Wasserfalls, a broken scooter and child labor in Lombok

From Gili Air, I drove to Lombok with a few hostel staff members. The ride on the small boat was quite adventurous and my luggage and I were completely soaked on arrival.

I spent the first three nights in Mentigi in the northwest. There is not much to see and do here, you hardly see any tourists. When I arrived at the hostel, I was the only guest. Fortunately, Jean from France joined later in the afternoon, so I wasn't alone and had a travel companion for the next few days.

On our second day, we rented scooters and drove to the north to see some waterfalls. The traffic in Lombok is luckily not as heavy as in Bali. We couldn't find the first waterfall despite a long search and eventually got lost in the countryside, so we had to ask some locals for directions. So on to the next waterfall! Fortunately, it was easier to find. At the parking lot, a man kept honking at us until we paid for a guide to take us to the waterfalls (supposedly the path was dangerous, difficult to access, and tourists had been injured). It wasn't actually that difficult. But the path was worth it and the waterfalls were really beautiful.

However, we had to be cautious of the monkeys. Jean had just taken his food out of his backpack, when a monkey rushed from behind and snatched it away. On the way back, we narrowly escaped a 'monkey attack'. The monkey sat on the path, hissed at us, and then suddenly ran towards us. Fortunately, we were able to scare it away by kicking it to the ground!

The return journey didn't go as planned. It was already evening and we were almost back at the hostel when a man on a scooter came out of a side street without looking. Jean made an emergency stop, but I couldn't react quickly enough and crashed into him. Fortunately, some people were nearby and took care of me. They brought me a chair and water, cleaned my wounds, and checked the scooter. Thankfully, nothing serious happened except for a few scratches and bruises! By the way, the man only briefly stopped and then quickly fled the scene.

Due to the accident, I took it easy for the next few days.

Abdul, who managed the hostel, showed us around before we left. The earthquake last year in Lombok caused a lot of destruction there and construction was going on everywhere. People live in very basic conditions and in cramped spaces, surrounded by garbage and rubble. It makes you realize how fortunate we are at home!

The last three nights, we stayed in Kuta in southern Lombok. There is a bit more tourist activity here and there are beautiful beaches that attract surfers in particular. But still nothing compared to the crowds of tourists in Bali!

One evening, I was sitting on the beach when a group of local teenagers approached me and asked if we could take a picture together. More and more people joined and pictures and selfies were taken from all angles. It quickly became too much for me, so I packed up my things and left. :-)

I liked Lombok, but not as much as Bali. What bothered me here in particular was that children are used everywhere to sell things (mostly jewelry) to tourists. They can be quite persistent. A little boy tried to convince us to buy something with the phrase 'Open your heart, open your wallet'. It's really sad...

The journey back to Bali was again tiring and adventurous. Around 7:30 in the morning, I and a few other people were picked up in a minibus. Since all the luggage didn't fit in the car, some backpacks were strapped to the roof of the bus with a bungee cord. Along the way, we had to stop because we had lost one of the backpacks. Fortunately, mine was safely stored in the car! ;-) The driver then dropped us off far away from the harbor at a restaurant. So we had to pay for an additional taxi to the harbor, even though we had already paid for the entire trip beforehand. When we arrived there, our driver was waiting with the car. They really know how to squeeze money out of tourists...

When we boarded the ship, it was already overcrowded. I had to stand at the back near the engines and once again I was soaked from head to toe when we arrived in Bali. But at least I had fresh air - the air conditioning on the ship broke down and it was tropical temperatures inside.

After another bus ride, we finally arrived in Canggu after nearly 10 hours!