The Big Three: Bali, Gili and Lombok

The main purpose of coming to Indonesia was that Tom wanted to gain more diving experience. In his research some of the best diving spots for learning were on Bali and the Gili Islands.

From Java it was an easy ferry ride across to Bali where we stayed in Pemuteran, a small village with a lot of good dive shops that do trips to the nearby island Menjangan. Once again, while Tom was diving, I snorkelled. The water was incredibly clear with something like 20m visibility. The coral here is the best we've seen, which means it's actually alive...Unfortunately the snorkeling I experienced at Sipadan in Sabah was just so incredible that I fear that all snorkeling from now on, regardless of how amazing it is, will only be "good" at best!

Leaving Java

Pemuteran beach

Off on our diving/snorkelling trip

Tom diving below me

Colourful Nudibranch

Bali is the only traditionally Hindu island in the worlds biggest Muslim country, although mosques are popping up everywhere on the island. It definitely has a different vibe and one of the biggest noticeable differences are the Hindu temples that dot the island, from large public temples to small family ones. We spent a day riding bikes around discovering the smaller, quieter areas and visiting a couple of temples.

Men and women have to wear a sarong with sash to enter any temple. Also, women who are menstruating cannot enter.

After taking this photo, this guy attacked Tom. Tom is fine.

Family temple at our guesthouse

Unfortunately, Bali for us has been way to commercialized. There's this two tier system: one for the locals and one for the tourists. The tourist tier sucks. You pay four times more than the locals, you're directed to private drivers, forced on tours, directed to restaurants that serve "Western food"; it's just too hard to find the authentic through all this. In the end, we decided to skip Bali and drive east along the north coast of the Island to Padangbai where there are ferries for the Gili islands.

Because we refused to pay the absurd tourist prices, we spent some time going back and forth between people offering different ways to get to Padangbai. We could take a Bemo (a mini van that runs like a public bus) or a "big bus" that may or may not be running that day because it was Independence Day. In the end, as I was standing with our bags on the side of the road, a gravel truck pulled over and asked where we were headed. We negotiated a price of 20,000 IDR per person (compared to 100,000 IDR with the other guys), threw our bags in the truck bed and jumped in! In the end I guesss we ended up with a private driver for a much cheaper price (private drivers are 700,000 IDR!). The drive was really nice and we had some great views of the ocean and the big volcanos on Bali. We drove through rice paddys, tobacco and corn fields and through villages with frangipani trees flanking the road.

The next morning, we were on a ferry to Gili Air. There are three Gili islands: Trawangan, Meno and Air. We chose Air because it's less developed than Trawangan and less posh than Meno. It also had several PADI dive shops for Tom to choose from. In the end, he decided to get his PADI Advanced Open Water with Nitrox certification. This allows him to go down deeper (30m vs 18m) and the Nitrox allows him to stay down longer because it has less nitrogen in the mix (32% oxygen vs 21% for the regular tanks). With the course he was able to try a few other "PADI Adventure Dives": Fish Identification, Peak Performance Buoyancy and a Night Dive!

Our first glimpse of Gili Air.

Tom going on his night dive!

Unfortunately, I ended up with an ear infection which means I couldn't go snorkeling. So instead, I spent my days doing yoga, an introduction to meditation class, got a massage, did a lot of reading and worked on my tan! I have to admit though, I'm officially bored with beaches; I need some adventure!

Volcano on Bali at sunset

We spent our last couple of days in Indonesia in a town called Mataram on Lombok island. The town itself is not much but a sprawling city so on our last day we decided to rent a motorbike! We did a 150km trip around the south side of the island and went all the way down to the ocean. Tom drove the whole thing and I navigated; that worked out well because I don't think I could have handled the crazy traffic and road rules! We drove through some villages, through fields of tobacco, corn and chili peppers.

Fuelling up!

