How do you like my previous blog about Malihom, the private estate in Penang, Malaysia?
If you haven't read it yet, here's the link! Malihom, Penang. However this is not what I'm writing about today. I'm gonna share with you how did I spend my best Summer ever in Lombok!!!!!
Lombok has been one of the destinations that I was longing to visit. It's where the famous Mount Rinjani located at. Since this was my first time there, our main interest was just to explore the whole Lombok and islands around it without killing our own bodies and souls by doing the 3 days 2 nights hike at Mount Rinjani.
Traveling with whole new camera gears was one of the greatest excitement during this trip. Switching from Olympus OMD EM-5 to Olympus OMD EM1 Mark II with 3 additional lenses was the best feeling ever!!
So I'm gonna split this blog into 2 parts - Lombok (mainland) & Gili Trawangan
Lombok
1. Svarga Resort Lombok (Accommodation)
Svarga Resort Lombok is located at the west of Lombok where most of the famous restaurants and resorts are. 1 hour & 30 minutes of taxi ride from the Lombok International Airport will cost you roughly IDR 250,000 ~ RM79 (of course have to bargain from IDR 300,000).
We put no expectation on this resort and turned out to be such an amazing resort at a very affordable price! (RM250++ per night for 2 pax inclusive of breakfast)
Once settled down, we got our car rental with the help from the receptionist. Talking about transportation in Lombok, I would advise you to rent your own car that only cost you IDR 300,000 (RM95) per day (8 hours) instead of hiring a driver that'll cost you at least double.
2. Tanjung Aan (Pristine Beach)
After getting our car, we drove to the south along the west coast to Tanjung Aan, it was around an hour journey from Senggigi beach.
Guys & girls! You cannot miss this place!!!!! Haha I'm not exaggerating cause Tanjung Aan is such beautiful. The water is blue with different shades, I feel like screaming while writing here hahaha.
Anyways, surprisingly this beach was not too packed with tourist (I guess Lombok is kinda huge that everyone is scattered everywhere). It's a perfect beach for sunbathing, chilling or like me taking tons of photos and videos.
When you walk along to the left end of the beach, there's a small hill with steps where you can climb up and taadahhhh this is the view!! Yes these 2 guys were fishing like they were posing.
3. Milk Espresso (Cafe & Spa)
Cafe scene is not as common as compared to Bali but we've found our favourite one here in Kuta, Lombok.
Fell in love with the Scandinavian interior with the touch of Summer. Milk espresso serves variety of smoothie bowl and Buddha bowl as well as decent coffee!!!
Ok another good thing about Milk Espresso, they serve HUGE portion of food!!!!!
4. Senggigi Sunset
Senggigi was where we stayed & it's located on the West coast, so sunset is the highlight of every evening. We were so lucky to have the perfect weather throughout the whole trip and every sunset was stunning and unique by itself.
Here's I'm gonna give you a tip on Senggigi's sunset. When you ask everyone in Lombok, most of them would advise you to watch sunset at the viewing point which is the Malimbu Hill. We followed their advice and drove there and realised that all our sunset view was just staring at the sun setting under the horizon, everything was flat and nothing special compared to any other sunsets I've ever seen.
Then we thought of somewhere else. As you drive along the West coast up North, you'll see a lot of coconut trees by the beach, when I say a lot, it's not just 10, it's freaking a lot. So we drove back and found a small gate that leads you to this field of coconut trees.
Here's what you'll get to see. There was zero tourist but only the locals sitting by the beach enjoying the sunset. We literally dropped our jaws and wished this moment freezes forever.
As you walk towards the beach, the sunset is all yours. It's amazing that the sun was actually setting behind the Mount Agung in Bali.
5. Sembalun (Paddy Field)
On the 3rd day, we extended our car rental and drove to Sembalun (East) which took us about 2 1/2 hours. We departed at 5am and as we drove around the island up North, the sunrise amazed us.
Paddy field will be with you all the way up North before heading East to Sembalun.
We couldn't resist the view and stopped by the roadside and took a few photos at the paddy field. I didn't Photoshop the flare, it's real!!!
