Thursday 28 March 2013

Lombok trip – 28 Mar 13

We have the option to have our breakfast at either Qauli, Quah or NooQ Lounge Bar. The menu is the same regardless where we dine at. There is a choice of main which comes with either coffee or tea, choice of fruit juice and a plate of fruit. I had omelette while hubby had egg benedict for breakfast today. The egg benedict is delicious that either one of us had it for breakfast for the next 4 days.
Omelette
Egg benedict
Fruits and juices

Erlan came to fetch us and bought 2 bottles of mineral water for us. Well, the service provided is indeed good. We stopped by Malimbu hill which is about 10min drive from Senggigi. There is a viewing point here and we could see the Gili islands from here.
Indian ocean
View Gili islands from Lombok island
Padi field
It's rare to see Penjors unlike in Bali where it is commonly seen

We mostly sleep throughout the journey as it takes 2 hours to reach the waterfalls. Erlan dropped us at a village where we met up with our guide to the waterfall. Well, this trekking to the waterfall will takes another 2 hours so we bought mineral waters with us. Erlan has informed us to bring towels along as we may need it at the waterfalls and our guide carried it for us.
Start of the trekking to the waterfalls
Padi fields

Trekking to the first waterfall - Air Terjun Sindang Gila takes about 25min and it is not an easy straight path. We have to climb up and down the stairs and some stairs are so steep. However our guide is always around to hand hold me when climbing the stairs.
Our guide
Up the stairs
Down the stairs

Finally we saw Air Terjun Sindang Gila, a cascading waterfall. We took few photographs and left. This waterfall did not wow us nor left a deep impression as we have seen nicer waterfalls.
Air Terjun Sindang Gila

From Air Terjun Sindang Gila, we continue our trekking and it's more strenuous route to Air Terjun Tiu Kelep as it's much longer and involved more climbing of stairs.
A long way too go
Beware of the gaps
Abandoned dam
Flora

We came to a point where we have to cross the river in order to reach Air Terjun Tiu Kelep. It's not easy to cross this river as the boulders are slippery and river is flowing quite rapidly. Our guide hold my hand tightly while guiding me across the river. I really admired that he can crossed it so easily.
Crossing the rivers

Finally after trekking for 30min, we reached Air Terjun Tiu Kelep. The force of the waterfall is so great that we can feel the water droplet even distance away from the waterfall. As I did not bring my swim wear along, I stayed a distance away while hubby wanted to go closer to the waterfall. 
Look at how minute hubby is compared to Air Terjun Tiu Kelep

On the way back, our guide asked us if we wanted to take a short cut on the way back. The short cut is actually walking inside the water tunnel which is a more straight forward route. The tunnel is dark with occasional light beaming into the tunnel. Our guide walked at the front holding my hand and warning us of danger in front.
Shortcut route

It's already 2pm by the time we completed the trekking. We had lunch at Pondok Senaru restaurant. The view here is great but the food is mediocre.
Mee goreng
Ayam Taliwang

It's a long journey back to Qunci Villas again. Erlan recommended us satay from a roadside stall and it's very cheap. There are about 20 pieces of satay and it only cost IDR20,000 ~ S$1.30. The ikan satay is delicious and the 3 of us couldn't finished it.
Satay
Horse carriage

We stopped by Pura Batu Bolong which is 15 min drive away from Qunci Villas. This is another famous Hindu temple in Lombok. Admission is free but there is a donation of minimum IDR10,000 per person and visitors are required to tie a yellow sash around the waist.
Entrance of Pura Batu Bolong

As I have been to Bali, the temples in Lombok pales in comparison as they are usually smaller. Pura Batu Bolong is located at the shore which resembles Tanah Lot in Bali but minus the crowd. There is a huge hole below the temple and it can be seen from the pathway near the steps up the temple.
Pura Batu Bolong

We were surprised to see fresh fruits covered with banana leaves on our verandah when we returned. We thought that there will be fruits served everyday but it wasn't the case. We finished all the fruits except snake fruit as we do not know how to peel open the fruit.

There is also a letter informing us of the special dinner for tomorrow night. However we are not interested as the price is a bit expensive.
Fruits

After taking our shower, we went to the poolside to relax and watched the sunset.
Evening view of Qunci villas
Resting at the poolside
Sunset

We saw people having dinner at those sofa facing the sea yesterday and we had our chance today. As we are here early, we got a table easily. We requested for the menu and the menu comes with reading lamps. I like Qunci Villas for paying attention to the details but well, you get what you paid for. But I'm quite disappointed with Qunci Villas over their dinner menu as none of the foods which I have ate for this trip impressed me.
Dinner at the seaside
Portable reading lamp
Listening to the waves
Dinner

No comments: