Bali - Lombok - Gili Air - A brother-sister duo on a journey

Hello, it's me again! I thought I'd tell you about my trip to Indonesia in the summer of 2018!

Finally on vacation again! This time not alone - but for the very first time with my brother (one of three :) ) Oliver. Why?

Why not? Will it work out? hmm.. Three weeks can be quite long.

BUT: No Risk no fun! You already know my life motto!

At 32 years old for me and not quite 32 years old for him, we should be able to handle it. Plus, two of my friends joined us for 10 days on our trip. It'll be fine!

But just like on the last trip, there were complications here too, which would cost us a lot of nerves before we landed.

Aside from the fact that I had a stupid bike accident five days before departure, went through X-rays, MRI, and CT scans to finally determine that I MIGHT have a hairline fracture in my wrist, I was allowed to wear a simple splint instead of a cast. Phew... But diving? Oh man!!

Minor injuries to my knee and wrist were worn like a warrior.

Two days before departure, my brother called to tell me that the airport in Bali was closed.... Volcanic ash... indefinitely...

Is he serious?

So I called the airport in Amsterdam to inquire. They told me that all flights to Bali were canceled....

IS HE SERIOUS?????? I went through all that trouble to not break my wrist and now this? Bad luck seems to stick to me somehow!

Alright, then I called the airline (Garuda Indonesia), who kindly told me that the airport was acting up. OF COURSE we're flying. The airport will reopen in the next two hours.

That's exactly what happened and we were able to take off smoothly on Sunday.

We flew from Amsterdam to Jakarta, and then from Jakarta to Bali. I already took the train to the nearby area on Saturday morning because of my bad experiences with the German railway the year before. And guess what! A 4-hour journey turned into 11 hours. Nothing new!

Accommodation on site is also incredibly expensive. It's hard to find anything for less than 200 € near the airport, and in Aalsmerderbrug, it's nice, but of course (bad luck sticks to me again) all buses were on strike, so I had to take an UBER from the airport to my AirBnB (60€ ) and back the next morning.

Once we arrived in Bali, we were picked up and taken to our first spot, Bingin Beach. By the way, we always did this. We just asked the accommodation for the next place if someone could pick us up. It's probably cheaper, but it wasn't really expensive.

Bingin Beach. Wow! It's incredibly beautiful just north of the famous surfing spot Uluwatu, on stairs, right on a small beach. And yes, it's really ONLY reachable via 1000 stairs. During low tide, you can lie on the beach and watch the surfers (be careful when swimming, there are big rocks everywhere. It's best to swim with surf shoes!) and in the evenings, you can eat grilled fish and then the tide comes in and the beach is gone after 11 pm.

Our AirBnB was right above the sea and you could hear the huge waves crashing against the cliffs. It was incredibly beautiful, but unfortunately, I could hardly sleep =). I have a very light sleep, so I had a hard time finding peace in the three days I was there. The Kubu-Bingin-GeKo-Room on AirBnB cost us 30 € per person per night. Beautiful and nice hosts!

Unfortunately, we couldn't do much because we had a scooter accident on the very first day and had to take care of our knees. Nothing serious and everything went well, but we couldn't go surfing for the whole vacation. What idiots. Well, what did we learn? NEVER RIDE A SCOOTER TOGETHER IF YOU'VE NEVER DONE IT BEFORE. Stupidity was punished =) but no problem, we remained warriors.

Second stop was Ubud. (AirBnB 20 € per person per night - just great!!!) I think this place used to be really nice, until Eat Pray Love came out as a movie and since then, too many people have wanted to find themselves there following Julia Roberts' footsteps. It's a small town with way too many people and completely overwhelmed with traffic, etc. BUT once again, it's a good starting point for excursions.

So we climbed Mount Batur (unfortunately cloudy), quite exhausting - especially when you walk with Speedy Gonzales as your guide =) but we were still proud to be up there.

The Sanctuary Monkey Forest was also very beautiful and a nice change. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, a 1-hour full-body massage for 5 euros was a daily must-have.

My brother went rafting for a day and was completely thrilled. I actually wanted to join, but with my wrist not completely healed yet, I preferred to go diving a few days later and spent the whole day at a luxury spa for 80 euros. With a bath, Ayurvedic full-body massage, Shirodhara oil pouring on my forehead, a hair treatment, a 3-course lunch, and a lot of relaxation.

