Two weeks exploring Java and Lombok in Indonesia
Duration: 16 days
Expenses: AUD$532 or AUD$31/day
Internal Flights: Surabaya to Bali AUD$41
Indonesia really feels like a place I could backpack around for months. The food is fantastic, the people are kind, the islands are beautiful and I only saw a handful of them. Unfortunately I only budgeted 16 days in Indonesia – 8 for East Java and 8 for Lombok. The purpose of my trip was to hike Mt Rinjani (Lombok) and Mt Bromo (East Java), but I feel fairly certain that I will come back to see more someday. Indonesia has so much to offer: mountains, volcanoes, jungle, rainforest, beaches, diving, hiking, food and more!
I’m certainly not a beach person. I don’t like the idea of spending (wasting) a day lying on the beach doing nothing, but I’m trying to learn the art of relaxation. Gili Air of the Gili Islands in Lombok was the perfect place to get used to it. Laid back island life, friendly locals, quiet beaches, but still a slew of restaurants and bars to check out. Swimming, snorkeling, diving, there was no way to do it all. I guess I’ll just have to come back.
Ahh Lombok, such a refreshing change from Kuta, the dirty armpit of Bali. A more relaxed pace, the people are nicer, the island is beautiful and far less tourists make the effort to cross just 50km of water. We took rest in Senggigi, a small series of towns and beaches in the west of Lombok before seeing some of what the island has to offer.
I must have screwed up my research because I completely overlooked the Ijen Crater in East Java. I didn’t remember it looking very appealing the first time I looked it up, but when I arrived in Probolinggo it became an instant must do.
Surabaya was not somewhere I intended to stay long, but then again I guess I never really went into the city itself anyway. Good company and a nice hostel on the outskirts of town near the airport kept me there for 5 days when I had only intended to stay overnight. It was there that I met Asoka and learned about his Indonesian Reading Revolution.
hakka xav 