No, this is not Maldives.
Welcome to the island of Lombok, Indonesia.
Compared to Phuket, Koh Samui and Boracay, Lombok is a pretty much unknown tourist destination.
How do we ended up choosing Lombok instead?
About a year ago, one of our friend met a girl from Indonesia, and over a drinking session suddenly one of us started the topic of having a trip overseas.
About a tower and a half of Carlsberg gone into the stomach, somebody just shouted "Lombok!".
Just like the Aladdin fairy tale, after about a year of planning and so much of anticipation, here we are in the land of Lombok, about 3 hours flying time from Kuala Lumpur.
Amazing isn't it?
As part of the planning process, I added a few travel agent via Facebook, and ended up with "Lombok Travel Fun". Details of the company can be found here at http://www.lomboktravelfun.com/
The placard upon arrival. I bet no one has ever come up with the idea of naming the group as "Wolf Pack Gang", from the movie "Hangover".
As that is exactly what we planned.
Upon arrival at Lombok International Airport, the owner of the Lombok Travel Fun, Pak Rizal was waiting for us with two "6 seaters cars".
One for carrying passengers and one for bags only. Take that.
Transportation: (Lombok Airport - Senggigi - Lombok Airport) Approx USD 130.
Accommodation
For this trip, we preferred something like a bungalow or villa that comes with swimming pool.
In Lombok, there were lots of choices to choose from, but if you have a tight budget, consider this.
The Riverside Villa.
It has 3 villas in total and we took 2. Each villa has 3 rooms, so it was just nice for 6.
It was really value for money.
The manager is Mr. Rocky, who speak better English than any one of us there. (He used to stayed in Singapore for quite some times).
Breakfast and lunch is complimentary if you stayed here. Just grab the menu and tell the cook what you need.
Each villa has the following features:
3 bedrooms (with individual toilet), 1 kitchen, 1 living hall, 1 TV hall, 1 dining hall, A/C in every room, and complimentary wifi. (Speed of the wifi was excellent unlike what we read in the review).
Overall the setup is excellent. Clean and comfortable. Only problem would be the water pressure and their towel can be cleaner.
Similar to a lot of places in Indonesia, occasionally you will face the black out situation. We had it 2 times a day almost every day.
Blame the National Utility company.
Price: RM800/Villa for 4 days 3 nights. (Yes, total of 3 nights!) X 2 Villas = RM 1,600.00
So , the first thing we did, jumped into the pool!!
Nothing beat a bottle of cold beer and relaxing by the pool after a whole day of travelling.
So, if you come to Lombok, one of the must do thing would be a trip to the Gili Trawangan.
There were 3 main island off Lombok, namely Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air.
But since the main objective is to get hangover, we decided just to visit Gili Trawangan.
Gili Trawangan Tour (With Private Speedboat) Approx USD 35/head.
(Inclusive of transfer to and from jetty, Lunch and dinner, private boat transfer and complimentary drinks)
Some people told us that during the peak season, you may opt to stay overnight at Gili Trawangan to enjoy the party atmosphere.
There were lots of choices of places to stay on that island.
We took a one hour bicycle ride circling the island. You don't have to worry, as you will never got lost on that island. The only downside is I felt my ar*e swollen from the 1 hour bike ride.
One of the shocking thing was that we never knew that there were people who will approach you and try to sell their "magic mushroom" and marijuana on the island.
My advise is, stay out of it.
Although the bike riding session was really a "pain in the ars*". I strongly recommend it as you will get the chance to appreciate the island from all the different angles.
And of course, the package include snorkelling session. (Snorkelling gear has to be rented separately).
As the boat ride from the main land to the island only took us about 15 minutes, we managed to get back to our Villa at about 5.30 pm.
(We opt to have our dinner at Senggigi rather than the island).
It is a seafood restaurant in Senggigi. The food is quite delicious, and the environment is quite nice also.Took a group photo before dinner.
What's a guys trip without partying?
If you have done research about "partying in Lombok". you will come across "Marina Pub".
(Sorry I have to upload the picture from internet as I do not have a copy in my laptop)
Marina pub is one of the most popular music and dance club. (Similar to the Alive in KL).
You will see a lot of foreigners in here, and also some local call girls who will try charm their way into your path. (Or your bed if you have the cash).
If you need a quieter place for dinner and drinks (and live band) I will strongly recommend "The Paragon", which is located just across the road from Marina.
Generally the alcoholic beverages is not that expensive over there. Although it is considered as muslim country (You can find a lot of mosque over there, just like the 7-11), alcoholic drinks is not banned.
(Take that Kelantan).
Overall the trip was quite a memorable one.
Thanks to Lombok Travel Fun for being such a patient and dedicated tour guide for us. (Even waiting for us after late night party at 4am).
Definitely will be back again in the future!
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