The Lesser Sunda Islands I
Bali - Lombok
06.12.2018 - 14.12.2018
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The Lesser Sunda Islands
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Thursday [6/12/2018] To start off the first part of my trip, I took a flight to Bali. Arriving in Bali at 11.30pm, the queue at immigration counter was horrible as there were several flights landing at the same time. I only left the airport around 12.30am after buying a sim card at the Telekomsel booth in the arrival hall. The sim card was supposed to have 25GB of internet but when I checked the data, it only came with 15GB of internet. What a rip off! Then the taxi driver also tried to cheat me and wanting to charge 400,000 rupiah to the hotel I am going to stay in but I was told by the guy who was selling the Telekomsel card that it should only cost around 150,000 rupiah from the airport to Legian area. So in the end 1 taxi driver agreed for 150,000 rupiah when I said I will go inside the arrival hall again and get a taxi from the taxi counter . By the time I checked into Tanaya Bed & Breakfast it was already 1am. After I finished sorting out my stuff and took a shower, it was already almost 2am when I finally went to bed.
Friday [7/12/2018] – After only 3 hours of sleep, I had to wake up at 5.30am to get ready to be picked up by Gusti around 7am. We had to make an early move as it will take 2 hours to reach Lempayung temple. On the way, we stopped by at a warung which is famous for its fish satay to have breakfast. By the time we finished breakfast and continued on with our journey, we reached Lempayung temple around 10am. There were a lot of cars already parking on both sides of the road. In order to go into the temple area, I had to wear sarong and then, we walked uphill on the road. By the time we reached to the temple area, people were already queuing for their photo to be taken at the famous Balinese gate with mount Agung at the background. Unfortunately, today mount Agung was totally covered by thick clouds so it was unnoticeable. I waited half an hour for my turn and the photos taken by the young boy turned out really cool with the special effect. After that, I walked up the steps to see the first temple from outside as we were not allowed to go in. With enough of photo taken, we left the temple at 11.30am and people were still arriving.
Then we went to Oka coffee plantation as I wanted to buy the luwak coffee. I was first given an introduction on the plants they planted around the area. The man also explained the process of making coffee powder from coffee cherries. After all the introduction of the plantation, we sat at a table and the man brought different samples of the products they make so that I can have a taste of each of them and then decide which one to buy. I ordered a cup of luwak coffee and Balinese pancake made of rice flour covered with coconut After all the tasting, I bought some of their products and the luwak coffee which is actually more expensive than the ones I bought in Java.
Our next destination is to the Pod Chocolate Factory which took 2 hours to reach. By the time we arrived there, there were no customers at all except for us and unfortunately, we were slightly too late as the Pod Chocolate factory tour has ended by 4pm. Since we can't do anything else, we decided to see the 2 sun bears which unfortunately, the caretaker had already gone home or else we could hug the bears if they are in a good mood. We also saw elephants at the elephant camp which is near to the factory and the mahout were giving some of them a bath. Then, we went into the cafe to check out their chocolates. There were many varieties of chocolates with testers for you to try. Since I couldn't decide on a which chocolates to get, I ended getting a box of the Complete collection of 20 different flavours of Pod chocolates. On the way back to Kuta, we had early dinner at Iiga Warung which was recommended by Gusti because of their pork rib. The ribs were grilled in sweet and sour sauce but it was very juicy and come in big portion. After a heavy dinner, we drove back to my hotel where I packed everything for the next destination.
Saturday [8/12/2018] – After breakfast, I checked out from Tanaya Bed & Breakfast at around 9am. I arrived at airport at 9.30am and met Uwi
inside the depature hall. We were flying together to Lombok at 11.20am. After less than an hour's flight, we arrived in Lombok at 12.30am. Being so ill prepared and overconfident that he could get rupiah from the money changer just by using his credit card, we had to go to the money changer so that Uwi can get some cash since he did not bring any cash at all but with no luck at all. So the other alternative is hoping that he could withdraw cash from the atm around the area where we will be staying.
From the airport to Puri Bunga Beach Cottages in Senggigi took 1.5 hours. On the way to Senggigi, there was nothing much to see as everywhere were still mainly paddy fields and simple houses made of bamboo and leaves weaved together to form the walls and roof. Lombok is still pretty very undeveloped even though it is known as the second Bali but somehow, tourism did not really pick up as most tourists end up going straight to the Gili islands where the party is at after landing at the airport.
