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Gili Lawang Lombok
Sept 8
We left our protected little lagoon amidst another wave of canoes, children hoping to continue with the fun they had the day before.
We motored all day on glassy seas, finally joining Ventana, Ocelot and Estrella in an anchorage behind a reef off the NW corner of Gili Luwang island.
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Gili Air
Lombok
Sept 9
Another day of flat seas with little wind but we managed a spinnaker run for most of the morning, then remained under white sail all the way to Gili Air, some 42 miles from Gili Lawang.
Rounding the top of Lombok, we crossed the “Wallis Line” the imaginary line where the landscape amazingly transforms from dry, scrubby brush to lush and tropical.
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September 10 - 14
We anchored in a somewhat crowded bay and went ashore to visit Gili Air, a popular backpackers hangout. Landing our dinghies on the beach, we passed unique fishing craft and followed a sandy road. |
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Pony Cart Transports
With its seaside narrow dirt and cobblestone streets, the only traffic was colorfully decorated pony carts and the occasional bicycle. The frail little Lombok ponies faithfully trotted up and down the road an infinite times each day, always available to take anyone anywhere you needed to go. |
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 I did some hard bargaining for black pearls, having to trade a large cooler and add a substantial sum of money!
Later, we enjoyed lunch.
Fav Hangout
Dinner at what became our Favorite eatery, Gili Simple where most cruisers seemed to gather.
Most restaurants were casual
thatched roof open air platforms, where one
sits cross-legged on big colorful cushions
around a low table for food and drinks. The
price for drinks and meals was cheap,
however the beer got cheaper (and sometimes
colder) the further along down the
road you went.
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Sept 12
We followed the cobblestone road and found the main village with homes, shops and a market. Throughout the area goats roamed randomly with the chickens. The houses were very basic but neat.
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Around the Island
Annie and I hiked around the island, which didn't take much more than an hour. We passed lovely resorts, all deserted. A real indication of how dry the island is was the "Keep off the Grass" sign in the sand!
One evening we walked to the end of the island for drinks at a restaurant that is a great vantage point for sunsets. |
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Drift Snorkel
Sept 13 - We
organized a snorkel day and all took our
dinghies to the strip of shoreline in
front of the restaurants where the fish
were reportedly plentiful. However, when
we jumped in the water we were
completely surrounded by small jellyfish
which was totally unnerving. Eventually
the strong current took us out of
"jellyfish zone" and we were
propelled through the water, dinghies in
tow, travelling at about 3 knots. It was
great fun to do the drift snorkel and we
made several passes.
That evening, we returned
to our old haunt Gili Simple for a feast
of prawns.
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Cooking Class
Sept 14 - We
awoke to another glorious day on
Gili Air, blue sunny skies, hot with
a little breeze. Before heading over
to the mainland, we took in an
Indonesian cooking class. We could
pick any 2 items from the menu at
Gili Simple and learn how to cook
it. We used all sorts of ingredients
that I had never heard of before.
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Afterward our husbands were allowed to join us for the spoils of our class. For lunch they dined on our curried fish in banana leaves, Olah Olah (a vegetable dish), chicken curry, rice, and squid. It was an amazing feast! |
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That afternoon we sailed to Lombok mainland where we were greeted by Mohamid who arranged to take us on a tour of the island. As we were anchored in front of a Muslim town, we again listened to the wailing from the mosques all night long. |
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Tour of Lombok Island
Sept
15 - Mohamid was waiting
for us at the dock and we
climbed into a comfy
air-conditioned SUV to begin our
island tour. From the anchorage
at Telak Nare, the twisty road
took us through bamboo woodland. |
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Pusak Monkey Forest
We pulled off the road and, as if on cue, monkeys appeared all around us, obviously expecting peanuts. Our guide supplied us with treats for the monkeys. |
 We hand fed the cute monkeys which were a little shy and quickly grabbed a peanut and ran off to quietly eat the delicacy in private. There were a few squabbles amongst the animals who thought they were not getting their share. |
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obvious "king"
of the tribe was an old
monkey that ruled. He was
never challenged and sat
politely boldly but gently
accepting the handouts. |
 One monkey got tired of waiting his turn and grabbed the whole bag of peanuts from Liam. He then retreated to a tree to enjoy the spoils of his crime. |
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The road continued along, seemingly everywhere in the state of construction, with piles of rocks and workers lining the highway making for a difficult obstacle course in places. They use finely crushed gravel pressed down hard to pave the roads but the amazing thing was how the gravel was produced. Along the road, sitting in the piles of rocks, were woman shattering the stones with mallets to produce the gravel!
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I can't imagine smashing rocks into tiny bits all day long in the hot sun! |
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As we headed inland, we climbed into more mountainous terrain, passing through agricultural land of Tobacco (below) and rice. |
Rice Fields of Tete Batu
We had lunch at Tete Batu, overlooking extensive Rice fields terraced and looking like interlocking pieces of a puzzle. While we were waiting for our order to arrive our guide took me for a walk in the patties, many of which were first built by the Dutch.
After lunch we were taken to some shops that sold baskets but all seemed very pricey so there was no purchases made. |
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Our last stop was the Narmada King's Palace, laid out as a miniature replica of the summit of the huge volcano and its crater lake. The temple is still used. Narmada was constructed by the King although an aqueduct built by the Dutch remains and is still used for water supply. |
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After our full day of touring we were back at the
boat at 6:30 pm
September 16-18
Muhammad arrived at Ascension very early with the
hopes of selling us some Lombok Pearls. The pearls are very
beautiful and somewhat unique to any others we have seen
elsewhere. Gord spent the morning transporting diesel and I made
papaya bread before we set sail back to Gili Air.
We relaxed a few days at Gili Air with
Annie and Liam joining us for dinner on Ascension.
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