We arrived in Bali soon after dawn and went to Kuta beach to have a break and find breakfast.
Everyone raves about Kuta. It is OK at that time of day before the crowds arrive. At that time in the morning the cleaning squad were in action removing rubbish and any driftwood and flotsam from the sand. This is the classic view along the sands. The beach is backed by a road the other side of which are the hotels MacDonalds, the Hard Rock Cafe and similar. For me it is all too commercial. For a lot of foreign tourists I think it has a familiarity and security because of that. For Indonesians it appears sophisticated and western.
After that we drove across Bali to catch the ferry to Lombok.
The ferry took about six hours to get to Lombok. Our first sight of the island came towards late evening just before sunset.
We drove across Lombok and started looking for a hotel. We eventually booked into the Hotel Senggigi. Here you see the Carnival in the car park. The rooms all face the car park forming a sort of courtyard on two sides. Opposite the long side are trees and a bamboo plantation.
From right to left. Rose Nia and Sus enjoy a snack outside our hotel room.
Here we are watching TV in the room, and gratuitous shots of Stephen and Alex sleeping.
The next morning driving north along the coast road this view caught our eye. Lombok has miles of coastline like this. It is a truly beautiful island.
So the next task was to find the sand for ourselves. We drove along and found a spot where we could drive right up to the beach. We left the Carnival among the palms and walked out onto the sand.
While the girls sat in the shade Alex and I went for a walk along the beach to find a good spot to go swimming. In the shallows there were some sharp volcanic rocks where we first waded in.
Eventually we perusaded Rose to join us.
Looking north the beach is so crowded. . .
After the swimming food. A picnic by the beach.
That evening we ate in warung close to our hotel on the same coast road.
