HappytimeBlog » Lombok

March 2010 desktop wallpaper download…

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 08:00:12 +0000

It’s desktop wallpaper download time again and for March 2010 we have the rugged and beautiful Mawi, Lombok. A surfers paradise well off the beaten track in southern Lombok. Mucho Mucho Love… Come Join In…

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Comfort is paramount on the road to Bali.

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 05:57:14 +0000

The journey back from Gilli Trawangan two days ago couldn’t have gone any better really, I had taken some inspiration from a Michael Palin DVD we watched in which he said

“Any fool can make themselves comfortable.”

We got the small boat from the Island back to Lombok which was painless enough and then a short pony taxi ride to the Bemo station (Bemo is what the Indonesians call a minivan) then a little bit of banter and a few cigarettes secured us the breezy and spacious front seats all the way to the ferry port a good 2 hours away.

Fatigue was unavoidable but armed with a few sachets of Extra Joss (a powdered form of energy juice to put into a bottle of water which makes Redbull look like a sedative!) it didn’t hang around for long, but next up was the worst part… The 5 hour ferry ride between Lombok and Bali, I had sussed out which side the sun was hitting on the journey over and so as soon as we were on board we headed for the opposite side. Luckily this ferry was a lot newer than the last one we were on and it had much better shady areas, nonetheless our hammock was deployed instantly in the best spot I could find… Much to the jealousy of every other passenger!

Comfort is paramount!

Obviously the gentleman in me prevailed and I left Georgie to enjoy the hammock for the entire journey, if Georgie is comfortable then somehow even if I’m not… I’m comfortable!… It’s mainly because if she’s not then I don’t hear the end of it!

So the ferry journey passed by in no time with the only real point of interest being a troop of dolphins that played and jumped alongside the ferry for a few minutes… Wild turtles and wild dolphins all in 24 hours!

Finally back in Bali all we had left was a 2 hour bus ride back to Kuta and after the day we’d had it was a piece of piss! We went back to the place where we stayed first time we were here but this time got a much nicer bungalow! Then straight to see our friend with the fresh fish for a gut busting meal of Barracuda before the Extra Joss wore off and bed called loudly.

Now we get on to yesterday… We spent the whole day getting ourselves sorted, by that I mean doing laundry and other boring things that needed to be done and were neglected the whole time we were on Lombok and Trawangan.

It was nice actually to be back on the chaotic narrow streets of Kuta Bali, unlike many people Georgie and I can take a place for what it is and enjoy it instead of bitch and moan that it’s not as nice as the last place we went to. Somehow we always seem to manage to find our own little place in the local community.

We popped to the beach at sunset to watch the waves crash and catch up with the hawkers we made friends with, sat with some sunset Bintang’s chatting until it was dark. Because our days normally start at 7am now by 9pm we are almost always tired and so despite an offer from JoJo the surf instructor to go to his bar and get all fucked up we hit the hay early.

Our last days on Trawangan… Wild turtles and crazy horses!

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:05:59 +0000

We are now at the end of our last day on Gilli Trawangan, tomorrow we leave for Bali once again stopping briefly at Lombok to transfer to the ferry port.

Yesterday and today have been very relaxing and very quiet, even Georgie has got into waking up early now and we are both at the breakfast table for 8 am for our free breakfast of thick black Lombok coffee, omelette and toast or banana pancake and fruit salad. Even if it is with an audience of half a dozen local stray cats.

Once breakfast had gone down yesterday we retired to a beach side bamboo gazebo to read and go for a morning snorkel session… The perfect morning exercise! Yet another scorching day and another beautifully clear blue sky. Once we have slipped properly into beach life the only real way to gauge the day is by food-

“are you hungry?”

“a bit yeah”

“let’s get some lunch/dinner/snacks”

(Georgie in a low grumbling tone) “ooooo yeah!”

So based on that we didn’t do a great deal until dinner time, when we washed the sea water off us and took the 30 minute walk into town for a curry… And this time we really went for it!

We ate far too much and the walk back to bed was gruelling I somehow managed to eat enough for five people and paid for it every step of the way home.

