Through the remote islands of Indonesia
24 AUGUST - 11 SEPTEMBER 2017
DAY 1-2
Zurich - Bali
Our Emirates flight leaves Zurich Airport (ZRH) at 3:30 p.m. on August 24th, and catapults us to Ngurah Raj International Airport (better known as Denpasar DPS), after about 17 hours of flight time, including a stopover at Dubai Airport. We arrive at Bali Airport, which is located in the southern area of the island, near the capital Kuta, in the early afternoon, at 2:30 p.m., and meet our driver.
We used the service of Suntransfers, that we already tested in Mexico and that at really unbeatable prices boasts a very efficient network of private transports, active in many countries in the world. You can easily book online, you can cancel your reservation without penalty until a few days before, and with about 35 € we booked a transfer in van for 6 people from the airport to Ubud (approx. 1.30 h of travel), very comfortable. Unfortunately, our plans to arrive at the hotel around 6 p.m. were completely blown out, first of all by the unexpected queue at the airport for the visa. To enter Bali, for citizens of the European Union, you do not need to pay or apply for a visa, but this is affixed directly on arrival at one of the international airports. However, this took more than an hour, and our departure was delayed. We had no idea, moreover, that the timing estimated by good old Google for the transfer to Ubud was completely unreliable, and that instead of a little more than 1 hour of travel, local drivers rightly expect more than 3 hours. This is because the traffic is incredibly dense, and not only in proximity of the airport, where you proceed at a walking pace, but also in the inner streets.
Travelling to Ubud you will immediately notice the strange geography of this place. The roads are an infinite straight line almost without intersections and parallel secondary roads. We continue in the same direction, now between rice fields that border the narrow road, now between smoking kiosks of street vendors on the edge, now between low houses and shops in a row.
Finally we reach our accommodation where a drink welcomes us in the open hall of this hotel, set in a lush garden that frames a swimming pool. In the dark you can see a few details, but the atmosphere is already magical. We have reserved a villa with a private pool: it may sound pretentious, but the prices to enjoy some small luxury in Bali are absolutely modest, and therefore why not take advantage of it. The information and photos on the hotel's website, honestly, did not honor enough this accommodation, a fantastic place to fully enjoy a trip to Ubud.
HOTEL: Udaya Resort & Spa
We have dinner at the hotel, given the late hour. The hotel restaurant is very pleasant, dinner is a good and comfortable solution, but not exceptional. It serves typical Balinese dishes, but also international cuisine at reasonable prices. So it is a good solution when you feel too lazy to go to the city, or when, like us, you want to go to sleep as soon as possible not to become slaves of jet lag.
DAY 3
Bali, Ubud & Tengallalang
First full day in Bali. We wake up in a good mood to attend the yoga class offered by the hotel and then we enjoy the breakfast, served at the table, really excellent. Our driver waits for us at 9:00 a.m. on time to take us on a visit to the temples of Bali. We organized the trips on the advice of friends who have given us the name of a reliable person who works as a driver, but also asking the hotel can be a good idea.
First destination is the Gunug Kawi temple. We carefully observe the villages we pass through during the trip and after about 1.30 h we reach the temple. Dodging the many people who try to sell us a sarong for the entrance to the temple: you have to wear a kind of pareo to cover the legs as a sign of respect for the sacred place, which is provided free of charge by the temple managers at the entrance. Unless you want to buy one for a few Euros and have a personal one for each temple you visit. We descend to the valley that houses the temple, mostly a sacred enclosure consisting of rock walls surrounding a small valley on the river, carved with large embedded statues of Hindu gods.
We head back to the second stop of the day, the temple Pura Tirta Empul. This time it is a real agglomeration of temples in the most traditional sense, with numerous enclosures and shrines for prayer. Visitors are not allowed in all the enclosures, some of which are reserved for worshippers.
We arrive one hour later at the first of the rice fields we will visit, Tengallalang. We are already amazed by the size of this rice field, set in a fairly narrow and winding valley, whose walls have been dug by the terraces. The site is full of tourists and you have to make your way through the crowd of observers to enter the rice fields. Here the peasants, who have well understood the tourist potential, have prepared real checkpoints where they invite you to make a (mandatory and prefixed) offer for the passage between the various terraces. The weather is not exceptional and the dullness of the day does not make us appreciate the colors of the landscape. The best time to visit this place is certainly early in the morning, when tourists are still far away and the light floods the rice fields waking up.