After checking into Puri Bunga Beach Cottages where we had our own cottage which is pretty spacey but pretty old looking, we decided to head across the road to check out the Art market and get something to eat for our late lunch. We were pretty much the only ones at the Art market but fortunately, there were 3 restaurants located next to each other. So we decided to have our late lunch at Lotus Bayview restaurant. I ordered their wooden oven pizza which wasn't bad like any other Italian pizza.
After that we walked along the road to check out what was around Sengiggi area. Basically it was a very quiet area with no tourists except for us walking around. There were a few restaurants, atms, tour agents, mini arts, a massage palour, mini marts and a souvenir shop with no one going in at all. After checking out which atm machines Uwi could withdraw money from, we continued walking downwards to Senggigi beach to check out the beach and wait for the sun to set. There were locals fishing by the pier while others just go their to take photos. There were people walking along the beach but no one swam in the water. Basically, there wasn't must to do unless you are into people watching. After waiting for some time and with nothing else to do or see, we slowly walked back to our cottage. For a place which is considered the next Bali, this was way too quiet and the place was dying for tourists to come. For dinner, we just ate at the hotel restaurant which once again, we were the only ones there. Service was pretty slow even though they only had to serve us but then again, we had all the time in the world so we didn't mind the waiting. After settling down in our cottage, we sorted out what we needed to bring for the next day as we will start our activities in Lombok before going to bed.
Sunday [9/12/2018] - There were not many choices of food for breakfast but with a plate of nasi goreng, scrambled egg and fresh fruits, it was enough to keep the stomach full. While having breakfast, Omar came and waited for us at the lobby. By 9am, we were ready to make a move to Senaru which is a 2 hour drive. As we headed towards the north, we could still see houses that has been ruined by the recent earthquakes and people living in tents. This was one of the reason why we had to change our initial plan which was to go to Lombok to climb Rinjani but in the end, after the earthquake happened and we had already bought our tickets, we had to change our climbing activity to a sightseeing one since northern Lombok was badly affected by the earthquakes. When we reached to Senaru, there were some local guides waiting for tourists to come which was minimal since everyone was avoiding to come to Lombok for the moment but Omar had already arranged 1 to take us to the waterfall area. We had to walked 25 minutes down the steps to go to the Sendang Gile waterfall. With a height of 30m, the water was pretty cold so we did not bath under the waterfall nor did we want to get wet since we had to walk further to check out the other waterfall. Since we didn't take a bath at the waterfall, we just sat on a big rock while Omar bought us banana fritters and coffee from an elderly woman who was running a simple stall to snack on while we relax and talk. It was interesting to talk with the local guide as he also does the Rinjani trekking. It's pretty sad to hear that ever since Rinjani was closed indefinitely for hiking after the earthquake, many of the local people in Senaru had lost their income and they were trying to find other ways to attract the tourists back.
After stuffing ourselves with a lot of banana fritters, we headed on to Tiu Kelep waterfall. In order to go to this waterfall, we had to climb up a bridge with stairs that had missing or damaged handrails to cross a bridge before we walked through the side of the big concrete drains. Some parts of the path were blocked by landslides from the earthquakes since both of these waterfalls are located at the foot out mount Rinjani so we had to climb over fallen trees. Then without knowing in advance that we had to cross the streams, we had to take off our shoes so that they wouldn't get wet. If I had known we needed to walk in the water and step on rocks, I would have worn slippers instead but all these while, the local guide were bare footed from the start. So we walked slowly cross streams and climbed over fallen trees barefooted like the local guide. It was a good thing that the local guide was there to hold us while crossing the stream because the current was pretty strong. Since there was climbing involved on slippery rocks to get near to Tiu Kelep waterfall, we decided not to go ahead since we were barefooted. So only Omar climbed up the rocks just to have his photo taken with the waterfall as the background. The water was cool and refreshing but we didn't stay around long as there was nothing to do. So we slowly walked back to the car park and headed to a nearby restaurant for lunch. There were few people eating at the restaurant which was on top of a hill. From the viewpoint, we could see part of Sendang Gile waterfall. The wind was cool so it was nice to just sit and relax while waiting for our food. Service was once again slow for a small number of customer but then, probably that's the lifestyle of the local people.