In hindsight, I probably could have come along easily. Even two children were there. Well, my day was also nice.

Next stop. In the north of Bali. Amed. (AirBnB 12 euros per person per night) Hot Water/Kitchen/AC Bundaku Homestay. Finally, my diving adventure began here. After getting my Advanced Open Water Diver certification the previous summer, I just wanted to do Fun Dives. I even did a night dive, even though I found it terribly scary on Koh Tao. And it was amazing!!! By the way, I highly recommend the Amed Dive Center! And especially for Fun Dives, TUBU! He's also called the Fish. He's from Amed and can not only show you the underwater world but also talk about the difficult life as an Indonesian in a country that's basically obsessed with Europeans.

My friends also arrived and my brother, who didn't want to go diving, had company.

One day, the three of them took a trip to the mountains to beautiful temples. I stayed home. No major changes in altitude allowed for diving within 24 hours. No problem, I just went diving again =) And here too, the hourly massage stop for 3.50€ for feet and 6.50€ for the whole body was almost a daily routine.

We also tested the different beaches and here too, snorkeling is really great. We even spotted a turtle. The best thing on Bali besides my love for diving? The food and the fresh fruit juices! You only pay 1 euro for them - but be careful! The Indonesians like to add extra sugar. Just let them know beforehand.

And the grilled fish!! Incredible! Mahi Mahi - Blue Marlin - Tuna----- we ate so much fish. By the way, it's around 4 euros for a dinner with fish and vegetables, rice, and fresh juice. Oh, in Ubud and Amed, we also got a great breakfast every morning. Yes, it was already included in the price!

Then we flew to Lombok for only 12€. Could we have taken a boat? Probably - but since we started in southern Lombok, the boat ride and taxi ride would have been even longer. It makes more sense to go from Amed to the Gili Islands in northern Lombok. Next time the other way around =)

Lombok. Bali's sister, but so different. Bali is the only island in Indonesia where Hinduism is practiced. 90 percent of Indonesia is Muslim. Just like Lombok.

No pork, the call to prayer by the muezzin five times a day, and often veiled women go about their work here. What a clash of cultures. In the same country, but completely different. I love stuff like that.

Our first stop was Kuta, Lombok. Not to be confused with Kuta, Bali. The drug spot of the Australians.

Kuta is a surfer spot. Unfortunately, not suitable for our knees anymore. So we went on various excursions again. A snorkeling trip with a boat, a waterfall trip to five big waterfalls through the jungle, and a nice day at the beach. By the way, my friends were still with me. We also got to see a crazy Muslim/old Indonesian wedding. A huge crowd of people celebrated with a big street parade with music, dance, and great costumes!

Our AirBnB this time was a bit too rustic for us. The people were nice, but it was very basic and we're definitely not picky. BUT my friends had WOW accommodation! With an Italian couple. Her name was Giulia. They got a free Fly Yoga class with her every day. We even got to join once!

It was really idyllic.

The last stop of our trip was Gili Air in northern Lombok.

It was beautiful here too! You can walk around the island in less than an hour and it was very laid back. The neighboring island is known as the party island and was absolutely not for us, and Gili Meno is the secret honeymooner island.

Gili Air is right in between. Great food, great diving! AirBnB was great too. 18 € per person per night at LeLah LaLok Homestay, with an outdoor shower and free breakfast. By the way, I can't stand banana pancakes anymore for next year =D We had them almost every morning for three weeks!

Here, I spontaneously completed my Deep Diver course at Manta Dive Gili Air and was able to dive to almost 40m! Awesome!

And I also saw my first shark (besides the whale shark). A white-tip reef shark. Yes, experienced divers might think that's a joke, BUT for me, it was just special.

Seeing my first octopus and large cuttlefish was also a highlight for me.

On the last day, I even convinced my brother to go diving with me. At 12m, we saw many different turtles and it was really great to experience something together with my brother. Afterward, he regretted not completing the whole course =D

Overcome your fears so you don't sit at home all the time and life passes you by!!!

NO RISK NO FUN =)