Lombok Trip Day 1

Hi guys!
I had searched about my next vacation destination, and since I love beach, on 17-20 August 2017 I and 3 of my friends decided to have fun in Lombok!

We took flight on 5 am, so we went to the airport at 2.30 am. Sleepy head but also excited for our holiday! Yey! We already did web check-in yesterday so the check-in process in counter didn’t take long time since we only dropped our baggage.

It took 1 hour and 40 mins flight from Jakarta to Lombok, and time zone in Lombok is GMT+8, an hour faster than Jakarta’s. The aircon on plane was so freezing, perhaps because it was early morning and we passed mountains. After this freezing journey, we were safely arrived in Lombok International Airport.

Soon after we walked out of the arrival hall, the driver whom we already booked came toward us. With a friendly smile and pitch, we expected that he was a good guy. And he was. His name was Dayat. We rent the driver and car from Bagus Travel Lombok. The service was great. Mr. Dayat didn’t speak too much but he always answered our questions and sometimes recommended us to the dining places or where we were going.

Near the airport, there was a local dining place called Nasi Balap Puyung. We already heard about it before. It was famous because their food was great! We took away Nasi Balap Special for our lunch on the beach. Indeed, it was delicious and the price was very affordable. It was steamed rice with chilly shredded chicken, fried chicken, bean, and fried anchovy. You may request with or without additional chilly. We highly recommend this food as it will not disappoint you, trust me ;)

There are 2 options to go to Pink Beach: by road and by boat. We didn’t know that we could be there by boat so we did the first option, which was a hell. The road was very bumpy and so far away. And because of this, we were charged additional rent car fee for another IDR 100k. If you want to go to Pink Beach, you better go there by boat from Tanjung Luar.

It took us 2 hours from airport to Pink Beach. After we arrived there, we were disappoint because the sands were not pink. Really?! I saw on google and everyone said it was pink, but in fact it’s not L so sad. But the view was good and it was deserted. There was a small hill on the left side of the beach which provided breath-taking view.

Not so - Pink Beach

After we finished taking photos and enjoying the beach, we went to hotel in Kuta. We took one night in Origin Lombok Hotel. The trip to the hotel took 2-3 hours. Longer than we expected.

This hotel was located in an alley in Kuta, the road was also poor. Most of the infrastructures in Loombok are inadequate. No street lamps, and many roads still dirt not asphalt.

Origin Lombok has a nice architecture and ambience. The staffs were also friendly. Room was big enough, but the towels were dirty so we didn’t use it.

We relaxed for a moment in the hotel before we continued our trip to Bukit Merese to see sun set. Bukit Merese was located near our hotel. Here, don’t forget to wear your sneakers to climb. The view was amazing! Unfortunately, when the sun set, the weather was cloudy. The sun hid beyond the gloomy clouds.

Sunset in Bukit Merese

 For dinner, we were about to go to KRNK café. Again, we knew it from Trip Advisor. Lol. But Mr. Dayat didn’t know where it was, he even never had heard it. So he suggested us to dine in Warung Bucu. The signature dish here is Grilled Mahi-mahi. It was a grilled Mahi-mahi fish. Here I just knew that “Mahi-mahi” was a kind of fish! Hahaha. It was served with a yellow-sour-sauce. I didn’t know the name of sauce but I am not a fan of sour dish so I didn’t like it. :p

Overall, the dish is not so delicious. Just average. But the price here is really affordable. You can get grilled mahi-mahi for just IDR 50k. Wines and another alcohol drinks here are also cheap. A glass of red wine only IDR 70k. But wine was not cold.