After a while, up and down between the terraces, we go back home. We decide to stop in the center of Ubud, a little far from our hotel, for dinner, after seeing the traditional Balinese dances at the Palace of Ubud.
We witnessed the Lelong Dance, one of the many local dances that consists mainly of sudden movements of the body, hands and fingers, as well as the great expressiveness of the eyes of the dancers. The music is quite loud and sustained. These dances are very suggestive, but the overall effect is more like an incessant noise than a catchy melody. A bit dazed we go for dinner in a restaurant in the center of town, where we appreciate some tuna dishes that seem to be among the best here in the city, before returning to the hotel.
DINNER: Tutmak Café
The hotel is not really within walking distance, so we contract the price of a taxi, very cheap and certainly convenient to move instead of renting one of the popular scooters that attract tourists.
DAY 4
Bali, Ubud & Jatiluwih
Today we go to the temple Pura Dalan on Lake Bratan. The temple is different from those seen so far, with multi-storey-roofed pagoda floating on the waters of the lake. The complex surrounded by a lush garden is very impressive but less spectacular than it looks in the photos. We go immediately after to the rice fields of Jatiluwih.
The panorama that welcomes us makes the rice fields of Tengallalang look like a domestic garden in comparison. It is an endless open valley furrowed by terraces, planted with rice, as far as the eye can see. We get lost for a few hours in the paths crossing the rice fields and after a snack of mango and dried fruit in a small kiosk on the terraces, we return to the car and get back on the road.
Also this evening we stop in Ubud to try some shopping: it is worth spending a few hours to browse in the shops of the town, which have a lot to offer, and, unlike the traditional expanses of souvenirs, sell cool clothes, yoga equipment and fashionable accessories. We dine in a charming candlelight restaurant that runs along a city rice field.
DINNER: Three Monkeys
DAY 5
Bali, Ubud & Panglibaran
This morning we decide to wake up before dawn to make an excursion to the area of Campuhan. It is a ridge overlooking the valley covered by the jungle aside our hotel, a walk of about 1 h through villages, rice fields and a temple, until you return to the center of Ubud. At 5 o'clock in the morning a taxi takes us to the beginning of the road of Bangkiam Sidem. We are abandoned at the beginning of a village and we take pictures at dawn of the rice fields that surround it. We continue on foot, completely alone, among the few buildings of the village and then along the ridge, where, after dawning, there is a magnificent view of the jungle below. At this hour there is no one, except some sparse runners who, around 7 a.m., begin to populate the ridge. We take some photos and finally reach the temple that concludes the walk at the gates of Ubud. We return to the hotel ready for breakfast.
Last day in Bali, and we decide to make a morning excursion and then return in the afternoon to the hotel to take advantage of the SPA. We go to the mother temple of Pura Besakih, the largest and most majestic seen so far. We are taken to the temple on board a scooter that climbs the long uphill road that separates the temple from the ticket office. A guide shows us all the characteristics of the place, and after a few photos we proceed to the second and final destination of the day.
We arrive at the traditional village of Panglibaran. It is a perfectly maintained village, of traditional structure, with the dwellings that consist of a series of terraced courtyards that enclose the typical Balinese houses. The people who live here welcome tourists in their homes, which have now become small shops where they try to sell local products.
In the early afternoon we go back to the hotel, where we relax a few hours in the pool, before going to the SPA: this too, like the other luxuries we have enjoyed in Bali, is for all budgets. For a few dozen Euros you can pamper yourself in the SPA without feeling guilty, especially if, like us, you plan to spend most of the rest of your trip in a spartan camping tent, or on a fishing boat!