On the way back to our hotel, we stopped at Malimbu hill to see sunset. While waiting for the sun to set, Omar bought for us grilled corn and fresh coconut. We were supposed to be able to see mount Agung in Bali from here but it was too hazy. It's so refreshing just to sit and enjoy the breeze as well as the view while eating corn and drinking coconut juice. Sunset wasn't that all extraordinary as it was partly covered by the thick clouds. After arriving at the hotel, we tried swimming in the pool which was small and crowded since a Taekwondo group had just arrived and were practising their moves. In the evening, we walked to the atms for Uwi to withdraw money again and after that, we had dinner at Yessy Cafe which was recommended by Omar. I ordered ayam taliwang which is the must eat food in Lombok and I got a shock when it came out. I was expecting a standard size chicken but instead it was the size of a quail so I wasn't sure whether if it was actually a chicken or a quail bird. It tasted alright but it was pretty dry and hard to chew. The waiter tried to be funny with Uwi but I didn't get his jokes most of the time. After filling our tummy, we went back to the cottage and just relax inside our cottage.
Monday [10/12/2018] – Breakfast was once again pretty similar to the day before but we could order pancake so we ordered 1 each. The pancake that we normally eat is thick and fluffy so I thought it was going to be like that also but what came to us was a thin sheet of pancake and since I ordered banana pancake, 5 small banana slices were added to the flour mixture. The pancake itself was pretty bland since it was basically flour mixed with water and a bit of salt. So the pancakes came with a small glass of black palm sugar which is a bit bitter sweet. Omar came and pick us up at 9am and today, we were going around Mataram, the capital of West Nusa Tenggara.
We went to Kebon Roek traditional market first to see the everyday fresh produce that the locals come and buy. It was a pretty crowded place where you can see cidomo, the local traditional horse-drawn carriage lining up in a straight line outside the market area waiting for passengers after they have done their shopping at the market. Outside the market building, sellers were putting all their produce on the ground next to each other and even blocking the stairs going up to the first floor. So you can see elderly women selling vegetables, fruits, fish, chicken and even kuihs with no specific allocation for each type of produce like markets in other countries. Although the things they sell are pretty common which you can find in any market in Borneo, it is still interesting to see all the different things and colours and the traditional weighing scales rather than the modern ones. The stalls inside the market building were a bit more organised. On the ground floor, you can see the fruit section, the dry goods section, vegetable section and meat section whereas on the top floor, you can buy clothes but hardly anyone goes up. It would something very unusual for Uwi to see as he had probably never seen such a disorganised market since markets in Europe are very clean and organised.
Then we head off to the old town of Ampenan which still consist of colonial style buildings. The 2 storey buildings reminded me of the old shops in Lampung. Although the buildings are old, the price of these buildings have gone up over the years. Those some buildings are abandoned, some businesses are still running like one of the old Chinese bakery shop run by an elderly Indonesian Chinese couple who originated from Surabaya. Omar ordered Lombok coffee and some of their buns for us to try.
After that, we went to the West Nusa Tenggara State Museum to learn more about Lombok and its culture. Inside the exhibition, one can check out the flora and fauna found in Lombok and Sumbawa, miniature replica of Mount Rinjani National Park , the traditional wedding clothes worn by the Sasak, Samawa (people in Sumbawa), Bima, and Balinese people, jaran kamput, weaving tools and daggers, just to name a few.
After the museum visit we went to Mayura water palace which was built in 1744 by the king of Karangasem from Bali. The architecture of this water palace is similar to the Balinese bale kambang and is used as a court of law and a meeting hall. During the era when the Balinese princes ruled the island, By then, it was already noon time and it was very hot under the open area. So we head off to our last destination which is the Narmada park.
Also built by the king of Karangasem in 1727, this park became as the resting place of the royal family. While take shelter from the hot sun and just relaxing to enjoy the peaceful scenery from the open area which is the living room of Bale Terang, Since we didn't have anything else to do, we actually spend quite some time just sitting there while eating the jackfruits and tapioca that Omar bought for us.
On the way back, we stopped for our very late lunch and I ordered ayam taliwang again but this time, it tasted way better than the other 2 that I have ordered before. Since it was still early in the afternoon by the time we reached back to the cottage, we decided to go for a swim in the pool for a while before going to the street again to send our laundry and getting some food to eat for dinner. After sending laundry and Uwi getting his money again, we head back to the Art market to find a place to eat. In the end, we decided to try Coco Loco cafe which is just next to Lotus Bayview restaurant. We sat by the beach to enjoy the sea breeze and food was not too bad though it was pretty spicy.