Sembalun is where Mount Rinjani is located. However, we did not plan for the hike at Rinjani as it'll take 3D2N and we would be dead after the hike, so why not explore Lombok first and come back solely for the hike.
Finding the location you wanted to go by asking the locals will most probably lead you to the wrong way, trust me. They are lovely, but they might not know where you are referring to and point you a direction where they think the places might be. So after a misleading tough hike halfway up Bukit Nanggi, we had a feeling that we'll not get to see what's in the photos above. We headed back down and tried our luck in asking another young guy, and thanks to him, this colorful paddy field is at Bukit Selong, where it's reachable by vehicle!! What an adventure after spending the whole morning looking for this spot. Anyways it was worth it.
6. Sendang Gile & Tiu Kelep (Waterfalls)
These 2 waterfalls are located at the root of Mount Rinjani and it is also part of the track up to this highest mountain in Lombok. Sendang Gile will be the first waterfall you'll see after a 10 minutes hike from the entrance. (Tips: Locals will try to terrify you by telling the story of people missing in the route to the waterfalls few days ago without hiring any guides, we've been told the same so we hired and true enough it was pretty easy without any local guide, tracks are well built but still, it'll be at your own risk).
Sendang Gile, the layered waterfall with the water flows through the plants, splashing onto the rocks and rainbow formed due to the refraction of light through the water.
Another 15-20 minutes hike from Sendang Gile, you'll arrive at the famous Tiu Kelep waterfall. It's way larger & taller than the previous one.
Gili Trawangan
1. My Gili Paradise (Accommodation)
After exploring the beauty and nature of Lombok, we spent our last 3 days in Gili Trawangan island. Traveling to Gili T. island was a hilarious one. We've been told to only purchase the public boat tickets at the official ticketing office but our horse carriage brought us to one of the small offices. We had no idea that was not the official ticket sellers so we spent IDR 800,000 for 2 pax back and forth Gili T. and Lombok as well as the last trip to airport. This price was nego from IDR 1.5M!!! In fact, one way of public boat ticket only cost you IDR 15,000 Hahaha. So make sure you walk all the way to the Jetty and get your tickets there and ignore everyone around you.
My Gili Paradise surprised us with a double storey hut and it's located on the East coast, 5 minutes walk from the public boat jetty.
Making us of the hammock for photos while enjoying their simple breakfast. Oh! They sent our breakfast right outside our room!
2. Gili T. East
Strolling around the East side of Gili T. is one of the best things to do during the day but beware of the incoming horse carriages and bicycles, you don't want to get bang by any of them. Besides wandering around the island itself, there are few more islands surrounding Gili T. which you can easily get the tour for it but we didn't, we were just lazy.
Look at these photos! Almost every corner is Instagrammable!
3. Kayu Cafe
If you're looking for a hipster cafe for coffee and some fancy lunches, try out Kayu Cafe at Gili T. East, They serve western brunch as well as Indonesian local food such as the fried noodle that I had in the picture.
4. Gili T. West
Basically, Gili Trawangan is a very very small island. Lemme explain how small it is. Our only way of transportation on the island was our legs, and walking from the East to West around any side of the island took us 20-30mins!
I really love this photo cause it makes me look like a real jungle boy hehehe.
The west is where you'll see the famous sunset in Gili T., of course it's the west what am I saying lolll. Anyways, take the south route instead of the north as you'll get to see cool restaurants and views along the way.
Here's what to do at the West,
Malibu Beach Club for buy 1 free 1 cocktails and the light bites, they are awwweeesomemeeeeee!!!!
Vila Ombak Hotel Sunset for the best sunset in Lombok!
Pearl Beach Lounge, for a lil fancy romantic dinner.
Sunset view from Malibu Beach Club
Another breathtaking sunset at Vila Ombak Hotel
Pearl Beach Lounge for a good dinner
I understand that this might be too long for you to read, Drop me a message if you need more information but at the same time hope you enjoy this blog and all the photos!
Have a good read and awesome weekend! <3
And and and click on this Best of Lombok to watch my video!!!!
Stay tuned for my next blog about the UK!