two drowned rats.

 

We dried off and had some Honesty Fridge Bintang’s (I wish the maid would remove our empties from the outside of our room – it’s getting a bit embarrassing!!) and relaxed until the early evening.

In the evening we went to a restaurant called Nuggets (No. 2 on trip advisor) and while I can’t remember exactly what we had, it was far nicer and more filling than the Moroccan the previous night and about half the price.

We stayed there and had a few more beers before returning home for the night, where judging by the impromptu photoshoot (picture below) it was maybe more than a few beers!!