Bali - Nusa Lembongan - Gili - Lombok
Door: Erik van der Maarel
Blijf op de hoogte en volg EriK
24 December 2014 | Indonesië, Kuta
Bali
In the morning Jurjen and I checked out and returned the motorbike at the rental office. It was a short distance to get to the ferry terminal and before we knew it we set foot on Bali. Together with a group of German exchange students we went on a public bus towards Denpasar bus station. On our way I had a nice conversation with one of the German girls named Lea. She gave me some tips for Bali and also told me to watch out for the police because they will fine you for nothing to get your money. She could speak some words of Indonesian which made the money discussion with the cab driver to get to Kuta a lot easier. After a trip of almost 12 hours I arrived at Warung CoCo.
I went to Restaurant Un's and got something that looked like a peppermint. I put it in my mouth and spit it out again... It was a towel to clean your hands with :). After a bad start I had a lovely dinner and told the waiter that I would be back. In the evening I met up with Valentina, Linda and Rachel (I met them on Java). We drank a couple of drinks before walking back to the hotel. On my way back I could see the chaos going on at the streets. Hookers that are literally grabbing your arms, dealers that are trying to sell you mushrooms, marihuana and cocain, guys asking you if you need transport and taxi drivers that offer you all services mentioned before. Without to much trouble I got back to my hotel :).
The next morning I met the girls again and went to the beach. We just relaxed on the beach the entire day and watched the sunset. On our way back we ate some Balinese food and got changed for the night out. We started drinking at a pool bar and looked at the crazy Australians. It felt if I was on the film set of Jersey Shore; the woman walk around almost naked and the guys walk around with only there shorts on. There all wasted and act like imbeciles. We had fun anyway and Linda and I joined in for a dancing class on the stage. After a fun night I went to bed to sleep for some hours.
I had breakfast with my Spanish roommate and went to the beach. While I was waiting for for the lady's two German girls (Isabelle and Franzi) asked me to take pictures from them while they were surfing. I'm a very nice guy so I couldn't refuse taking some pictures of two German girls :). When the girls were finished surfing they grabbed there towels and joined me on the beach. The other girls arrived also and Linda, Valentina and I decided to do some surfing also. After some bargaining I could rend the surf board for two hours for just 40.000 Rupiah. Isabelle returned the favor and took some beautiful pictures of us surfing. I was doing better than last time and enjoyed myself. We went out for some Thai food and went back to our hotels. I met the German girls that night to go out for a drink. We walked around the bar street and drank some beers before getting back to the hostel.
I asked my hostel to arrange a motorbike for a day to drive around Bali. People told me upfront that I needed a international drivers license, which I didn't have. I was keeping my fingers crossed that I wouldn't run into the police. I drove to the lady's and picked up Linda. Another Dutch guy (Rogier) also joined us and we started driving towards Ubud. While we were driving for 30 minutes we saw a police check point up ahead... Here we go...
While we came closer you could see that the policemen was looking at our white legs and he gave me and Rogier the stop sign. We pulled over and the policemen told us that he pulled us over for our own safety and that he just wanted to see our drivers license. I gave him my Dutch drivers license and Rogier gave him his overdue international drivers license... The policemen were now talking with each other and one guy walked up and told us we would get a fine for not having a international drivers license. He asked us to follow him and he brought us to a desk just around the corner. I tried talking into him since my license mentions drivers license but he didn't care. He pulled out an official form that was already filled in... I asked him why it was already prepared, he told me it was because so he could save some time... Sure :).
The policemen started talking: "You will get a fine for not having an international drivers license. The amount that you will have to pay is between 250.000 Rupiahs and 1.000.000 Rupiahs. You will have to show in front of the court in Denpasar in about five days. In the mean while we will keep your drivers license and you will get it back when you have paid." Me: "You are keeping my drivers license, are you serious...? Is there maybe another way how we could solve it?" Policemen: "Yes, we could also solve it right now. You pay me 250.000 Rupiahs and you don't have to go to court or leave your drivers license behind." Me: "Let's do that way. I pay you 250.000 Rupiahs, I get my drivers license back but I also want to have a ticket (proof of payment)". Policemen: "That's okay." He ripped of the ticket and left the copy (for his boss) behind and started writing... I payed him 250.000 Rupiahs, got the ticket and the money went into his back pocket. So this is the police corruption Lea was telling me about ;).
