Lombok

Day 1 – Senggingi

We had not planned on visiting Lombok, but after a bit of research and speaking to the Dutch girl in Gili T we thought it would be the best place to try and get our Visa’s extended from 30 to 60 days.  Also it was a stone’s throw from the Gili’s.

After another nice breakfast and packing up our stuff again it was back to the port to catch the short boat ride to Lombok’s Bangsai Port.

 

Once in Bangsai we then had to get ourselves some transport to Senggingi which was one of the resorts on the island that our guidebook had recommended and was close-ish to the immigration office. Whilst I was sorting out the luggage off the boat, Shell was fighting off the taxi touts at the dock but then got talking to an Ex-Pat that was heading to Senggingi too.

Shell’s new friend had lived and owned a resort in Gili Meno (which she was in Lombok to sell) and knew the score, she asked us to share and said it was best if we took a pony and trap to the Bluebird Taxi Rank (the honest guys) and got a cab with them, which we did.  Along the way we found out that she was trying to sell her resort for around $2M and she was starting a new project/hotel in France with her son and daughter.

When we arrived in Senggingi we said our goodbye’s to the woman and wished her well, before the taxi took us up to our hotel.  Our first impressions were not that good as the place resembled a building site where they were building some new apartments and a swimming pool by the entrance.  However once we checked in we were shown up some steps to our room which was nice and big and had a nice garden area with an outside sitting area.

 

After we unpacked we put our heads out of the door and it was absolutely pouring down so there was no point in heading for the beach so instead we stayed indoors for the afternoon blogging and reading.

In the evening we had no option but to brave the elements to find somewhere to eat, I think this was the first use of Shell’s travel umbrella on this trip and the first use of my waterproof jacket since hiking in Nepal.

We found a restaurant a short way up the road and made our judgement on the amount of people in it (It seemed the busiest).  The food when it turned up at the table looked pretty bland and uninspiring, however it was surprisingly tasty and we both enjoyed our meals.

As it was still raining after dinner we just returned to our room

Day 2 – Visa Dress/Stress!

Today we had to get up early to sort out our visa extensions and had been told it was best to get there as early as possible.  So we had our breakfast and then headed off to get a Taxi to take us to the capital of Lombok, Mataram, to where the immigration office was located.

After a fairly expense cab ride of £ 10 we arrived at the immigration building only to find out that you had to be dressed appropriately to enter the building and apparently my cargo shorts and Shell’s short sleeved top did not cut it.

As it would have cost as more to head back to our room we went off to try to find some cheap clothes. Fortunately our cab driver was still there he said he could take us to a nearby shopping centre that would be opening shortly.

When we got to the shopping centre is was just opening up but we could tell that the stores would be expensive so we thought we would try elsewhere for the clothes and instead see if we could find an internet café to print off some flight documents we needed to go with our visa extension applications.

After hunting round for a while and getting blank looks from the people we asked in the shopping centre we headed off down the road and Shell noticed a travel agent so she said we should try that out to get some copies done.  The people in the agency were really helpful and after a bit of Pidgeon English and some miming we got the copies of the documents we needed and they did not even want to charge us for them – result!!

Next we spotted a shop that pertained to be a department store so we thought we would give that a go for clothes.  In reality once inside it was like an Indonesian BHS and it did indeed do clothes on the second floor and after a while I had found the cheapest polyester suit trousers that sort of fit me and Shell had found a little shirt that would pass muster so we headed for the check-out .  After paying I noticed some long cargo shorts that I had been after a while so decided to buy these too (not a complete wasted trip then, although zip pocket fell apart in day  one of their first outing!!).

It was then back to the immigration office now wearing our new purchases, my polyester ankle swingers to my mind far more offensive that the shorts I was wearing previously, but they did the trick and we were allowed into the building.

 

Once inside we picked up the forms and tried to complete them as best we could, leaving out some parts that we didn’t understand or couldn’t answer, and then handed them in at the counter.  After the official checked them and got us to change a couple of bits we were then asked to wait for a while and were given a ticket with a number on. 

After an hour or so our number was called out and we were then given a receipt and told to return to complete the process in two days’ time, which was a lot better that the 5-7 working days processing time that we read in our research.

We then returned to our room and once again the heavens had opened so we just went to the reception area and got a beer.  Unfortunately we were stuck there all afternoon as the rain wouldn’t stop, but our time was not completely wasted.  One of the trainee staff members, a young guy of 19 named Didit was trying to improve his English so he wanted to practice with us.  He had only been learning for the last 4 months but was doing well, but he was very happy to sit down with us  all afternoon whilst we tried  to help him,  Shell doing role play as the angry customer (Now he knows if he doesn't know how to help/deal with an angry customer he has to say ‘Sorry about…….I’ll get my manager’).

 

The afternoon turned into the evening and we were joined in the reception by an Indian family (Mum, Dad & Two Teenage daughters) who seemed nice.  Then the manager started playing music from his computer which then turned into a bit of a Karaoke session, he did a few numbers and then his wife came along who had a fantastic voice and pretty much perfectly did Evanevence’s ‘Bring Me to Life’ and then I did a couple of numbers (nailed Bowie, murdered Bon Jovi!) and I even seem to remember Shell revived her ‘These Boot’s’ number.

During the evening we asked if they did any food there and the manager told us they didn’t but there was a take-away shop down the road and so he volunteered our new mate, Didit, to pop down the road for us in the rain and get us some burgers and chips. We were hungry and were happy to take him up on this offer.

After the singing died down the two Indian girls took over the computer and started playing Indian Bollywood numbers to which their parents got up and started dancing bangra style around to, possibly to their daughter’s embarrassment, but Shell and I enjoyed it.  So it turned out to be a fun night despite of the monsoon weather that was going on around us

Day 3 – Rain Rain Go Away………..

After breakfast it was sunny and we were determined we would get down to the beach.  So we packed our beach throws and Snorkelling gear and set off down the road.

It took a short while and a quick check on directions and we soon found ourselves on the beach and found a spot to settle down.  But, no sooner had we laid our stuff out and contemplated going for a swim did it cloud over again and hammer it down cats & dogs again.

 

Shell and I found a nearby restaurant to take shelter in where we sat down and ordered a couple of milkshakes (Yes, I said milkshakes!) and sat there and watched the water gushing off of the roof in front of us.  After the milkshake we did have a cheeky beer whilst the rain calmed down a bit before heading back towards the room.

 

Along the way back, Shell managed to find herself a new £1 pair of flip-flop to replace her broken ones from a couple of weeks earlier, she is now back up to her full complement of 3 pairs of footwear!! Walking boots, walking sandals and flipflops!

Back at the apartment there was nothing else to do but a bit of blogging whilst Shell did some more research on the next places we were going to visit.

Later in the afternoon we went down to the reception area and had a couple of beers hoping that the rain was going to stop.  It didn’t so we decided we would have to brave it again and headed to a Blue Tarpaulin covered locals restaurant across the road that had been recommended for good cheap food.

All the food was cooked in an open kitchen at the bottom of the restaurant and the place was full of locals.  So we ordered some chicken, Fish, Noodles and Veg and hoped for the best, when the food turned up we had more than enough and it was very nice and also very cheap, I seem to recall it cost us around a fiver including beer.

After dinner we returned back to the apartment for the night, hoping that the weather was going to change as we were heading south and away from the mountains/volcano in the morning (we are no longer used to this wet stuff!!).