Today has been mostly the same, early morning breakfast followed by a spot of snorkelling then relax and read for a while, then over lunch one of the chaps who works at our guest house told us we might be able to see some sea turtles if we were lucky just down the road not 5 minutes away… As hard as it was to tear ourselves of our comfy little perch looking out over a particularly beautiful sea on a particularly beautiful day, we managed it. A short stroll down the beach and we headed out between Gilli Trawangan and Gilli Meno it cant be any more than 200 metres and by the time we had splashed out to about 20 it was already a cut above our usual spot near to Nusa Tiga where we are staying.

The coral here was busier and absolutely teeming with colourful fish and as we swam out further (maybe to 40 metres off the beach) there was a sudden shelf and the seabed fell away very sharply! Suddenly faced with such a massive drop (probably 50 metres or more), cold water being pushed up from the depths and a wall of much darker blue water was fucking scary! I ventured over and bobbed about just on the edge gazing down to the white sandy floor that seemed a mile away while Georgie bless her kept her distance.

We settled instead for swimming along with the shelf as the best coral was a few metres back and I was certain that if we were going to catch a glimpse of a turtle it would be somewhere near the edge.

After maybe 40 minutes of by far the best snorkelling we have done on this Island yet I saw one! Gracefully flapping its flippers as it glided up from the edge and into the warmer shallow water where we were watching, it didn’t seem to give a toss we were there and after a gulp of air from the surface it headed in towards the beach right under us, I couldn’t resist and dived down to meet it, it let me swim right alongside it and even stroke is shell before my pesky lungs demanded I surface for more air. Georgie was up next and after a couple of attempts to get deep enough (she has an unusually powerful natural buoyancy!) she too was swimming along the bottom of the sea with the happy little chap.

We stayed bobbing around for a while and watched as it disappeared from view as gracefully and unhurried as it had appeared, then started to slowly head back to the beach… Only to bump into another one in water probably only a metre deep!!! It was truly mega!!! This one though seemed much more interested in us and after we left it to its business to head back it began to follow us almost looking curious.

We got back to our room to start the tedious task of packing. This morning at breakfast Georgie had booked a horse ride tour of the small island, she’s been wanting to get on a Gee Gee for ages and it seemed like the perfect place for a little trot about. At 5 pm on the dot the bloke arrived to picker up and she somehow managed to convince me to come too… This was short lived though because the slow ride down to the main part of the island in a pony and trap taxi gave me time to think it through and bottle out… Another day… Maybe!

Georgie however got saddled up with a gorgeous (apparently) brown steed and set off waving manically but looking like a pro. I however had much tamer things in mind and booked our tickets for tomorrow back to Kuta Bali, as I was doing so Georgie and her guide passed me by, he jumped off his horse to get some cigarettes and Georgie’s horse despite looking under control slowly plodded off towards the sea with Georgie looking slightly like she had no control what so ever… I felt instantly that I made the right decision!

But I am assured Georgie is a pro and I left her to it, she managed to steer it in a circle and went back for her guide while I headed back to our bungalow to pack some more.

An hour later Georgie returned looking triumphant and was smiling from ear to ear, apparently it was a lively handful of a horse that wanted to run at every opportunity but like a master she reined him in and showed him who was boss. A bit saddle sore and with a few blisters (Georgie not me) we headed next door for dinner before turning in to finish the packing ready for our 7:30 am pony taxi… Then the boat to Lombok… Then the 2 hour minivan ride to the ferry port… Then the 4 hour ferry… Then the 2 hour ride to Kuta.

Georgie’s La La Land: Episode 15 Gilli Trawangan

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:25:57 +0000

In this episode we find our way to the tropical Island of Gilli Trawangan in Indonesia. We mess about on the beach and take a pony ride..

Watch more of our Travel Videos.

Georgie’s La La Land: Episode 14 More Lombok

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:22:01 +0000

We get out and about around Lombok, Indonesia. Georgie feels under the weather but Mona the Monkey lifts her spirits.

Watch more of our Travel Videos.