DAY 6
Bali - Gili Air
Our driver picks us up at 11 a.m. and we head towards Padangbai, where we wait a few more hours than expected for the arrival of the ferry to the Gili Islands. Ferry, well, we can say that it is more of a modest boat, with the "trunk" on the roof, where our luggage is thrown and clumsily covered by a waterproof cloth. The journey turns out to be turbulent, so to speak. The waves blow the hydrofoil upwards with worrying thunders and various crunches in the cabin, so much so that one wonders whether it will withstand an extra trip. If you suffer from sea sickness or nausea, this is definitely not for you! Even the most tenacious like us, have had serious moments of collapse. Who survived the boat trip, lands on an island that seems to have been stationary for 50 years. We are greeted by the chattering of the hooves of the horses that pull some carts, the only means by which you can move on the island.
We wait in vain for the reception of the hotel (do not expect the hospitality of Bali, where those who work in tourism are much more accustomed to satisfy and treat customers), which after a few reminders arrives. Unfortunately it is only one boy on a bicycle, clearly not enough to carry our luggage, which we would have difficulty dragging on the dusty roads full of holes of the island. We are then loaded on one of these carts whose horse pulls us jerky for 5 minutes between the tiny and dirty streets of the island to the hotel.
The welcome is a bit demoralizing: bumpy streets, crumbling buildings and shacks, dirt everywhere. Fortunately, the hotel encloses within its four walls an oasis that prevents you from appreciating this primitive context. We settle in the rooms, and after the afternoon tea accompanied by fried bananas and chocolate, we go out for a walk. After a few holes in the water, we stop for dinner randomly in one of the many restaurants on the waterfront. The atmosphere of the island is strange but authentic, and in the evening, when the darkness hides the decline of some areas, it is very pleasant.
HOTEL: Samata Village
DAY 7-8
Gili Air
The hotel in which we stay is newly built, and we had a lot of trouble selecting it, among the various disappointing and also very expensive alternatives that the small island offers. We realized from online reviews that the tourist boom that has hit Gili Air in recent years, has caught the unprepared inhabitants, who have arranged facilities without having experienced staff and the necessary infrastructure. The hotel seems older than it really is, but still proves to be a quite welcoming solution for a few days.
After having a disappointing breakfast in the hotel, we move to find a beach. After continuing North, we realize that the coast is much better in the South-East, just North of the port, where we spend the day lazily lying on the beach. The sea offers the possibility of snorkeling a few meters from the beach and to admire a very nice panorama of fish and underwater formations. After sunset we prepare for dinner, which we will spend barefoot on the beach in the only restaurant that we will attend for the next few days.
DINNER: Scallywags
Dinner based on fresh grilled fish and vegetables at will. There is not much to do on the island, except a short walk after dinner along the only illuminated and busy road, which forms an incomplete ring along the coast. The activities to be practiced on the island are reduced to spending the day on the beach, between a little 'of sunshine and a mango juice, snorkeling to spot some sea turtle. So we spend here just a couple of days, not more, being hyperactive travelers. But if you want to enjoy a few days made of relaxation and candlelight dinners barefoot on the sand, Gili Air is definitely a good place. You can also plan boat trips to make offshore dives.
DAY 9
Gili Air - Lombok
Last day in Gili, we wake up at 5 a.m. to go and photograph the sunrise on the beach. This time we take some croissants in a good bakery and make up for the bad breakfast at the hotel.
BREAKFAST: Breadelicious
In the afternoon we wait for a long time for the boat that will take us to Lombok, ready for 3 days away from civilization. Patience is essential, since the times indicated for the ferries that serve the Gili, are very approximate. With a short journey of 10 minutes (fortunately less turbulent than the outward journey) we reach the port of Bangsal, from where a driver leads us, after 1.30 h of travel, to Senaru, in the headquarters of the Green Rinjani association that will accompany us for a 3-day trek on the Gunung Rinjani, the volcano of the island of Lombok.