After the encounter with the police we decided to turn around and go to the Uluwatu temple. It took us quite some time to get to the Nusa Dua district but it was well worth it. On our way to Balangan beach we ran into another police check. This time we only needed to show the ticket and we were allowed to continue :). We watched the sunset from the beach and went back to Kuta. In the evening I met Anne and Kathi (the girls from Vietnam) again. We drank a beer at there hotel before I went back to mine hotel again.
The next morning I checked out at Warung CoCo and went to the Ozz hotel. I met the girls in the afternoon at a shopping mall and we went to a temple named Tanah Lot. We ate some food when we arrived and we enjoyed the sun set behind the temple. I said goodbye to the girls and jumped on the back of Rogier his motorbike. I arrived at the hotel, got changed and got in a cab to the airport. Around 19:00 the airplane from my brother landed and not much later he walked out of the terminal. We grabbed some food and I introduced Marcel to the craziness of Kuta.
The next couple of days we relaxed at the beach and met a lesbian couple (Brianna and Emma) from Australia. We got together almost every day and went for a day trip to the Uluwatu temple again on motorbikes. During this ride I hit another motorbike... Luckily I didn't fall and there was no damaged to my motorbike either. After another four nights in Kuta it was time to go to Nusa Lembongan. This place was an absolute paradise with nice beaches and a laid-back atmosphere. The best place was the secret beach on Nusa Ceningan. We also did some awesome snorkeling at mushroom bay. We stayed in this paradise for three nights before going back to Kuta again.
We picked up Bas Versnel (a friend from back home) from the airport and went for a night out in Kuta. We had a ball together with Kyle, Valentina and Linda. The next day we met up with Bart and Jelleke at Seminyak. We had fun in high waves and before we knew it the sun was setting down again. We grabbed a cab to Ubud the next day and met up with Brianna and Emma again. We hiked through Ubud and chilled at their awesome hotel. We joined a down hill bike tour the next day and saw beautiful rice fields, a copiluwak farm and traditional houses. Next stop Gili Trawagang!
This place was one of the best places so far. During the day the sun would be shining and you could snorkel everywhere. In the night there would be a big party in one particular bar, this changes every day. We went through the roof three nights in a row together with two guys from Norway (Simon an Andereas) that I knew from the transsiberian expess. After these days it was time for the open water diving course.
Sabia (our diving instructor) took us by the hand and explained how everything works in the swimming pool. The next day we explored the underwater world and did two dives. The first dive went excellent, the second dive didn't go quite according to plan... First I couldn't clear my ears and after 20 minutes my air hose of my regulator ripped open. I had to share air with my other diving instructor and we had to aboard the dive. The next day we did another two dives that all went perfect and we passed our final exam. Sabia asked us out for dinner with a group to celebrate. We ate some pizza and had a awesome last night out on Gili T!
The next morning we boarded a boat to go to Lombok to climb the Renjani. We Were picked up by mister Morris and brought us to his "hotel". We used the rest of the day to prepare ourselves for the next day... We were brought to the foot of the mountain early morning and started climbing. The sun was shining and everything looked perfect. It was around 11:00 am (lunch) when the weather started to change... Luckily we had our rain suits with us! After lunch we all started to notice that our stomach was getting a bit upset but we continued climbing anyway. We reached base camp around 4:00 pm and went for a power nap. Once in bed we were all shivering and couldn't get warm anymore... It was an hour later when they brought us dinner and we finally got warm again... However; the warm feeling was quickly replaced by an explosion in all of our stomachs. We all ran out of our tent at the same time to go to the "toilet". We all took a pill to calm our stomachs, this worked for Marcel and Bas but not for me... I brought loads off other visits to the toilet during the night and was completely exhausted when the guide woke me up around 3:00 am to go to the summit. I told him I wasn't able to go any further because of the food poisoning. Marcel and Bas also had enough of it and just wanted to go back down. We decided to wait for sunrise and go back to Gili Trawagang. Bas entered his tent, laid down and heard some sound next to his head... He turned on his flashlight and saw a mice next to his head! He ran out of his tent and the guide got rid of the mice. Bas went back to sleep for 10 minutes when he heard something again; another mice in the tent! Then he noticed there was a hole in his tent and the mice were coming in via there. He stayed outside with his flashlight and saw that there were around 10 mice aiming for his tent... Luckily the sun rose and we started "running" back down. We were down pretty fast and went to the harbor to grab the boat to Gili Trawagang. We all felt relieved when we set foot on Gili T around 5:00 pm and checked in at Manta Dive.