Sweaty birthday to me… On the Island of Gilli Tarawangan

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:32:44 +0000

Our room may well have been clean and new but what they didn’t tell us is that there are often power cuts and they have no generator… Our room quickly turned into an oven and by about 1am I was so hot and sweating so much that I laid on the tiled floor with the door wide open. We had a small walled garden with a lovely rustic little gate so it plenty private enough for me to be laying out in just my skimpy pants but I don’t think I would have cared if not, it must have been close to 40 degrees and the air was so still it was almost claustrophobic.
The electricity came back some time around sunrise which woke us up and we finished the rest of our sleepy time in the o so comfy bed.
I woke up like a bear with a sore head… A culmination of almost 2 weeks of playing nurse for Georgie, the sweatiest nights sleep of my life and to top it off my birthday!
(As you may or may not know but I fucking hate my birthday!!!)
Georgie seemed much better which was a plus but still not 100% so I decided to get her along to the doctor for some professional help and hopefully some quality drugs.

We walked along the beach front in the glorious morning sunshine, all the time Georgie was trying to keep my spirits up by reminding me that we as far as birthdays go this had to be one of my best… Sun, sand and sea all only meters away I had to agree but it didn’t make me any less grumpy.
The doctor was lovely and gave Georgie a little check up and prescribed her some antibiotics for her belly, it was a little strange because his room was tiny only just big enough for 2 beds and a desk and the whole we were in there one of the beds was occupied by a lady laying down enjoying a drip…

On our way back to the bungalow we passed a really nice beachside restaurant so we stopped in for breakfast, noticing they had some WiFi we decided that we should return for lunch and chill out there all day while Georgie is still working on getting better and also Philip and a friend were on their way from Lombok and we could see the boats arrive from there. Things didn’t exactly go to plan… At lunch I started on the Bintang’s and by very early afternoon I had made the exciting transition on to double Jack Daniel’s, I was hammered by 1 o’clock and Georgie bless her just had to sit and watch, but she did a great job and despite having drunk away the ability to form my words we had a great day just sitting and chatting.

Philip called about 5 o’clock and we headed up to where the boats come in to meet him and his friend Ajun, everyone sang happy birthday to me while I tried my best to fall on my face and then we helped them find a room.
It was great to have Georgie back to her usual self and after letting the boys use our shower (their room turned out to have no water) we went for a curry at a nice little beachfront Indian restaurant, Ajun being from India made an order for us all, Georgie got a shisha pipe on the go and I just kept drinking…
We all had a really good night (me especially) and to be honest I had a great birthday, I was barely able to remember where we were staying and Georgie had started to feel shitty again but together we managed and to top it all off we opened the door to find another fan-less nights sleep…

Georgie’s still sick but she made it to Ashtari

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 08:14:01 +0000

By now we are just about getting into waking up nice and early without an alarm, the bedtime/lunchtime/elevenses Bintang’s help a lot with that too. I was up around 6 am and Georgie was up at about 7 am but she was still feeling really sick with a bad belly so she stayed in bed for a while.

Bless her first the flu in Kuta Bali then real bad prickly heat and now a bad belly, it’s been one thing after the other. Some other travellers from a room nearby also had it and even some from the hotel next door so it was just unlucky. Georgie couldn’t be far from a toilet all day so best we managed was to pop and see a man about some land on Lombok (very interesting) and then try again for lunch at Ashtari, a healthy food resturant run by a pair of Australians set high up on a hill looking back down over Kuta. Even this was a bit of a struggle for Georgie but a bellyful of good grub would do her good! Ashtari is just breathtaking it’s views are endless and you can see all of Kuta and further. They apparently bought the land in the 80’s and developed it in the 90’s long before any professional companies were set up to sell land in Lombok. But it paid off… And some.
The restaurant itself would look more at home in Greece of the south of France and the large shady terrace that enjoys the best of the views is just amazing, its a $1,000,000 view if I have ever seen one. The guy at the real estate company was really nice and
helpful and then seeing this really set our minds to thinking we need a place like this!
Soon after we had finished our delicious lunch Georgie’s focus turned back to her belly and seeing as it was a 10 minute ride down a quite bumpy hill we thought best we headed off as soon as possible.