We organized this adventure through an external provider, Yellowdoor, who advised us on which type of activity to choose, and gave indications on the difficulty level and equipment needed. Arrived in the office we are served, at an unusually early time, dinner, a nasi goreng really exceptional. After a few formalities and a long and detailed explanation by a guide on how to carry out the following days, we are led to our hotel. We had no idea what the accommodation would be like, which was chosen by the association, but we would not expect what we found. A series of isolated bungalows, which contained inside a spartan bedroom with two singles equipped with not too clean blankets, a sink on an apple green background that may not have been cleaned for a while, and a toilet that may have been the crime scene of some movie about serial killers of American motels, you know? Wall drippings, broken tiles, an anti-war bunker door and concrete on the floor, ending with a large population of insects. The brightest idea of the day was then trying to use a hair dryer to tidy up the hair ahead of 3 days without a shower. Obviously I blew the power to the whole village, and so I was forced to give up and arm myself with insect repellent to spray the room before going to bed already dressed and strictly out of the blankets.
Autor’s note - Apart from jokes about this experience, and a few moments of initial disappointment caused by the unexpected conditions of the accommodation, these are normal situations when visiting certain areas of Asia and we were perfectly aware of it. In addition, we were about to embark on a 3-day adventure in a tent, on a volcano, without infrastructure and comfort, ready to sleep in a tent, without a toilet or shower, eating in conditions of poor hygiene. So, if you are not adventurous enough to take with good spirit even the most unpleasant situations, and consider them part of an authentic experience, without exceeding in complaints to your guests and organizers, my advice is to avoid embarking on this type of experience and aim for something more traditionally and comfortably touristy.
DAY 10
Lombok, Gunung Rinjani
Finally the morning has arrived and we happily run away from our room. At 7 a.m. a driver picks us up and takes us first to the office to leave the unnecessary luggages: we leave our suitcases and bring only a large backpack for clothes and shoes, and a smaller backpack with photographic equipment. After 1 hour of travel we arrive in Sembalun, the place where our trek would begin.
Here we meet the guides and wait for our other travel companions, a Belgian couple who will prove to be a very pleasant company, and a couple of Australian girls, who with caps, equipment and technical clothing, seem ready to climb the Himalaya sponsored by Nike. Instead, they separate from us after only 30 minutes, exhausted by the walk and the sun, and will reappear only occasionally during dinners in the following days or before going to bed, after arriving several hours late, struggling to reach the base camp.
In this regard, it should be noted that this trek is particularly challenging, even more than what is reported by the associations that organize it, which well emphasise, anyways, the minimum level required. Although it is very popular with more or less experienced tourists, to get to the end of the path one must proceed with a certain pace and energy, face a night climbing in areas where the terrain is very rough. No special equipment is needed: we, in fact, not to weigh down the backpacks, have walked with (good) sports shoes, and mountain shoes are not really necessary. We already have experience in trekking, and I think it is of fundamental importance: to put it bluntly, I was a novice and I have faced with difficulty the night climbing to the top of the volcano. Nic is an expert instead, and despite this, he could testify to the difficulty. So you better well assess your level of training, because it could prove to be an unpleasant adventure for those who are not prepared. There are no rest stations or villages and once you started climbing, you have to get to the end, without being able to benefit from help and facilities.
In the morning, we walk through a savannah area, in the sun and among the golden grass. We discover that our food and tents are carried up to the top, for all three days, by porters who circulate barefoot or in flip-flops, carrying heavy bamboo baskets on their shoulders. When we arrive at the first camp for lunch, it seems as if we have reached a refugee camp. All the carriers of the various groups are busy cooking, with camping stoves and large woks, in which they fry bread, rice, bananas, and other foods, under plastic cloths to protect from sun. We Are sceptical, given the poor hygienic conditions. Soon our doubts are dissolved by incredibly good meals, unbelievably cooked in those conditions. Also in this case, allow yourself open-mindedness (and maybe some probiotics to prepare the most delicate stomachs) otherwise it will be difficult to fully enjoy the beauty of this experience, very spartan, but definitely unique!
After lunch, we plant some trees as a pro-environmental gesture, and we head to the base camp for the night. The climb is long and we arrive at our destination around 4 p.m. Our porters set up the tents on the ridge of the caldera of the volcano on which we will sleep. Dinner is even better than lunch and the snack with fried bananas definitely satisfactory. We spend some time watching a fire on the opposite side of the crater, where theoretically there will be our base camp for the next evening. Rumors say we can not go forward and will return back on the same path, one day earlier. We go to bed early, a bit saddened by the news, at 8 p.m., as we plan to wake up at 1:30 a.m. to climb to the top of the volcano before dawn.