We slept almost the rest of the day and woke up around 8:00 am. We didn't do anything the rest of the day and started to get some more energy. In the evening we ran into Rolf and Demi (from the Hoeksche Waard). We agreed to meet each other later on, unfortunately I wasn't able to join them because of the food poisoning... The next morning Marcel and I joined a fun dive that was absolutely amazing. Loads of turtles, squid and beautiful fish. In the evening we watched the sunset and looked at football at a sports bar.
The next morning we checked out and went back to Bali. We traveled almost all day to get to our hotel. This time we were staying in Seminyak for three nights. We went to the beach to relaxed, grabbed some food and went to bed. The next morning Bas and I went to take a look for souvenirs but couldn't find anything in Seminyak. We stayed on the beach the rest of the day and grabbed a very tasty burger for dinner. We went to Potato Head for a drink and called it a day once again. The next day Marcel was feeling sick from dinner and Bas and I went to Kuta for souvenir shopping. We were both successful and had fun bargaining for the right price. We went to the beach afterwards and grabbed another delicious burger for dinner. For the last night out Bas and I went to Sky Garden in Kuta and partied until early morning!
After a stay of 44 days in Indonesia it was now time to leave the country and go to a new place. I said goodbye to Marcel and Bas and went with a taxi to the airport. It has been a awesome time in Indonesia and had loads of fun with the guys. The time is also right to leave Asia and go back to a western civilization. Thank you Indonesia!.
In the morning Jurjen and I checked out and returned the motorbike at the rental office. It was a short distance to get to the ferry terminal and before we knew it we set foot on Bali. Together with a group of German exchange students we went on a public bus towards Denpasar bus station. On our way I had a nice conversation with one of the German girls named Lea. She gave me some tips for Bali and also told me to watch out for the police because they will fine you for nothing to get your money. She could speak some words of Indonesian which made the money discussion with the cab driver to get to Kuta a lot easier. After a trip of almost 12 hours I arrived at Warung CoCo.
I went to Restaurant Un's and got something that looked like a peppermint. I put it in my mouth and spit it out again... It was a towel to clean your hands with :). After a bad start I had a lovely dinner and told the waiter that I would be back. In the evening I met up with Valentina, Linda and Rachel (I met them on Java). We drank a couple of drinks before walking back to the hotel. On my way back I could see the chaos going on at the streets. Hookers that are literally grabbing your arms, dealers that are trying to sell you mushrooms, marihuana and cocain, guys asking you if you need transport and taxi drivers that offer you all services mentioned before. Without to much trouble I got back to my hotel :).
The next morning I met the girls again and went to the beach. We just relaxed on the beach the entire day and watched the sunset. On our way back we ate some Balinese food and got changed for the night out. We started drinking at a pool bar and looked at the crazy Australians. It felt if I was on the film set of Jersey Shore; the woman walk around almost naked and the guys walk around with only there shorts on. There all wasted and act like imbeciles. We had fun anyway and Linda and I joined in for a dancing class on the stage. After a fun night I went to bed to sleep for some hours.
