Welcome to Paradise. Beautiful beaches, surfing and one not so popular destination, yet – Kuta, Lombok. For the ones who don’t know where it is – it is right next to the world-famous island Bali in Indonesia. I have been exploring Bali for about two weeks and I didn’t find beaches so pretty as the ones they have in Lombok. So, if you are looking for a place that matches your Desktop picture head to Kuta, Lombok instead.
The last summer I have spent almost two months in Indonesia and the highlight of my journey was climbing Mt. Rinjani. As the volcano is situated on Lombok I decided to spent my last three days in the country exploring the island some more. It looks like Bali but 20 years ago. There is no Macdonalds or KFC, people are still genuinely good because they haven’t been interacting with so many tourists.
It has some drawbacks, of course. There is only one hostel and if you are traveling alone you would probably want to stay there. I wanted too, but it turns out you need to book at least a month ahead in the high season. I didn’t, so I got my private room in a beautiful guest house. I really enjoyed it after weeks of sharing rooms and bathrooms. I had my own room and I was going to the beach every day – I felt like a real tourist! The only thing that kept me grounded was the rooster from the picture who was waking me up every morning at 6. I don’t know why it liked my door so much, but it was staying there the whole time. I only know I hated it every morning.
The best way to explore Kuta is to rent a scooter. It shouldn’t cost you more than $5. The fuel is very cheap and you have a full tank for just $2 more. You can as well walk to the closest beaches, but that is basically all you can do without a vehicle. If you would like to go surfing that is also happening outside of the town. You can ask your teacher to come and pick you up in case you are still learning. I didn’t go snorkeling because I spent 7 days on Gili Islands only doing that. But I spoke to a local man and he showed me some pictures of the corals and they looked amazing! Plenty of fishes and а limited amount of people swimming around. It might be even better than Gilis where you are surrounded by people most of the times.
The main street is full of restaurants and bars. Everything I ate was delicious. Unfortunately, when I was there at the end of August 2017 the street was under construction. As I understood, the President was supposed to come and visit soon. So, I suppose they made it looks good for future visits. There are kids selling bracelets everywhere in the beach area. You will soon find out they can be very persuasive. I was amazed how good English they were speaking at the age of 6 or less. I was also impressed by their selling skills. Trust me, you can’t leave the beach without even one bracelet. Be aware that buying from one kid won’t make the others to dismiss you. I tried convincing one, that I don’t need any more bracelets because I already have one. “You can have two” is the answer I received. I had to agree that it sounds logical.
Kuta Lombok has a great location close to the only working airport on the island. There are minivans that can take you to it. Make sure you book that one the previous day if you want to travel with a group and not paying for an expensive single ride. Lombok airport is not the best airport I have seen but there is one particular company that you should be aware of – Lion Air. I had a flight to Jakarta, Java and from there I was flying back to Europe. I had 5 hours difference between the two flights, but that wasn’t enough for Lion Air. We had more than 3 hours delay and I almost missed my next flight. I was the last person who boarded the plane in Jakarta and everyone was watching me very strange when I entered with my bamboo hat and started screaming “I made it, I made it”.
I hope you enjoyed my story. Let me know if you need more information.
All pictures are mine, including the ones where I am visible. I had to practice my selfie-solo-traveling skills in order to make them happen (a.k.a leaving my camera and running to my spot on the picture for 10 seconds).
Thank you for stopping by. Cheers, Eva (:
Looks great. I hope to travel more in Indonesia. So far, I've only travelled around Java.
I started my trip in Java. But the distances were huge there and I was exhausted the whole time trying to cover more things for about a week. Where have you been?
I hired a taxi for a few days and went all round Java: Borobudur, Mount Brono, Ijen. Then went to the island of Karimunjawa which was really nice, but I got badly sunburnt and spent a couple of days inside the hotel room :( I'd really like to go again.
I did pretty much the same... But I was traveling by bus :D Don't travel by bus if you go again :))
Did you go to Ijen? I've written a blog post about it that I'll publish tomorrow. I didn't realise how big Java is. So much driving and the roads are terrible.
I went to Ijen, but the lake wasn't visible ;(
Looks extraordinary. I plan to movement more in Indonesia. Up until now, I've just gone around Java.
There is so much to see in the other parts of the country :) You should definitely explore more :)
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Really?! That is awesome! Thank you, thank you, thank you :)))))
What a funny story at the end @best-trip-eva. Hahahaha, so you used to take pictures alone then running quickly to the front of camera, we did the same girl! It needs skill.
Btw Lion Air had very popular here as one of unrecommended plane for flying. Always delay delay n delay. Huhuhu. Why didn't you take Garuda. It's a good flying partner ❤️
Anyway, If u love traveling in Indonesia you can sometime check out my account. Who knows you need some information. I didn't write much yet as I am a new comer in this cutting edge social media. But I will. Thanks for sharing ❤️
I just wanted a cheap ticket and the Lion Air had the cheapest one. I understand why was so cheap later :D :) I already checked your blog. I think you have a lot of beautiful places to write about :)
That was okey!
At least you can take a learn lesson from your experience. Now you know why that was so cheap.
We used to say that LION tag line is "Late Is Our Nature" Lol 🤣
hahaha, that is a cool name :) I will use it next time I explain to people why not to travel with them :)
Better share! People should know this fact, even bad, they need this information I guess.😅
Really enjoyed reading this. I've heard great things about Lombok, especially from my friend @yasminep who's travelled to Bali and Indonesia multiple times. Are there any good surfing spots there? Those beaches looked incredible!
Hi, Inga. Thank you for stopping by. There are really good surfing spots just a few km away from Kuta. The waves form a little bit far from the shore, so they have boats to get you closer. :) The beaches are amazing. I think I have already seen some articles from your friend. I, on the other hand, would like to go to Ireland and I will be checking your blog ;)
It definitely looks a paradise! Also it looks you found a great weather to travel in. 2 dollars for full tank is not expensive at all
It is not :) and that's great for us, travelers :)
Really loved my time on Bali, years ago! should go back again, so many places to see thanks for sharing
Indonesia is huge, although it looks like small islands spread around on Google Maps :)
Cool pictures, especially the second last one with the turquoise water. It looks very quiet, almost like you were alone the entire time!
Also, the guesthouse you were in looks awesome!
I was most of the time alone, it felt even lonely for a people-person like me, but it looks great on camera :D nobody likes crowded beaches :)
Hello @best-trip-eva. Cool. Glad i found it on steem. Hope my upvote and resteem will help you. Greetings
Thank you, Lena :)
Very nice post! We are visiting Bali in June and we actually considered Lombok as well but decided to leave it for some next time. We want to dedicate much more time for it than just a few days since it appears to have a lot of places that shouldn't be missed.
Niceee :) go to the north of Bali, it is quiet, beautiful and people are super kind. :) My favorite place was Sekumpul waterfalls :) Looking forward to your post from there :))
Thanks for the tip. It looks beautiful, adding it to the list!
Love it when you find these gems that aren't too touristy
I love it, too :) I think that the problem is with how the information about places is circulating around the world. If it is on the Internet, everybody knows about it (the cool place). Then it becomes crowded. If it is not - I wouldn't know about it :) we just have to be lucky to find them before the others :)
Stunning shots of beautiful landscape. I heard Bali is terribly overcrowded but obviously, you can still find some nice secluded places with pristine nature. Thanks for showing us Eva :)
Thank you! Some parts of Bali are overcrowded, but if you go away from the airport or to the next islands, like I did, there are still amazing places :)