Lombok + Gili Trawangan - 5 days 4 nights [RM 1, 265.58 only]
Lombok, is the island beside Bali.
This post is about my 5 days 4 nights trip to the quiet island.
There is a lovely volcanic mountain with awesome waterfalls. Mount Rinjani.
There were 9 of us. (of course in a pax of 6-8 would be ideal)
The total I spent? RM 1, 265.58
A summary of the trip:
Flight (AirAsia - to and fro excluding baggage and food) = RM 357.58
Accomodation (2 nights at Senggigi, 2 night at Gili Trawangan) = RM 308
Brought along money for food, transportation, shopping etc. = RM 600 ( I actually spent less)
** Anddd we stayed at a really good resort at Lombok. Had the whole 2 storey villa + private pool to ourselves. (includes breakfast)
Summarised Itinerary
Day 1 - Checking in, chilling and going around town area
Day 2 - rented scooters to Mt. Rinjani's waterfall (2 hours one way trip)
Day 3 - took a private boat to Gili Trawangan, cycled to catch sunset
Day 4 - Snorkeling, shopping, Ombak Sunset, watching the stars and live band bar
Day 5 - private boat back to Lombok, stopped to sight see at Mataram and to the Airport
Day 1 - checking in, chilling and going around town area
8:30 AM flight to Lombok
Took a public bus (35,000 Rupiah one way per person, it was air conditioned) for about 2 hours to Senggigi (Drop off was at our resort). You could get the ticket from the counter. And for connectivity, upon exiting arrival hall, you will be greeted by few booths. Choose a prepaid with data plan from 50,000 rupiah (about RM 15)
I did data roaming because I am a Tune Talk user. Had to manually select the telco XL and key in *138# and subscribe to data roaming.
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| Scenery along the way to Senggigi from the airport |
Stayed and checked in at Svarga Resort. (my 2nd favourite part of the trip)
A little tip if you are planning to check in a big group at Svarga, the villas are actually pretty huge and can accommodate up to 8 people. They sadly only allowed add up to 2 more beds to the 3 bedroom villa (all with attached bathroom).
One night at the villa with the private pool and breakfast was 2 million rupiah, which was RM600 (not that bad for 8 people sharing)
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| The humble lobby |
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| Guys and their DSLR's |
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Just chairs by the side of the lobby
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| The smaller "Villa"rooms (more for 2-3 people to stay) |
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| Playing at the public pool (beside the cafeteria that served buffet tea time snacks) |
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| My excited friends |
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| First Group picture! |
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| Hi from the public pool! (it's quite deep and I had to tip toe to walk. I stand at 168cm) |
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| Master bedroom's open air toilet |
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| Master bedroom |
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| The view from the bedroom. That's Bali |
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| At the private pool, chilling |
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| There was also a huge extended walking area after the private pool. So romantic kan? |
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| Thats the dining table, and a toilet beside it. Model not included in the 2 million rupiah. |
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| Evening view from outside of our villa steps. |
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| There were also huts where you could dine at |
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| What we were all tempted to try but didn't order, and ended up regretted not ordering. Terang Bulan |
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| It's basically Apam Balik with Chocolate sprinkles, condense milk, LOTS OF SUGAR |
Day 2 - Mount Rinjani's waterfall + scooter ( nearly 2 hours one way)
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| My breakfast, that I have very carefully placed and positioned to fill up the empty places on that plate. |
We learnt from today's breakfast session, that you can order your meals to your room :D
But we choose to have it by the pool anyway.
We had already asked the reception to help get us scooter for 9 people (2 seaters, 5 scooters)
One scooter rental was about 50,000 rupiah a day. Petrol was sold all around the island in little bottles. (you usually see the bottles with faint yellow liquid outside small shops along the road)
1 litre would cost you 9,000 - 10,000 rupiah.
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| Just posing, found out I'm really bad at scooter-ing You have to really check your bikes. One of ours punctured halfway and had to pay for repairs.  |
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| let's all ride under the sun! |
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| Going uphill |
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| I would say this is their version of The Great Ocean Road |
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| Stopped by for photos |
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| The blue hues of the ocean |
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| There was a cave, I ti |
Apparently, there was also a Pink Beach and Batu Payung, the eroded stone by the ocean. I would really say this was Lombok's Great Ocean Road. Really lovely view of the ocean throughout the whole drive up to Mt. Ranjini.
But it started pouring. Our guess was because it was near the mountains. Best advice for scooters? Bring your own rain coats. Or you can end up like us!
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| Team purple - lovely petite couple, David and Joey |
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| Pretty much feeling like ultraman |
We ended up paying 80,000 rupiah for raincoats. Too expensive but we just want to get on with the journey. It was ridiculous to keep stopping and it was already nearing 4pm.
Lombok locals do not wear helmets but when you are on the road, it's best for us foreigners to wear. Also, keeps you from rain and sun.
I think we took the longer route. Because it was so difficult. we passed by a village.
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| Doesn't feel quite right |
There were 3 of them actually but requires a lot more time.
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| Le messy scooter ride hair |
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| The mighty waterfall |
It has a very very powerful flow so be careful approaching it.
