The Final Two Weeks
After the massive push to get to Denpasar in 4 days, I was really happy to have reached Bali, the legendary island of amazing food, parties, beaches, and tranquility. I initially planned to stay in Denpasar, not really knowing anything about the place, but quickly realized that it a haven for “schoolies”; Australians on a school break looking to get as wrecked as possible. I stayed the first two nights in a pretty nice resort, but then moved and got hosted by an Indonesian Couchsurfer. Once I met him and went out with his friends, the whole experience became much more authentic.
After a few nights at his place, I decided to rent a scooter and go across the island to stay in Lovina Beach for 5 days while I worked on finishing some assignments for my M.A. While in Lovina, I didn’t do much other than chill at the beach, work on my assignments, and occasionally go to the pub for a few drinks.
After making it back to Denpasar I decided to buy a fast-boat ticket to the Gili Islands for a few days before making my way to Lombok and get cycling again. Because I was on a bike, I had to cycle to Padang Bai Pier, which is about 45km away. I was lucky to find a Couchsurfing host in Gili Trawangan, and spent an amazing 3 nights partying with her and her friends before catching a small boat across to Lombok Island. I took my time, probably because I was hungover and rode the 21km to Sengigi Beach, where I got in touch with my Vespa riding French friend Thomas, whom I met at Mount Bromo in Java. Sengigi Beach was a great place to spend a few days and have the chance to check out Mataram, the capital of Lombok.
After a couple days, I decided to head to Kuta Beach, Lombok, a world renown surf spot with great beaches, amazing surfing, and just a great place to chill out and spend Christmas. I met up with Thomas again, and spent some time hanging out at his guesthouse, swimming at the beach, and even spent a couple days trying to learn to surf, unsuccessfully. At one point, I got some serious food poisoning and was out of commission for 2 or 3 days. Surprisingly, the hotel manager from Thomas' guest house came over and brought me some soup broth, fruits and water. I was pretty surpirsed at how much she helped me. When it was time for me to get riding again, Thomas and I decided to meet up again in the Gili Islands to celebrate New Years Eve before I had to fly back to Malaysia and go to work.
Three more nights in the Gili Islands, and it was time to head back to Bali to catch my flight. Back to work.
Until next time