Indonesian gas station

Beating the rice off the stalk

Tobacco field

Our time in Indonesia has now come to an end and we both have some mixed feelings about our time here. The image we had of Indonesia was not at all what we encountered. In Java, Bali and Lombok it is much more developed than expected, we saw more tourists than anywhere else we had been (especially Italians and French), and we encountered many more scammers than anywhere else. An example of this are those in the transport business. Anyone who's travelled to developing countries know that you get ripped off at any point of entry to a city (train, airport, ferry, bus) by the local transport. Which meant we had to develop a strategy in order for us to get an idea on the true, local price so we could better bargain and know when we were getting scammed. Our strategy has been to just wait. When we arrive in a new town we go have lunch with the locals.

The benefit in this is that not only do you get a local experience but in the thirty minutes or so of eating with them, smiling with them and trying out the few Indonesian words we know with them, we become friends. We are more than just foreigners now. So when we tell them that we are trying to get to Pemuteran, as an example, we are warned by our new friends to take the bus at the true bus station (there are fake "bus terminals" where foreigners get tricked into paying for a private car instead of the public bus) and how much to pay. In this case, we were told repeatedly to only pay 20,000 IDR per person. So of course we are now ready when we enter the bus terminal for the guy running towards us "Pemuteran? Yes of course, that bus here it will cost 40,000 IDR per person". Naturally we said, with a smile, "Tidak, mahal" (No, expensive) we will only pay 20,000 IDR just like the locals. After he refused, we sat down on a bench and waited. It took another thirty minutes of waiting (negotiations interspersed with small talk, getting to know each other, food tips and what to do in Bali), before we finally settled on 25,000 IDR per person right as the bus was leaving. We later found out that we got one of the best prices because most people pay anywhere from 40,000 to 60,000 IDR. We even heard a story of one guy who paid 300,000 IDR per person!

Serious negotiations going on

In Indonesia, there is alwayss a middle man. This guy took our money and gave the correct amount of 20,000 IDR to the driver and kept the 5,000 IDR for himself. This happens EVERYWHERE. During another negotiation on Lombok, after another middle man insisted that the bus ride was 20,000 IDR per person, Tom turned around and said, with a smile of course, "ah ok, so 15,000 for the driver and 5,000 for you" and the guy just threw his arms in the air and said "no no no no". In the end I think he realized that we knew his game and we ended up on a bus that only cost 15,000...interesting.

On the positive side, Indonesians are the friendliest people we have ever met in all our travels. People will always say "hello mister" (yes, I'm a mister too), "where you go?", "where you come from?" and "thank you for coming to my country". Even as we drove by on our motorbike kids would yell out. Everyone is eager to talk and especially practice their english. Some of our most memorable experiences will be because of the people we met.

Balinese man who gave us tips on wear to eat good pork

Lombok Bakso man! He was very excited that we liked Bakso.

The crazy girls that all worked in the area. They were so much fun and excited!

Boys at a coffee shop in Lombok; the guy in the middle played and sang some American songs for us. These guys were hilarious!

The food here has also been incredible. Neither of us knew much about Indonesian cuisine before and we've definitely come away with several dishes that we will be making at home! One challenge will be finding that sweet soya sauce that is a staple here...

Babi Gulling - the famous Bali roasted suckling pig.

Bakso; meatballs in a beef broth with noodles

Soto Ayam; chicken soup in a lemongrass broth with noodle

Typical Indonesian spread found at any Warung (street restaurant)

A lot of fish on Gili Air

Fish curry, grilled fish, served with nasi (rice) and kerupuk (crackers)

Lombok specialty: ground beef, lemongrass and coconut kabobs

Nasi Campur; A very common dish across Indonesia. It's basically rice with a little bit of everything that the cook has made that day. Always seams to include a fried chicken, fried tofu and fried tempeh.

Drinking some arak; Indonesian palm wine. It tastes a bit like sake and has an alcohol content of about 20% although it's usually homemade.

Murtabak; a big deep fried crepe stuffed with meat, veggies and egg.

Fresh fruit juices

Salak (snake fruit); looks and has the texture of giant garlic cloves but tastes citrusy and sweet

Jambu Air. Has the texture of an apple but has a rose water flavour.

Our next trip to Indonesia will be to the more remote islands such as Sumatra, Sumbawa, Flores and Papua. Tom is already planning a diving trip to Komodo and Raja Ampat!

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