Tuesday [11/12/2018] – Today, we had to leave by 7.30 am for our activities so we were fortunate that breakfast was almost ready when we headed towards the restaurant. Omar drove us to Gunung Sari village to meet up with Jun, our cycling guide and another guy who brought the mountain bikes for us. It has been more than 2 decades since I rode on a bmx bicycle and it was also my first time using a mountain bike and cycling on a busy street with lots of cars and motorcycles also using a narrow street. Since they saw that I had problems riding the bike on the busy street, they took us to a quiet empty space for me to practice riding the bicycle and getting used to a mountain bike. Took quite a while for me to balance on a bicycle but eventually, I was able to ride it. Once we were all ready, we followed Jun slowly. I still had difficulty cycling in a straight line and also it was pretty scary to have cars and motorbikes coming towards you or overtaking you from the back. Going uphill was a real challenge for me as I didn't know how to use the gear and always had to end up getting off the bike and push it uphill before getting on the bike again once we reach to flat ground. Our first stop was to a small scale cottage industry of the village women making tapioca chips and other kerupuks. There's salty chips and spicy chips where they fry them in a big pot of cooking oil in a hut. We then cross the road to go to the house just directly opposite the hut to see what they were doing there. Basically the house is just 4 walls with no cement flooring. Stacks of tapioca were put on the ground which were going to cut into slices there and packed chips were also stored in a small section of the building. Sometimes it would be better not to know how they process food and snacks especially in village area as they would not even pass the hygiene standards.
We continued with our tour and then Jun signaled us to stop at a traditional market in one of the village which was mainly made of zinc roof and wooden poles holding the roof up. Jun showed us what the women were selling and after a while, probably because they hardly have foreign tourists especially a Chinese and a westerner, the women who were selling things started to talk to us and became busybody. One of them even wanted to know what powder I use for my face because she wanted to become as fair as me! Indonesian can be very funny sometimes but it was fun talking to them. After passing through paddy fields and houses, we stopped at a roadside stall to taste Lombok coffee and also to rest for a while.
The day became hotter and we could start feeling the heat from the road. While stopping to take some photos of the paddy fields with the mountain on the background, a man came over with his daughter and wanted take a photo of his daughter with us. After finding out that I came from Brunei, he told us that he has worked in Malaysia before. I think it is very typical for village people in Indonesia to take photos with tourists especially if they are westerners because you don't see a lot of white guys around unless it is in touristic places. By the time we finally reached to the parking area at Lingsar temple, it was past 1 pm and we were glad we were under the shade because it was extremely hot to be out in the open now. Well, I finally survived 11.5 km of cycling on the main road and it was something different for a change.
For lunch, Omar brought us to his home where we had home cooked meal by his wife. Temporary, he and his family, 2 daughters and 1 son were staying at his father's house as their own house were damaged by the earthquake. After resting for a while and with tummy full, Omar sent us back to our cottage. Since it was our last night at Senggigi, I decided to start packing my stuff while Uwi went for a swim. For dinner we ate at Lotus Bayview restaurant.
Wednesday [12/12/2018] – After breakfast, we checked out from Puri Bunga Beach Cottages and Omar drove us to Lingsar. We started our panoramic walk by foot where we walked along the big concrete drain where the water was flowing down swiftly. We could see the locals working on their rice fields and a few women doing laundry and taking a bath inside the drain and there's a big river with a lot of rocks. There's also a small concentrate bridge across the river to connect the other side of the land to where we were and at that time, there were a group of boys still in their school uniform just hanging out on the bridge. Omar talked to them as he always sees them whenever he is there and he asked them to come with us. So we kept on walking until we walked down to the river where there are rocks for us to sit on. The boys of course were with us too and it was interesting to find out about them. They were studying in a religious school in the next village and staying at the school hostel. Since that day was the last day of school, it explained why they were at the river instead of in school at 10 am. They are pretty shy but they probably have not seen much of tourists before which was the reason why they were with us.
After taking few photos with them and tasting the local mango that Omar cut for us, we continued on with our walk. We kept on walking, saw more farmers ploughing the land for planting paddy or looking after their paddy from being eaten by the birds and stopped by once in a while to take photos until we reached to a village. There was a group of people threshing rice and since Uwi has never seen the process before, we stopped and looked at it. Since it was already lunch time, we continued with our walk until we reached to a small road where cars and motorbikes can pass through.
