Le 24/04/12, 5:25
115.188916-8.4095178
So leaving Bali for the Gilis, 3 tiny paradisiac islands close to Lombok (the main island east of Bali). The scenario was supposed to be perfect...white sandy beaches, corals for snorkelling, amazing views on Bali and Lombok, no cars and police on the island, and some tourist infrastructure. This time I’m on a muslim land but apart from the fucking muezzin you don’t feel it at all (alcool everywhere, all local women on the street the face uncovered). Gili Trawangan, the biggest of the three, where I was hosted has really become touristical, but at this time of the year, like in Ubud, no big crowds. A few years ago it was very popular with backpackers nowadays it’s a more mixed kind of tourism.
So you’ll say everything’s perfect right ? you can’t complaint this time!
Almost...for that you have to make abstraction of the rubbish everywhere...and that’s just imposible. Actually the beach area in front of the bars is less dirty but all the rest of the island is a total mess (of course the same underwater). That is really annoying in most of thirld world countries, but on a perfect spot like that it looks even more “out of place”. Fist big deception then. Second one is realizing that being alone with really nothing to do apart from swimming and sunbathing, on a somehow kind of romantic spot (ok garbage not included) with happy couples everywhere is a bit depressing after two days !
Bye bye Gilis, I won’t miss you. Next stop Lombok island and its south coast, supposed to be still quite unexploited with the best beaches of the region.
Lombok is a little bit smaller than Bali and a little bit less populated too. Landscapes are pretty similar but the culture is quite different since the Sasak people (90%of the island population) are muslims. Actually after a one an half hour drive from Bangsal, the nearest port of the Gilis on the northwest to Kuta (on the south of Lmbok, absolutely nothing to do with Kuta in Bali, which is the biggest beach resort in Bali) , I spotted a lot of differences. Lombok is “wilder” you can find some part of rainforest and areas still untouched, while it wasn’t the case in the parts of Bali I saw. It also feels less densely populated, and it seems that most of the population lives in Mataram, the “capital” which is indeed really spreaded out, but on the rest if the island you don’t find as many villages, less traffic on the road too, and many more coconut trees. People also seem poorer than in Bali.
So once in Kuta, I rented a scooter once again to explore the area. Actually it is the only thing to here, go and enjoy the beaches around if you don’t surf (the majority of the few tourists here are surfers). This time the experience had nothing to do with Ubud. No traffic at all but I could also say “no roads” or at least the worst roads I’ve ever seen ! landscapes are really spectacular too, between small villages, green hills, rice and tobacco fields and wonderfull views on the coast. So once again I had a lot of cheap fun (renting a scooter for a day costs 4€, plus 50 cents for gas) riding around.
Obviously after a few days I got tired of beach bitching and decided to have a more “real and off the beaten tracks experience” (I prefer seing myself as an adventure traveller and not a lambda tourist!) into a typical and nice indonesian village called Tetebatu, on the slopes of the Rinjani volcano.
Nice walks on the rice fields and forest with views on the volcano, very quiet place except for the strongest calls on prayer I’ve heard in my life...especially disturbing at 5am, but a real 1001 nights horror show at 6 pm, up to three muezzins at the same time, plus a woman singing (totally out of tune, of course), and it lasts so long...like 30 min (with interuptions to make you wrongly think it’s finally over).
What am I doing here ? wanted to see how indonesian live...well I guess I’m done ! nice kids saying hello al the time because you are their only distraction (most of them will never go further away than 20 kms around their village) and window on the world (even if globalization obviously came here before me, example...I was asked if my brother looks like Justin Beiber, if I prefer Madrid o Barca, Shakira o Rihanna). Families working all day like in the middle-age , with a middle-age religious practice...yes Lombok is poorer than Bali but I’m also realizing there is also less culture and entertainment. it is surely exotic, authentic, even beautiful but it is above all quite a sad place at the end. Surely I also feel like that because my trip is now on it's final part (already done 5/6), and I'm of course sad to finish it even if I also really miss home.
So you’ll say everything’s perfect right ? you can’t complaint this time!
Almost...for that you have to make abstraction of the rubbish everywhere...and that’s just imposible. Actually the beach area in front of the bars is less dirty but all the rest of the island is a total mess (of course the same underwater). That is really annoying in most of thirld world countries, but on a perfect spot like that it looks even more “out of place”. Fist big deception then. Second one is realizing that being alone with really nothing to do apart from swimming and sunbathing, on a somehow kind of romantic spot (ok garbage not included) with happy couples everywhere is a bit depressing after two days !
Bye bye Gilis, I won’t miss you. Next stop Lombok island and its south coast, supposed to be still quite unexploited with the best beaches of the region.
Lombok is a little bit smaller than Bali and a little bit less populated too. Landscapes are pretty similar but the culture is quite different since the Sasak people (90%of the island population) are muslims. Actually after a one an half hour drive from Bangsal, the nearest port of the Gilis on the northwest to Kuta (on the south of Lmbok, absolutely nothing to do with Kuta in Bali, which is the biggest beach resort in Bali) , I spotted a lot of differences. Lombok is “wilder” you can find some part of rainforest and areas still untouched, while it wasn’t the case in the parts of Bali I saw. It also feels less densely populated, and it seems that most of the population lives in Mataram, the “capital” which is indeed really spreaded out, but on the rest if the island you don’t find as many villages, less traffic on the road too, and many more coconut trees. People also seem poorer than in Bali.
So once in Kuta, I rented a scooter once again to explore the area. Actually it is the only thing to here, go and enjoy the beaches around if you don’t surf (the majority of the few tourists here are surfers). This time the experience had nothing to do with Ubud. No traffic at all but I could also say “no roads” or at least the worst roads I’ve ever seen ! landscapes are really spectacular too, between small villages, green hills, rice and tobacco fields and wonderfull views on the coast. So once again I had a lot of cheap fun (renting a scooter for a day costs 4€, plus 50 cents for gas) riding around.
Obviously after a few days I got tired of beach bitching and decided to have a more “real and off the beaten tracks experience” (I prefer seing myself as an adventure traveller and not a lambda tourist!) into a typical and nice indonesian village called Tetebatu, on the slopes of the Rinjani volcano.
Nice walks on the rice fields and forest with views on the volcano, very quiet place except for the strongest calls on prayer I’ve heard in my life...especially disturbing at 5am, but a real 1001 nights horror show at 6 pm, up to three muezzins at the same time, plus a woman singing (totally out of tune, of course), and it lasts so long...like 30 min (with interuptions to make you wrongly think it’s finally over).
What am I doing here ? wanted to see how indonesian live...well I guess I’m done ! nice kids saying hello al the time because you are their only distraction (most of them will never go further away than 20 kms around their village) and window on the world (even if globalization obviously came here before me, example...I was asked if my brother looks like Justin Beiber, if I prefer Madrid o Barca, Shakira o Rihanna). Families working all day like in the middle-age , with a middle-age religious practice...yes Lombok is poorer than Bali but I’m also realizing there is also less culture and entertainment. it is surely exotic, authentic, even beautiful but it is above all quite a sad place at the end. Surely I also feel like that because my trip is now on it's final part (already done 5/6), and I'm of course sad to finish it even if I also really miss home.
