After a few days of surfing and enjoying quiet, stress-free Sumbawa, Sky said he wanted to take us to his secret hot spring.  “It is a short 20 minute drive (and although unpaved) it’s no problem on mopeds,” said Sky from high atop his dirtbike as he looked down at us on our rented mopeds. So we began our adventure by driving pass Lakey Peak and the small town of Huu, and headed up a rocky dirt trail that hugged the steep cliffside.  The ocean views from this area were amazing (especially later at sunset), but I was preoccupied with getting the determined moped-that-could up the steepening path.  We walked our moped at times as the loose rocky terrain and incline made it challenging to ride.

Once we reached the top of the cliff, we began ascending into the bay that was home to Sky’s secret hot spring.  The rocky cliffside was suddenly replaced with wild jungle and a narrower trail, and sharp thorny vines stretched along the trail as if to say “keep out.”  I thought about turning around once or twice, but Sky kept assuring us that “the road gets better.”

As I looked at the fresh cuts on my feet, ankles, and legs, I found myself asking “Why do I listen to Sky?” I asked myself this same question one month earlier when we drove down a tiny goat trail on the side of a cliff in the mountains of East Bali, and just two nights ago when Sky assured me it was easy to drive a moped on a sandy beach.  Just like these two previous occasions, once we got to our destination, I was happy I had listened to Sky. This time our destination was a remote rocky bay with no one else in sight.  Hot spring water funneled to the surface between large rocks at the foot of the ocean, creating a hazy steam that hung over the area.  The surface temperature of the hot springs was dictated by the amount of ocean water you sat in.  When the waves filled in the coastline and the water level rose it felt like a warm bath, but when the waves receded, it was HOT (borderline unbearable).  It was a challenging game attempting to find the right balance of tolerable ocean and hot spring water, and Sky instructed us on where to sit, and in what position.  As we lounged in the hot spring, we slipped into a relaxing state and forgot about the drive in.  The ride back out did seem a bit easier (maybe because we knew what to expect), and the sunset views from the cliffside were well worth stopping for.   Thank you Sky (mostly).

We took another ferry from Lombok to Sumbawa, and upon arrival immediately set off on the 6 hour drive to Eastern Sumbawa and Lakey Peak. Lakey Peak has drawn surfers from all over the world for decades, and yet (somewhat mysteriously) remains quite undeveloped. A handful of guesthouses and rickety warungs (restaurants) cluster around the Lakey Peak surf break, but other than that, the village of Hu’u is sparsely populated. There are no gas stations or grocery stores, and the only dependable wifi is at the “fancy” hotel Aman Gati, which boasts air conditioned rooms for about $60 a night. Compared to the guest house prices of about $5 a night, it’s a high class place. , thanks to Sky and his connections, we were lucky enough to stay at Sky’s friend’s villa, which is directly in front of another surf break called Periscopes. It’s about a half an hour walk on the beach from Lakey Peak and there is literally nothing around except for the locals, which include people, dogs, chickens, goats, and water buffalo.

In the town of Hu’u, cows rule the road. Followed by dogs and goats. Sometimes driving on the main “highway” was a bit of an obstacle course, especially at night. They weren’t afraid of moving vehicles, either; once we rounded a curve to see a dog ahead of us in the middle of the road, who looked at us for a moment before giving a big stretch and then laying down while we laughed and drove around.

We stayed at Lakey for about a week, mostly surfing and gorging ourselves on nasi goreng and other great indo food. One interesting thing about Indonesia, and Lakey in particular: the tides are more extreme than in Hawaii, and a surf spot can go from perfect to unsurfable in a matter of hours. Because of the tide cycle, in the morning we had to wait for the tide to come in enough to cover the reef before we could paddle out.

Still, we were able to surf almost every day we were there, except one day when the swell was too big. Photos don’t do it justice since the waves were so far out; in fact the waves didn’t even look big until we saw a surfer on them, to put it in perspective. Since none of us felt like charging, we resigned ourselves to watching triple overhead sets rolling through, and admiring the brave souls who were on them.

Our last day in Bali mostly consisted of packing and running errands, and then we were off to catch the night ferry to Lombok. Lombok is directly to the east of Bali, and roughly the same size, though much more sparsely populated. After the ferry arrived in wee hours of the morning, we drove directly to Kaliantan, on the southeast coast. Kaliantan is nothing more than a wisp of a seaside village, lonely except for the Muslim garbed villagers and the occasional kitesurfer. No crowded streets (in fact, only dirt roads and single tracks), no hawkers, and (gasp!) no wifi. And we saw more sheep than people.

The main source of entertainment for kids seemed to be running around after the sheep, or grabbing the back of a giant truck and skidding along the dirt road as it traveled between villages. This was definitely village living!

Other than sheep herding, some of the locals farmed seaweed, which was visible at low tide as large green patches throughout the bay. There was only one “villa” close by, which was three small huts in the middle of not much. We only stayed one night and day in Kaliantan, where village life moved along with all the speed of a glacier. The only fast thing about the place was the kitesurfing, which Sky and Will enjoyed while Ted and I watched from hammocks, compensating for the lack of sleep the night before on the ferry, and resting up before departing to Sumbawa bright and early the next morning.

 

 

We haven’t posted much for the last two weeks, because we’ve mostly been preparing for our road trip with Sky, the master nomad himself. We are planning to make a quick tour across Lombok, surf in Sumbawa a while, and then finish in mysterious Sumba. Well, maybe only mysterious to me, because I didn’t know we were going to Sumba until yesterday so haven’t googled it much. Anyway, after much planning and even more waiting on modifications to the van, which will be our home for the next two weeks, we are finally nearing the final countd0wn. Today has been a flurry of packing and running around for last minute items, and tonight we will be driving to Sanur and then taking the overnight ferry to Lombok.