We kept on following Omar until we reached to his farm in Murpeji where he is in the process of developing it into and ecotourism area so that he can bring his clients there next time. I was suprised to see his daughter and his wife there also and apparently, they have prepare lunch for us but before that, we went to see how palm sugar is made which is in another place and required more walking. By then, we have already done about 7 km of walking by foot. The owner of the farm had already started the process of making brown sugar where a huge wok of palm nectar was cooking on a clay stove inside a small hut when we reached there. While waiting for the sugar to be caramelised, the owner climbed up a coconut tree to pluck fresh coconuts for us to drink and also gave us salak (snakefruit) to eat. I had seen snakefruit before because we do have it in Brunei and I also saw bigger ones in Bali before but never bothered to try it under I was in Thailand. It's sweet but the texture is hard so it was not one of my favourite fruits. However for Uwi, he has never seen it before so he was pretty fascinated by it and call it the butt fruit because it looks like a butt to him.
When the brown sugar was ready, we were called to watch how the palm sugar was moulded. First the owner, stir the palm sugar on the top sides of the wok that was taken off the fire a few times until there was a sign that indicate the sugar was slightly cool. Then using a wet coconut shell that was cut into half and putting a leaf just to cover the holes on the shell, the brown sugar was scooped into the mould and then left aside while he kept on scooping the sugar into the next mould. By the time he was done with all the moulds, the brown sugar in the first mould had already solidified so he just tap it out lightly and there you have it, palm sugar. Omar managed to take a bit of the brown sugar and added it into our coconut which was empty already except for the flesh and asked us to try it. It was something new that I have never tried before but it made the coconut flesh very delicious to eat. After we had finished our coconut, we walked back to Omar's farm and had lunch made by his wife which she cooked from home. After feeling full and enjoying the scenery of the nature, we head towards to Kuta where we will check into Mana Retreat.
The Kuta area is pretty quiet where you don't see a lot of people walking around. Mana Retreat is located inside a small alley and the area is not really that big. The deluxe bungalow we stayed in was pretty comfortable. There is a double bed on the ground floor and another one on the 2nd floor. The shower area has an open concept where there were no windows but just open space on the top part of the walls for ventilation (and also mosquitoes) to enter. After settling down, we didn't walk out of the retreat but just relax and tried out the small pool. For dinner, we just ate at the restaurant and after that, watched the movie that was showing at their "cinema" which was the same area used for yoga during the day. Pretty relaxing except for the annoying mosquitoes. After the movie, we went back to our bungalow, had a quick shower and then rested since there was nothing else to do.
Thursday [13/12/2018] – After having breakfast, Omar came and picked us up at 10am to do the culture trip and go to Selong Belanak beach. First we went to Ende Sasak village where the indigenous people of Lombok are still living in the traditional way. It's a pretty small village where the houses called bale tani are made of wood, bamboo and dried leaves for the roof whereas the flooring is made of cow dung to smoothen the soil. The roof of the house as well as the door frame is very low so that anyone who wants to enter the house is forced to bow his or her head in respect to the dwellers. The husband and the sons usually sleeps outside the house after the first child is born while the women and the daughters sleep inside the house. The women do weaving to sell to tourists which is the main income of this village while the men work as farmers. It's a pretty small village and before we end to tour, we were brought to the shop where they have all sorts of weaved fabrics and even songket which is similar to Brunei. I was looking for a songket with gold threads and black background which is commonly used in official invitations to the royal palace during certain ceremonies but since they don't have that colour, I end up buying a songket made of gold threads and purple background and some songket bags. It wasn't that cheap at all to buy these weaved materials but considering the amount of time put into making 1 piece of songket, it is alright and at the same time, it's a way to support the local villagers.
Next, we head to another weaving village called the Sukarara weaving Village. This village is very commercialized where there is a big shop selling weaved products facing the car park area. The local guide of this village took us to the back of the shop to see how the woven fabrics are made. The houses here are modern where all of them are made of wood with zinc roof and they also have electricity supply. You can see few women weaving on their traditional loom at the veranda of their house while the men were sleeping outside the house. The funny thing I saw also here was that they wore a mini drum like pendant to some of the pigeons' neck!
The guide then brought us back into the shop where they helped us to dress up in their traditional wedding attire and then we walked pass the left side of the shop to take some photos with the weaved fabric as the background. Then we were asked to walked up the traditional Sukarara house which were on stilts so that the guide can take our photo. After all the photo session, we went back into the shop and then looked around at the woven fabrics. The price here was more expensive than those at Ende Sasak village but they have a lot of choices here. Once again, I looked for the gold threads and black background songket but they also don't have it. So I just end up buying simple weaved fabric like a scarf with the work Lombok weaved into it as it was the cheapest thing I could find.