I had breakfast with my Spanish roommate and went to the beach. While I was waiting for for the lady's two German girls (Isabelle and Franzi) asked me to take pictures from them while they were surfing. I'm a very nice guy so I couldn't refuse taking some pictures of two German girls :). When the girls were finished surfing they grabbed there towels and joined me on the beach. The other girls arrived also and Linda, Valentina and I decided to do some surfing also. After some bargaining I could rend the surf board for two hours for just 40.000 Rupiah. Isabelle returned the favor and took some beautiful pictures of us surfing. I was doing better than last time and enjoyed myself. We went out for some Thai food and went back to our hotels. I met the German girls that night to go out for a drink. We walked around the bar street and drank some beers before getting back to the hostel.
I asked my hostel to arrange a motorbike for a day to drive around Bali. People told me upfront that I needed a international drivers license, which I didn't have. I was keeping my fingers crossed that I wouldn't run into the police. I drove to the lady's and picked up Linda. Another Dutch guy (Rogier) also joined us and we started driving towards Ubud. While we were driving for 30 minutes we saw a police check point up ahead... Here we go...
While we came closer you could see that the policemen was looking at our white legs and he gave me and Rogier the stop sign. We pulled over and the policemen told us that he pulled us over for our own safety and that he just wanted to see our drivers license. I gave him my Dutch drivers license and Rogier gave him his overdue international drivers license... The policemen were now talking with each other and one guy walked up and told us we would get a fine for not having a international drivers license. He asked us to follow him and he brought us to a desk just around the corner. I tried talking into him since my license mentions drivers license but he didn't care. He pulled out an official form that was already filled in... I asked him why it was already prepared, he told me it was because so he could save some time... Sure :).
The policemen started talking: "You will get a fine for not having an international drivers license. The amount that you will have to pay is between 250.000 Rupiahs and 1.000.000 Rupiahs. You will have to show in front of the court in Denpasar in about five days. In the mean while we will keep your drivers license and you will get it back when you have paid." Me: "You are keeping my drivers license, are you serious...? Is there maybe another way how we could solve it?" Policemen: "Yes, we could also solve it right now. You pay me 250.000 Rupiahs and you don't have to go to court or leave your drivers license behind." Me: "Let's do that way. I pay you 250.000 Rupiahs, I get my drivers license back but I also want to have a ticket (proof of payment)". Policemen: "That's okay." He ripped of the ticket and left the copy (for his boss) behind and started writing... I payed him 250.000 Rupiahs, got the ticket and the money went into his back pocket. So this is the police corruption Lea was telling me about ;).
After the encounter with the police we decided to turn around and go to the Uluwatu temple. It took us quite some time to get to the Nusa Dua district but it was well worth it. On our way to Balangan beach we ran into another police check. This time we only needed to show the ticket and we were allowed to continue :). We watched the sunset from the beach and went back to Kuta. In the evening I met Anne and Kathi (the girls from Vietnam) again. We drank a beer at there hotel before I went back to mine hotel again.
The next morning I checked out at Warung CoCo and went to the Ozz hotel. I met the girls in the afternoon at a shopping mall and we went to a temple named Tanah Lot. We ate some food when we arrived and we enjoyed the sun set behind the temple. I said goodbye to the girls and jumped on the back of Rogier his motorbike. I arrived at the hotel, got changed and got in a cab to the airport. Around 19:00 the airplane from my brother landed and not much later he walked out of the terminal. We grabbed some food and I introduced Marcel to the craziness of Kuta.
The next couple of days we relaxed at the beach and met a lesbian couple (Brianna and Emma) from Australia. We got together almost every day and went for a day trip to the Uluwatu temple again on motorbikes. During this ride I hit another motorbike... Luckily I didn't fall and there was no damaged to my motorbike either. After another four nights in Kuta it was time to go to Nusa Lembongan. This place was an absolute paradise with nice beaches and a laid-back atmosphere. The best place was the secret beach on Nusa Ceningan. We also did some awesome snorkeling at mushroom bay. We stayed in this paradise for three nights before going back to Kuta again.
We picked up Bas Versnel (a friend from back home) from the airport and went for a night out in Kuta. We had a ball together with Kyle, Valentina and Linda. The next day we met up with Bart and Jelleke at Seminyak. We had fun in high waves and before we knew it the sun was setting down again. We grabbed a cab to Ubud the next day and met up with Brianna and Emma again. We hiked through Ubud and chilled at their awesome hotel. We joined a down hill bike tour the next day and saw beautiful rice fields, a copiluwak farm and traditional houses. Next stop Gili Trawagang!