Not sure when we’ll have internet next, but we’ll post pics and update as we can. Okay I better go finish packing so I don’t look like the slacker here!

It was a few days before our road trip, and Bali Bike Park was beckoning. They had a promotion going on- Free Fridays- where they waived the bike park fee and all you had to pay for was the rental. So off we went, past the bucolic rice paddies and up into the mountains, where we were greeted with spectacular views and (thankfully) cooler weather. The bike park is situated in north central Bali in the small town of Bedegul. When we arrived, we were given bikes, helmets, and protective gear, all of which was in great shape and fit well. They had a cross country trail that bordered the lake, which we started with just to warm up our legs, then it was off to do some downhill. They had two trucks that continuously shuttled people up from about 8:30 until 2, and it was about a 10 minute ride up, with each of the lines being about 10-15 minutes down. They had a few easy lines which they claimed were “family and kid friendly” but everyone thought that was a stretch. Ted’s remark was, “I’d like to see the family that goes down this” – about a steep section of one of the “easy” lines. So we mostly stuck to the blue lines, though another rider convinced us to give the “berm line” a try, which was a little more exciting and then met up with a blue line for an easier finish.

I finally caught some air on a few jumps (woohoo!) and we lost minimal amounts of skin, so all in all we felt very accomplished at the end of a great day.

Our next adventure with Sasha and Julian was to the small island of Nusa Lembongan. The Nusas consist of three islands, Nusa Lembongan, Nusa Cennigan, and Nusa Penida. Although only 11 miles from hectic south Bali, the Nusas are known for its quiet beaches, slow-paced village living (the population of Nusa Lembongan is only 5,000) and great surfing and snorkeling. We hopped on a fast boat from the town of Sanur in Bali, and within 30 minutes we were in Nusa Lembongan. As we approached Lembongan we immediately noticed how blue and clear the water was, and also how undeveloped the coastline was (lots of small boats, but no towering hotels or sprawling resorts).

Lembongan has one “town” area, so taxis aren’t really necessary. We walked along the beach for about 10 minutes until we arrived at our small, family run hotel.  There is a shallow reef that encircles the entire island and produces some great surf, so we didn’t waste anytime renting a moped and beginning our search for surf.  Lembongan has just one paved road and lots of intersecting smaller dirt and gravel roads with tons of potholes, so driving was a bit adventerous (the mopeds on the island go and up down battered roads much more suited for dirt bikes). We followed the one paved road until it ended, then took the curvy road up the hill, and turned right at the very bumpy ride that led down to the beach. After about a 10 minute drive, we arrived at Song Lambung Beach. Song Lambung is a small white sand cove that fronts a surf spot known as Playgrounds, which is the only surf spot on the island you can get to without a boat (the other spots are further off the coast and notorious for having very shallow reefs).  The other two spots on the island are called Lacerations and Shipwrecks, which both sound pretty intimidating. Within minutes, we rented boards and were enjoying beautiful chest to head high surf at Playgrounds.

On the way back to our hotel from Playgrounds, we stopped on the side of the road to enjoy the sunset and snap some photos of the Lembongan coast with Bali’s Mount Agung (10,000 feet) in the background. Night life in Lembongan consisted of eating dinner and watching a movie at Jungut Batu Restaurant and Theater.  Although it was entertaining to relax on futons and bean bags and watch a big screen movie, Jungut Batu has a very small kitchen and one cook, and we imagined meals were prepared in the order they were received (including our pie and ice cream desserts, which took just under two hours to get; fortunately we were preoccupied with a funny movie). This was also a great opportunity for us to practice patience, for which our Hindu hosts are known for.

Our second day in Lembongan began with enjoying larger surf at Playgrounds, and fighting a much stronger current than the day before.  Sasha discovered a great little infinity pool and restaurant that overlooked the surf, and we rested our weary arms and enjoyed a delicious lunch.  We also met an owner of a small boat anchored at Song Lambung Beach, and we negotiated a three hour private snorkel charter with him for $35. He motored us past the thick mangrove forests of northern Lembongan to the neighbor island of Nusa Penida. The reef was healthy and alive with colors, and we also swam with some really yellowfin large tuna. On the way back to Nusa Lembongan we got a great glimpse of the surfspots known as Lacerations and Shipwrecks, and although our boat was about 100 yards out past the break, the swell passing under our boat was monsterous (i think it made all four of us feel a little weak in the knees).

We spent our second and final night in Lembongan fine tuning our patience at Jungut Batu, before catching the 11am fast boat back to Bali the following morning.

Two of our Maui friends, Julian & Sasha, were having such a great time in Bali that they decided to hang out an extra week.  Another big swell was forecasted to hit Bali, so we decided to take Julian & Sasha to East Bali, aka Charles’s Chocolate Factory, to get some surf and explore one of the island’s quieter and untouched areas.  While the big swell didn’t materialize in East Bali, the chocolate factory’s guard dog, a goose, sure did. The goose works at the factory from 9 to 5 (not sure where he goes before/after work, but seems to show up during these hours) and always follows US around.  He loves attention, and will stand in front of you and “bark” until he gets some.  Curiously enough, once this unnamed goose gets enough attention, he begins to bite.  Both Renata and Sasha experienced these goose bites on a first hand basis (fortunately he has very small teeth).

On the road trip back from East Bali to Seminyak, we enjoyed a detour to Virgin Beach. Virgin Beach is a picture perfect white sand beach with turquoise blue water, and is void of any resorts or major developments, just beach front warungs (modest Indonesian restaurants) with fresh food. Virgin Beach is easily one of the most beautiful beaches anyone of us ever had the opportunity to dig our toes into.