Next, we head to the Banyumulek pottery center where the pottery is done by the Sasak people. We walked through the shop first to the back where there is a shaded open area. Then each one of us were asked to choose from the sample shown which one we wanted to do. Uwi chose to do a simple plate whereas I chose a 3D cat (later on, my friend who saw the photo of it on Facebook told me that it is Totoro). It wasn't an easy thing to do as we have never done any sculpturing before but the lady assisted us and helped to shape the clay while we were doing it until the shape is formed. Since we didn't have time to wait for them to burn the clay using the traditional method, Omar helped to take them for us to dry under the sun while we went into the shop and see the pottery products they were selling which was handmade individually. Everything was not so expensive and they even have the Moroccan Tagine pot which I love to have but considering we are not even half way through our trip and the flight to Flores only has a 20kg weight limit, I had to forget about it. Instead, I got 2 small terracotta candle holder as a souvenir as they are small and not too heavy to bring back.
Our last destination is to Selong Belanak beach. Since we haven’t had lunch, Omar took us to eat at Laut Biru Bar and Restaurant, a seaside cafe at Sempiak Villas. The cafe looks lovely with high ceiling and open concept where diners can enjoy the sea breeze and the lovely blue sea while eating their meal. The waves were pretty strong so it’s a good place for surfing. Food was delicious though a bit pricey compare to normal local standard.
After lunch, we walked to the beach and I was hoping to catch the famous icon of this beach which is the group of water buffaloes walking on the beach. There were few local tourists walking on the beach, enjoying the breeze and the view.
While slowly walking towards the other end of the beach, we finally saw a group of water buffalo walking towards us slowly. Earlier on, Omar told us that the herders will bring buffaloes pass through the beach everyday to go and find food and once again pass through the beach again when they go back to their village as it is a short cut for them. I have seen water buffaloes all my life actually but only in muddy areas. So it is something unusual for us and of course we would not miss the opportunity to take photos. After taking the photos, we followed the buffaloes to the end of the beach and then we hung around there for a while to take some more photos of the sea. The 2 surfing warung offering surfing lessons was very quiet as we didn't see anyone at all and we only saw 2 western women learning surfing. After having enough of the view, we finally head back to the cafe and looked for Omar who was waiting for us while drinking coffee. Before leaving the parking area, we took our hand made sculpture which was left in the open to be dried under the sun. By the time we reach to Mana retreat, it was still early afternoon so we went for a swim. After taking a shower, we head to the restaurant to have dinner and once again, watch movie that was shown in their cinema.
Friday [14/12/2018] – Since we didn't have any specific plans except for just checking out Kuta beach, we woke up around 8am. After having a healthy breakfast of smoothie, we started walking towards Kuta beach at 10.30am. We were actually the only ones walking by foot, passing by stalls and houses. It was a very quiet town and the weather was very hot too. When we reached to the"touristic" area, we didn't see many foreign tourists around so we walked on towards the beach area. As we reached to the beach area which has a few huts, the local people were either sleeping and just people watching. There was a floating jetty for people to catch the local boat to go somewhere which at that time, there was no one. It was extremely hot by then and there was nothing to do so we just rested under hut until 12.30pm to enjoy the breeze and get out from the sun. Then we decided to keep on walking to see what we can find at the end of the beach. Once again, there was nothing much. We walked until we reach to the Kuta Mandalika signboard and there is a 2 storey viewing point but it seems like we have to pay just to go up which wasn't worth as none of the local tourists did so also. It was a pretty disappointing and boring beach as no one swam in the ocean also. Since it was so hot (even though I come from a hot country, the wind and the sun was not this hot!), we decided to find a place to have lunch and get away from the heat.
There weren't many choices to choose from, only a local warung and a cafe. So in the end, we decided to try the cafe which is up to Uwi's standard. I ordered seafood jambalaya and spring rolls while Uwi ordered his usual western food. Since it was so hot and there was nothing much to do, we just sat at the cafe and talked until 3pm. Then we slowly walked back towards Mana and on the way back, we turned into a road to find a route to go up the hill overlooking the sea. We walked under the dead end and we couldn't find the path to go up the hill even though Uwi insisted unless we trespass private properties. So we decided to head back to Mana Retreat. We didn't want to carry any wet clothes with us since we had to check out and fly to Flores very early morning the next day. So instead of swimming, we just sat and relax at the hut until the mosquitoes come out. Then we started packing our stuff before we went for dinner. After dinner, once again we watched the movie that was shown on the cinema before going back to our bungalow to sleep early since we have to leave for the airport by 4am to go to Flores.