Lombok

How can we tell you how awesome it was and at the same time explain why we felt uncomfortable. We will try.

Sopi was in Gerupuk so we decided to go there as well. Gerupuk is a little village near Kuta Lombok. A small crappy maintained street leads along the beaches to there. Unfortunately the nicer hotels were fully booked so Meli and Caro went to look for a nice place to stay. Walking around in the streets showed how poor this place is. We have never seen so many street dogs in our whole journey as here. The dogs had all rashes and open wounds on their bodies. The kids were playing naked in the waste water. The town was dirty and smelly. The room we were in for a few days was really hot, I think we never had it as hot as there, the whole atmosphere was bad. We tried to get used to it but after a few days we decided to move to a different place.

During our stay there we tried to learn surfing. You could hire a boot, that brings you to the good places, and a board for little money. The first time Meli and Caro joined. We were sailing to the beginner spot, the view from the boat was incredible, you could see the big volcano Rinjani in the distance and we were surrounded by green hills and cliffs. For Caro it was the second time on a surfboard and she fast figured that this spot isn't really the spot to learn surfing, the waves were to harsh and the water was to shallow so you could get easily hurt.

The following days Jeff and Sopi went surfing and Caro and Meli hired a scooter and explored the surrounding.

Meli and I (Caro)woke up in the early morning, when the heat is still bearable, so we could go for a walk in the hills. We were Cruising around for a while looking for a nice hiking spot. As we found one we parked the scooter next to street and went steep uphill. The sun was broiling and already after 200 m we had to stop and turn around. It was just to hot. We decided a scooter trip is nicer, than we have the wind that cools us down. While getting some gas on our way we were asking some locals for a nice view point. One of the guys offered us to bring us to an empty beach surrounded by green hills. They way to the beach was steep and muddy, with a lot of concentration and panicking we made it to the top of one hill. It was a construction area where the guy brought us and he was the supervisor. Meli and I felt a bit uncomfortable there, it was unbelievable hot and the workers had to work really hard for their money. We felt stupid standing next to them and looking dumb. Also the older people were starring and looking angry, because we were in really scanty shorts. (and yes it is offending but we really hadn't waste a thought on that earlier). We fled to another beach, where the women and old of the town were sitting in a bamboo hut near the sand and enjoying the shadow. The kids where playing in the water and as soon as they saw us they wanted to play with us. We played tag and threw them in the water. Giggling and screaming of all the fun. As we packed our things to go back to meet up with the boys, we got invited into the bamboo hut. The women were curious, larking and friendly.