DAY 11
Lombok, Gunung Rinjani
In the cold, we wake up at the scheduled time and prepare for the climb. We already see many lights along the ridge that leads to the summit, and we hurry to have breakfast, with bread fried in coconut and jam (exceptional) and leave for the summit. We walk for hours in the dark on very uncomfortable terrain. The ridge of the volcano is covered by a dusty ground made of ash and lapilli that does not allow to proceed quickly because at every step you slip down again. It is an incredible effort but slowly, and with the cold wind that lashes stronger and stronger, we make our way to the top, among people who stop along the path, wrapped in jackets and sleeping on the ground. The frustrating part of the climb is that in the dark you can't feel the distance from the summit, and it seems always nearer than it really is.
Of about 200 people, 20 of us reach the summit before dawn, while more and more reach the top as the day rises. We enjoy this beautiful view while freezing, sipping some hot tea. Before the sun comes up the climate is really hostile, and it's good to have very warm clothes, much more than ours. We were equipped with a fleece, a sweatshirt and a windbreaker and anyway we suffered a lot from the cold. The sunrise is obviously spectacular seen from the height of 3.762 m above sea level. The descent is very enjoyable, because the same sand that prevented us from climbing fast now makes the path much easier to cross. We roll down then, and stop to observe some monkeys along the path, that steals the food left by the people, and the lush landscape, the caldera and our colorful base camp seen from above.
Once at the camp we have a real breakfast waiting for us. Although calling breakfast a cheeseburger with chips at 9 a.m., might sound a bit weird. In the meantime we try to clean up some of the pounds of earth and dust we have in every corner of clothes and shoes and we wait patiently to know if the fire has receded so as to allow us to continue undisturbed with our program. Happy, even if tired dead, we can continue and we head towards the lake on the crater in the middle of the volcano.
We descend steeply for about 3 hours towards the valley, we stop for lunch, and we reach a hot spring, at 45 degrees, to take a soothing bath, which helps us to make up for the lack of a shower and to clean up the dust. After having simmered a bit in the hot spring, we resume the journey, more tired than before: the warm waters have relaxed us so much that we feel strengthless, and start climbing again to the opposite side of the crater seems even more tiring than the morning climb.
A few hours of walking in the woods and we get to the top. The view of the crater, with a central funnel still active, is truly exceptional. Even up here, some photos at sunset, dinner and go to bed very early, to rest properly for the last day.
DAY 12
Lombok, Gunung Rinjani - Kuta
Last day of trekking: the route today is a bit different, with a couple of hours of walking along the exposed ridge, and still some miles inside the jungle. Between cocoa and coffee plantations we approach the village, where we wait for the car that will take us to the next destination. We are escorted to Kuta, where the villa that will host us for the next 3 days awaits us. Here, too, we decided that after 3 days immersed in nature, without comfort and after a lot of intense physical activity, we would deserve a few days of pure relaxation and pampering in a luxurious, albeit relatively cheap, infinity-pool villa.
After several hours of driving in chaotic traffic, we find the villa with some difficulties, being it scattered in an area next to the coast, on top of a steep climb through the cocoa plantations. The view is breathtaking as the villa is built on top of a promontory that offers a view of the entire southern coast of Kuta. An incredible place, and after spending the last few days sleeping in a tent without a toilet, it seems like a mirage. We go to Kuta for dinner, where we are recommended a very famous Moroccan restaurant where the meal is also very satisfying.
HOTEL: Villa Sorgas | DINNER: El Bazar
DAY 13
Lombok, Tanjun Aan
We head towards the beach of Tanjun Aan, an expanse of fine, white sand that is practically uncontaminated. With the exception of an oversized, though still small, number of kiosks that offered little more than a few deckchairs, the beach is still intact, with few tourist establishments and few customers, which makes it exceptional. Long as the eye can see, with two bays side by side and a beautiful blue sea.
In the afternoon we returned to the villa to enjoy this wonder, we relaxed and we also enjoyed a long traditional Balinese massage at home. Dinner tonight is prepared for us by our personal chef in the villa.
