Lombok

We were in Lombok about a week from December 27 to January 1.

December 27

We arrived in Lombok by speedboat ferry.  The area the ferry was in was actually very close to where we had the airb&b so it didn’t take very long to get to the house.

The house seemed great and looked great.  It was a little away from the downtown but was pretty nice.  Unfortunately there were two big issues with the house.  First, the doors didn’t fully shut or lock so anyone on the road could have come into the house while we were away or sleeping.  That was a big safety concern for us especially because we did not know the area and if it was safe or not.  During the evening, I started to hear something under the fridge in the kitchen.  All of a sudden we saw something run out from under it and run to under the oven.  It was a rat.  We were not too happy with this and tried to figure out how to get the rat out of the house.  All of a sudden, again, another creature ran out from under the fridge and ran behind the cabinet.  The was a mongoose.  Apparently the sounds we heard were the rat and mongoose fighting.  We managed to get the mongoose out the door but couldn’t get the rat out.  Needless to say, we didn’t get a good nights sleep after that.

December 28

We had breakfast at the airb&b and the night before I was looking around at other places to stay.  We decided to go tour one of the places that I found online.  It’s a good thing we tours before booking because the photos online were a lot different from the actual place.  Since it was across the street, we decided to also look at the Sheraton, even though online it said they only had twins available.  The Sheraton was definitely a step up, the rooms were nice and the pool was about 5 feet from the ocean so it was perfect location.  We ended up booking 2 rooms there and went back to the airb&b to pack up.  Once we got back to the Sheraton, we checked in and relaxed around the resort that afternoon.

December 29

We had a full day private tour to some of the Gili islands around Lombok.  We decided to go with some of the islands that were not as busy and well known.  We went to 3 islands, Gili Nanggu, Gili Kedis, Gili Sudak.  These were beautiful islands.  Unfortunately there has been some storms so the visibility for snorkeling was not great, but it was still fun just to swim around and enjoy the beautiful water and views.  This was fun to have basically a boat and tour to ourselves.  We went to some of the less known Gili islands so the private tour was actually less expensive than a normal group tour to the more popular islands.  Also the islands we went to each had maybe 5-8 other boats at them so it was very relaxed and not so busy.

That night we had dinner at an Italian restaurant we found as we were walking around.  It was surprisingly nice as often the Italian restaurants in Indonesia are more alined to the Indonesian pallet.  This often means that the Italian food isn’t very authentic.  This restaurant did a good job of having options that could work for everyone.

December 30

We didn’t have anything scheduled this day but decided to run some errands and also go pearl shopping.  Lombok is very well known for the natural real pearls they have.  You can often find sellers on the beach selling real pearls.  We ended up going to some highly rated shops because we wanted jewelry pieces instead of just the pearls alone.  My mom didn’t end up finding anything she liked but I found a nice pair of earrings.  I’m not a big jewelry person and my taste is pretty simple but I found a pair that wasn’t perfectly circular which is what I was looking for.

The only thing we had a reservation for this day was going to an Italian restaurant in another resort area.  I was recommended this place by someone who had gone before.  The owners are from Italy and came to open a restaurant there.  The food, view, and atmosphere were amazing.  We were right next to the ocean and had a beautiful sunset view.  The restaurant was a bit raised above the water which ended up being good because some of the waves crashed up pretty high, which was fun to watch.  This was a very enjoyable evening with great company.

December 31

New Years Eve

We wanted a relaxing day as it was our last full day in Lombok.  We enjoyed the hotel breakfast that was included.  We spent most of the day at the pool and in the ocean.  In the afternoon we got massages at the hotel spa.  My dad got an aromatherapy massage while my mom and I opted for the After Sun one.  This was an aloe body wrap with a head and shoulders massage and a facial.  They must have kept that aloe in the fridge or freezer because it was the coldest thing I’ve ever had on my body.  So cold that I almost yelped when it was put on.  Honestly that thing stayed cold the entire time.  The massage and facial were amazing and the spa was right next to the ocean so you could hear the waves in the background.

That evening, our hotel had a complementary New Years Eve dinner.  We enjoyed dinner, live music, and some fun games.  When we were getting ready to leave the dinner, I was called on to answer some questions and I successfully answered and got a complementary afternoon tea for two.  Unfortunately we were leaving in the morning the next day so I asked the hotel staff to find two people they could give it to.  The MCs heard me speaking Indonesian and asked a bunch of questions about how and why I could speak Indonesian.  A little embarrassing in front of everyone but very sweet whenever someone gets excited about me speaking Indonesian.

January 1

We basically just had breakfast in the morning and packed the rest of our stuff up to set off for our flights to Labuan Bajo.

View at Hotel

Pictures from Gili Island Tour

Massage Time!