Hence the videos below. You can see us walking cautiously
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| Freezing waters, brrrrr |
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| Group picture! missing 2 people |
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| Boys will be boys |
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| Our way back to Senggigi passed by padi fields |
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| Scooter gang |
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| Padi fields |
Local cuisine and BBQ fishes are so good and cheap! We basically ate at a huge lorong restaurant shop.
I highly recommend Mie Goreng and Avacado fresh juice.
Day 3 - took a private boat to Gili Trawangan, cycled to catch sunset
We checked out at 11 and gotten cabs to Bangsal, where the public boats where scheduled to Gili Trawangan. However, we were approached by the locals and got distracted. Ended up getting a private boat. We agreed to private boat for 9 going to Gili and coming back to Bangsal, packaged with transportation to the airport (with a stop at Mataram for sight seeing in between, since we had hours to spare before our flight)
You can negotiate the price. Because it can be ridiculously high. So in total we paid 2.7 million rupiah for the whole return package.
The cabs will only stop you at the entrance and there was a fair bit to walk to the jetty. We paid to seat the horse carts. It's actually walking distance but we just wanted to try for experience.
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| View from the inside of the horse cart |
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| Pretty tight squeeze in here! >.< |
We were slightly shocked when there were two vehicles in front of us, apparently the private boats have a another jetty.
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| Picture source : CheeShyan |
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| many of the private boats parked around the jetty |
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| Our private boat for 9 |
The ride was HOT and very quick. We took about 10-15 minutes to the jetty (with good weather)
Upon landing at the Jetty, the waters were so clear, you could see them fishes swimming! ^0^
You could rent a bike for a day for 50,000 rupiah. But we walked to our hostel, M Gili. Budget travel style! Here's what a shared dorm looked like!
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| Shared Dorm with attached bathroom at M Gili. |
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| Rented bikes that came with locks. Please ensure your bike has a functioning light bulb. It does get dark at certain roads at Gili Trawangan. And the roads have potholes everywhere! |
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| Nasi Campur |
And after that, we went to the beach!
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| Chill time by the beach! |
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| Go Pro Group Shot |
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| Bintang beer, their local brew. Small bottle for 30,000 rupiah. What a view! |
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| Good looking people everywhere! *I AM SERIOUS! |
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| Hello Gili Trawangan! |
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Covered up Asian girls spotted. |
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| Sun decided to hide behind the clouds so we came out to play |
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| clear waters, much love |
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| Just laying around in a hammock |
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| The shallow waters |
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| The "mirror" waters |
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| Group picture by the swing |
But the place we were at wasn't the famous sunset swing spot. But we will do that tomorrow!
Ended the night having the night market food and had free time. We signed up at the booth nearby the jetty front for a snorkeling package for 3 Gili islands ( Gili Trawangan + Gili Meno + Gili Air) plus lunch for 120,000 per person (about RM 35). It was a public boat. The public boat (glass bottom) is enough. You don't need to get a private boat for this.
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| We were the only asians at that time. Understood that it was tourist low peak season. |
They had a whole range, starting from fried rice, to hamburgers to poultry meals and to spaghetti.
Then being asians (and we don't usually swim in deep sea waters), we took the life jacket and snorkeling masks that came free with the package.
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| To proof that we were really the only asians in our group. |
Remember I said good looking females and males? These guys could easily pass off as celebrities/singers/artist
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| Hello good looking! |
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| Stop at Gili Air for our lunch. |
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| The cutest couple! |
*but personally, Pulau Perhentian, Malaysia has better turtle spotting and they are in a bigger number!
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| The front of the boat shot! |
Upon returning, we walked around shops and found out bikinis, and even to a mailing shop! (to mail postcards)
We then cycled to the famous Ombak Sunset swings!
Sunset time would be around 6:30 PM so we started out 5:30 PM and cycled though the village off road path which was behind M Gili and directly to Ombak Sunset.
THERE WILL BE A QUE TO TAKE PICTURE
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| water level will be slightly below your knee level, best to wear slippers or your flip flops to walk over. The sea bottom are crushed dead corals and are quite painful to walk on barefooted. |
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| Making my que time worth it |
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| you could also walk along the shallow shores |
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| Such serenity, much mirror |
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| Guys approved! |
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| There was also a double swing but the que was madness! |
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| Couple shot |
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| No swing, sunset shot |
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| Group shot |
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| No filter or edit, just pure sun and mobile phone camera |
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| The famous swing by Ombak Sunset, there are 3 of these.
We then cycled back and ate again at the food court. Food prices vary from 30,000 rupiah onwards. Food options were grilled fish, nasi campur, grilled meat.
Went cafe/bar hoping. This cafe/bar was by the ocean along the jetty front.
Happy birthday Chee Shyan!
And we went slightly further from the happening area and just chilled while star gazing.
Proceeded to a live band bar, Suka Suka. Good stuff.
Day 5 - private boat back to Lombok, stopped to sight see at Mataram and to the Airport
Apparently there was a tiny mountain peak to hike. My friend woke up, cycled and hiked up.
The rest of us woke up, cycled around the island. There was a part of the route that you would need to push the bikes by hand.
Sun decided to hide from us.
It was about 7:30 AM
 
Gotten some anklets/bracelet for 30,000 rupiah each
I recommend trying Fried Rumpai Laut. *Fried Seaweed*
It was really good. I got it at Mataram.
And that concludes my Lombok + Gili Trawangan trip.
Immeiling
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