Seeing as Georgie wouldn’t be up for much and Philip was still smashed from a mammoth 6 am surf session I decided to have a go at the 50km round trip to a town named Praya where the nearest ATM is, Philip gave me directions and I left Georgie to relax, I hopped on my moped with the iPod in and off I went. The ride was pretty good, the roads were fairly smooth and quite quiet, the people I passed either wanted a high five or screamed hello at me and it was easy enough to find Praya. It was a little daunting at first trying to remember the way and being very conscious that im alone but there was no need to worry everyone was more than helpful and even if they didn’t know the way they wanted to help… Not exactly best for me but hey, I stopped in Praya and asked a policeman directions to the ATM and he sent me 10km the wrong way so I stopped under a shady tree to have a smoke and try and work out where the fuck I was when a chap came out of his house to help, he didn’t speak good English but with lots of waving hands and miming he managed to let me know that if I turned around and went back into Praya I would pass the ATM… So I did… And I did!

With that out of the way I was free to enjoy the ride back, I knew the way, I had plenty of cash it was just me and the open road… It was a really nice ride. By the time I got back to our hut I was unbelievably dusty and sweaty, I woke Georgie up told her all about my mighty mission while we had a soak in the pool.

Georgie was still feeling super rough so what was left of the day was spent just relaxing and pumping her full of drugs, I had a few
Bintang’s with Philip (of course) after Georgie had gone to bed… But purely to make me sleep…

Georgie's still sick but she made it to Ashtari

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 08:14:01 +0000

Georgie’s La La Land: Episode 13 Lombok

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:17:44 +0000

We leave Ubud and find our way To Lombok. What we find there is an untouched paradise that we fall in love with.

Watch more of our Travel Videos.

Mona the monkey comes over to play.

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:23:25 +0000

We had arranged with Philip over the bonfire to be at his guest house by 8 am for a little day trip to a bay on the far south eastern tip of Lombok, somehow I managed to get Georgie up and ready on time but by the time we got there both her, I and Philip didn’t really feel up to a two hour slog over bumpy roads…
Instead we had breakfast with Philip and all the other surfers while they waited for their car to take them back to Bali.

Seeing as his place had what our hotel lacked… Other people, we decided to switch, Georgie waited with Philip while I scooted back on the moped and loaded it up like a donkey.
We had a really lazy morning, just sitting around in the restaurant of our new guest house watching TV and chatting to the other guests although we did try and make it out for lunch to a hilltop restaurant called Ashtari, famed for it’s views down the hill and out across Kuta Lombok… Unfortunately the place is shut on Monday’s so that was a no go.
Instead we chilled out on our balcony and played with a monkey…
Next door but one to our guest house there is a family who has a small shop by the roadside and a pet monkey tied to a post, she’s a tame monkey and the family are more than happy if people want to take her off for a little walk, I suppose it saves them doing it. Georgie was overcome with excitement by this and couldn’t resist!
Mona is the monkey’s name and she is so gorgeous, we brought her back to our balcony and gave her some fruit and let her play in the trees. We groomed her just like another monkey would (obviously we didn’t eat the fleas after we had picked them off her) and she groomed us back (obviously she didn’t actually find anything).

We had panned to make a little trip to the nearby flash hotel (The Novotel) and enjoy their posh facilities so we walked Mona back to where she lived and tied her back up (not easy to do bless her) and then headed out, we passed the piece of land that Philip bought last year on Kuta hill which looks out over a large flat piece of manicured Novotel grassland and then out to the sea, at the moment its just a grassy hill but he has grand plans and it looks like a stella location… All very exciting!
The Novotel Lombok is of course very luxurious and of course very expensive, it’s not too much to pay for a day guest pass and with that you even get bar credit… So that’s what we did!
The beach at the Novotel is a shining example of what Lombok will look like in a few years when businesses and other hotels move in, hopefully they are all as sympathetic as the Novotel has been… The sand is raked every day and the debris from the trees and bushes that make Lombok so lush is cleared away, the hotel itself is very in keeping with its surroundings yet the area still retains that rugged feel but with a caring touch.

We sat on loungers and had a swim in the infinity pool and the sea, drank a Bintang or two and listened to some of Philip’s super funk music, had a nap and watched the sun set over the hills. By this point Georgie had started to feel a little rough again but it was happy hour at the cocktail bar so she put on a brave face and we got tucked into some Mojitos!
It wasn’t long though before Georgie was feeling too rough to enjoy it so we polished them off as best we could and headed back.
I stayed up with Philip and had a couple more mighty Bintang’s and Georgie went off to bed to try and sleep off whatever it was she had.