This place was one of the best places so far. During the day the sun would be shining and you could snorkel everywhere. In the night there would be a big party in one particular bar, this changes every day. We went through the roof three nights in a row together with two guys from Norway (Simon an Andereas) that I knew from the transsiberian expess. After these days it was time for the open water diving course.
Sabia (our diving instructor) took us by the hand and explained how everything works in the swimming pool. The next day we explored the underwater world and did two dives. The first dive went excellent, the second dive didn't go quite according to plan... First I couldn't clear my ears and after 20 minutes my air hose of my regulator ripped open. I had to share air with my other diving instructor and we had to aboard the dive. The next day we did another two dives that all went perfect and we passed our final exam. Sabia asked us out for dinner with a group to celebrate. We ate some pizza and had a awesome last night out on Gili T!
The next morning we boarded a boat to go to Lombok to climb the Renjani. We Were picked up by mister Morris and brought us to his "hotel". We used the rest of the day to prepare ourselves for the next day... We were brought to the foot of the mountain early morning and started climbing. The sun was shining and everything looked perfect. It was around 11:00 am (lunch) when the weather started to change... Luckily we had our rain suits with us! After lunch we all started to notice that our stomach was getting a bit upset but we continued climbing anyway. We reached base camp around 4:00 pm and went for a power nap. Once in bed we were all shivering and couldn't get warm anymore... It was an hour later when they brought us dinner and we finally got warm again... However; the warm feeling was quickly replaced by an explosion in all of our stomachs. We all ran out of our tent at the same time to go to the "toilet". We all took a pill to calm our stomachs, this worked for Marcel and Bas but not for me... I brought loads off other visits to the toilet during the night and was completely exhausted when the guide woke me up around 3:00 am to go to the summit. I told him I wasn't able to go any further because of the food poisoning. Marcel and Bas also had enough of it and just wanted to go back down. We decided to wait for sunrise and go back to Gili Trawagang. Bas entered his tent, laid down and heard some sound next to his head... He turned on his flashlight and saw a mice next to his head! He ran out of his tent and the guide got rid of the mice. Bas went back to sleep for 10 minutes when he heard something again; another mice in the tent! Then he noticed there was a hole in his tent and the mice were coming in via there. He stayed outside with his flashlight and saw that there were around 10 mice aiming for his tent... Luckily the sun rose and we started "running" back down. We were down pretty fast and went to the harbor to grab the boat to Gili Trawagang. We all felt relieved when we set foot on Gili T around 5:00 pm and checked in at Manta Dive.
We slept almost the rest of the day and woke up around 8:00 am. We didn't do anything the rest of the day and started to get some more energy. In the evening we ran into Rolf and Demi (from the Hoeksche Waard). We agreed to meet each other later on, unfortunately I wasn't able to join them because of the food poisoning... The next morning Marcel and I joined a fun dive that was absolutely amazing. Loads of turtles, squid and beautiful fish. In the evening we watched the sunset and looked at football at a sports bar.
The next morning we checked out and went back to Bali. We traveled almost all day to get to our hotel. This time we were staying in Seminyak for three nights. We went to the beach to relaxed, grabbed some food and went to bed. The next morning Bas and I went to take a look for souvenirs but couldn't find anything in Seminyak. We stayed on the beach the rest of the day and grabbed a very tasty burger for dinner. We went to Potato Head for a drink and called it a day once again. The next day Marcel was feeling sick from dinner and Bas and I went to Kuta for souvenir shopping. We were both successful and had fun bargaining for the right price. We went to the beach afterwards and grabbed another delicious burger for dinner. For the last night out Bas and I went to Sky Garden in Kuta and partied until early morning!
After a stay of 44 days in Indonesia it was now time to leave the country and go to a new place. I said goodbye to Marcel and Bas and went with a taxi to the airport. It has been a awesome time in Indonesia and had loads of fun with the guys. The time is also right to leave Asia and go back to a western civilization. Thank you Indonesia!.
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