Bali Travel Diary- 5
Welcome back to another Travel Diary! This week I left Bali and headed to Lombok, another island in Indonesia. Here’s how I spent my time there!
Monday 1/1
I started the year strong with an incredibly long travel day to Lombok. I woke up bright and early at 7 am to drive several hours to the port. I got to the port around 11 and waited until 2 pm for the boat to arrive.
After the boat pulled in and everyone got loaded, it was a 2-and-a-half-hour ride to Lombok. I sat on the top of the boat and enjoyed the ocean breeze the whole way!
Once I arrived in Lombok around 6 pm, I had to find a taxi and drive to Kuta, where my hostel was located. The drive was only supposed to take an hour but with the new year and crazy traffic, I didn’t make it to the hostel until 9 pm.
You can imagine how tired I was by the end of the day so I got some dinner and went straight to bed!
Tuesday 1/2
Tuesday was a beautifully chaotic 24 hours. My morning started by figuring out that my visa didn’t extend when I tried to update it online, and it was the last day my current visa was valid.
This information really stressed me out because I had zero clue as to how I was going to get my visa extended by the end of the day, or else I would be facing serious charges for overstaying!
Thankfully, someone I met the night before had contact with a visa agent and she started working immediately on my extension. However, I needed to be present at the Immigration office, located in Mataram over an hour's drive away.
This presented another issue… how was I going to get there?! Lombok is way more remote compared to Bali, which means they don’t have readily available taxis. That meant it was up to me. I decided I had to rent a scooter and make the drive myself.
I was terrified at first because I had never driven a scooter before. So once I rented it, I gave myself a quick 15-minute practice session before I had to leave. The drive was stressful, but there were hardly any people on the road until I got into the city which gave me plenty of time to feel comfortable behind the wheel.
Once I got to the immigration office, I met with Dewi, the travel agent, and she was able to extend my visa in a matter of hours. She and I then met for lunch where I met her sister and we shared stories over delicious local food.
Then, it was time for me to make the drive back. I felt a lot more comfortable my second time around and drove home to the most amazing sunset. When I got back to the hostel I met some awesome people and we swam, played some games, and ate dinner!
Such a crazy day!
Wednesday 1/3
I woke up early Wednesday morning and had my first surf lesson! It was so much fun and I had a great time on the waves. When I got back to the hostel it was raining hard so I played the guitar with some friends and took a nap.
Later that night I watched some friends skate in the skating bowl before heading to pizza with a bug group of friends. It was sooo delicious. We finished our night with a plethora of card games as the rain came down!
Thursday 1/4
It was raining on and off all day Thursday so I stayed at the hostel. I spent my time reading, playing on the balance board and slack line, and practiced skating in the bowl. I learned how to surf skate while I was in Lombok; it’s a great sport!
Later that night I went to watch the sunset with a girlfriend of mine, Sita. We ended up getting lost on the beach once it got dark and it took us awhile to get back! The we had dinner at hostel and there was a huge thunderstorm that night.
Rainy season was in full force in Lombok!
Friday 1/5
Due to the rain, I came down with a cold on Friday morning. Many of my friends were leaving so I had breakfast with them, skated for a bit, and said farewell!
Because I was feeling down, I decided to have a chill day. I walked around some shops but other than that, I spent a lot of time resting. For dinner I got nourishing pumpkin ginger soup and then went to bed quite early.
Saturday 1/6
I was still recovering on Saturday so when I woke up I just decided to get some work done and relax. It was raining again so when I got back to the hostel I played on slack line and balance board and went to an early dinner with friends.
We got some amazing ice cream and finished the night with several card games.
The rain had brought a cold to almost all of our hostel so we were taking time to rest and recover :)
Sunday 1/7
Sunday was probably my favorite day of the entire trip! I started my morning with another surf lesson, where I moved down a foot in board length. This meant I could turn much easier on the waves. It was a blast!
I had lunch at the hostel before going to a custom ring shop. I was picking up a ring for my friend but ended up getting one of my own because they were so beautiful. I then ran some small errands around town.
When I got back to the hostel I had a huge fruit plate before my friends invited me for a sunset surf! It was so beautiful. I went without an instructor and only caught about three waves, but the sunset was breathtaking. I have never felt more peace than when I was on the board that night.
Then all of my friends and I showered and found a place to eat dinner before making our way home and finishing the night with some card games! It was starting to become a nightly ritual at this point.
And that’s it for my 5th week in Indonesia! I am so glad I decided to go to Lombok. It was not a part of my plan in any way but ended up being my favorite location. It taught me the importance of saying yes to new opportunities.