DAY 14
Lombok
After a morning spent in the swimming pool in the villa, in the early afternoon we book a surf lesson. We arrive in the nearby village and we dive into a lesson for beginners with a couple of Indonesian teachers. This evening we have to (re)prepare our luggage, because in the morning, at 4 o'clock, we will resume our journey to the airport to embark on the flight that will take us to Labuan Bajo, a small island of Flores from which our boat will leave for Komodo.
DAY 15
Lombok - Flores
We were well informed about the Indonesian airlines, and the premises were not the best. All national airlines are banned from international airspace because of the lack of reliability of the pilots and the very old and unsafe vehicles. After careful evaluation, we relied on Garuda, the national airline that, despite the much higher costs, had more encouraging reviews and statistics. With a bit of anxiety, then, we took two flights, the first to Bali, and the second, after an unexpected delay of 5 hours, to Labuan Bajo. Without further unforeseen events, we arrive at our destination where a guide will accompany us for the next 3 days. We head to the port where we embark on the fishing boat that will take us around the archipelago.
First stop, the tiny island of Pulao Kelor, where we go for our first snorkeling. Our guide invites us to move, and after a few minutes by boat, we arrive in a secluded corner of the island of Nusa Tenggara where we dive before sunset to discover a spectacular backdrop, full of corals of all colors, and starfishes of a deep blue. We drop anchor off Pulau Kalong, where after sunset a flock of flying foxes flies to Nusa Tenggara to find food at night. Unfortunately we can't take any photos or videos because of the darkness, but these gigantic animals cross the sky in silence for about an hour.
After a dinner of vegetables and very good fish cooked by the fishermen who host us, we go to sleep in our spartan cabin with bunk beds (and some cockroaches), excited about the program the next morning.
EXCURSION: Flores Komodo Expedition
DAY 16
Komodo
Early in the morning the engine of the boat that resumes the journey to Rinca wakes up us. We dock and meet the ranger who will escort us on a one-hour excursion on the island to see the Komodo dragons. Unfortunately, the excursion is a bit disappointing, because with the exception of a buffalo and a few birds of land, we do not meet any lizard, except in the vicinity of the kitchens of the restaurant. They are huge and very peculiar animals, but unfortunately you can not see them in their natural environment, and this makes it all less special.
We get back on the boat and move to the next island. We dock at Padar, where we climb to the top under the scorching heat to admire the view of this deserted island, coloured in gold, contrasting with the blue sea. They take us to another side of the island where we arrive in the famous and disappointing Pink Beach, whose faded pink color does not justify the fame.
We stop for lunch, instead, in a magnificent place off some tiny white deserted islands and while our guests cook, we swim to a microscopic and quiet strip of land rich in underwater wildlife. In the afternoon we return to Komodo where we visit a fishing village before returning to moor offshore and wait for the dark to eat dinner.
DAY 17
Komodo
Early in the morning we swim in the cold waters to spot some turtles and then we leave, after breakfast, to the so-called Manta Point, where while we are crossing the sea we jump in the water from the moving boat to the first sighting of these magnificent creatures that swim not far from the surface and from us.
We spend half an hour swimming in the current with the manta rays and then return to the boat and enjoy a few hours of sunshine before arriving at Gili Lawa, where we moor and disembark to climb to the highest peak with half an hour walk. Here we enjoy a fabulous sunset on the islands of the archipelago and descend when it is dark, to return to the boat.
DAY 18
Komodo
Today we land on the island of Kanawa, a private island on which there is a resort where tourist boats can not dock. We dive from the boat and swim to the shore amidst expanses of sea urchins, starfish and a few small sharks.
We spend a few pleasant hours here on the beach, before getting back on the boat to return to Labuan Bajo. We collect the luggages, left in the office of the company, and we are escorted to the airport, where at 4 p.m. we will take the flight back to Bali. We wait in the airport for some hours for our flight that, at midnight, leaves for Zurich.
This content is NOT SPONSORED, but based on my genuine personal experience. Spontaneous opinions, positive and negative, shareable or not, that I hope will help to live better travel experiences. My advice is a guide to lead you through world explorations, but the real journey, you build it!
