The alarm is going off. It is six in the morning. We booked a speedboat to get to the Gili Islands today. The boat was supposed to leave at 1 p.m. We got a call from the company, that the boat will be going at 9 a.m. instead. The reason was the big swell. The thing I love, when surfing and hate when taking a boat… We arrived at the harbor around 8 a.m. It was busy with a lot of backpackers, locals, trucks, shops and everything else you can imagine. Once we were waiting to board the boat, we heard that no boat was leaving the harbor today. It was pure chaos depending on who you asked. Everyone had a different opinion of what was going to happen. “No boat today” , “Yes only one boat is leaving, I can sell you ticket”, “One boat is leaving at 1 p.m. but not possible with your ticket”. So we had absolutely no idea what was actually going to happen. All we could do is wait and not get too worked up about it. We just relaxed, laid down and watched a movie.

We were unsure if we would even leave this place today. After more back and forth it became clear, that there was one ferry leaving at around 1 p.m. Once this was clear you could see how the locals tried everything to get some money. Confusion upon the travelers was big. Which ticket is the official one? Can we board with the ticket for a speedboat. So locals were selling ferry tickets above the official price. We heard that some travelers paid 1.000.000 idr. This translates to about 60€. For reference the official ticket costs 60.000 rupee so about 4€. In this situations you need to stay calm and figure out what the incentive of the opponent is. Once you figured this out you can relax. So instead getting to the Gili islands we went to Lombok instead. If life throws hints to go somewhere else you don’t resist the flow. You just change your destination on the spot. This is the beauty about long term traveling. You change plans and come back a different time.

At around 2 p.m. we were finally boarding the ferry. We were ready to bribe the officials if they wouldn’t let us board with our different tickets. So in the right hand we held the ticket for the speed boat and on the left hand we were hiding 100.000 idr just in case… Luckily we didn’t need to bribe them. After all this fiasco we were tired and exhausted and laid down on the ships anchor part and took a well earned nap. It would take us five hours to get to Lombok now.

It didn’t end there. When we arrived we got hassled by a million taxi drivers. It got so bad, that people would follow us, talk to the cab drivers and suddenly they would demand a ridiculous price… Later we learned that the taxi mafia has a full grip of the harbor in Lombok, as well as in Bali. They jack up prices, won’t allow any of the official Taxi companys like Grab, Gojack or Bluebird and threaten everyone who goes against this. After 30 minutes of negotiating we gave up. We took a driver for way too much money and got out of that place. At least we didn’t pay 60€ for the ferry. It took us one more hour to get there and we were going straight to bed. What a looooong day…

The next morning we woke up and we noticed how we were literally in the middle of nowhere! The second thing we noticed is how fundamentally different the landscape of Lombok looked like compared to Bali. This is something Alfred Russel Wallace already noticed in the 19th century. These two island inhabit different species, even though the two islands are relatively close together. The species in Lombok were more close to the species of Australia rather than Java and Bali. This became known as the Wallace line and helped formulate the theory of evolution by Darwin. There was a time, when Asia was almost one landmass and Australia another. During this time period the species developed differently and moved freely on the landmass. The ocean wouldn’t let these animals cross so there was a natural barrier. The continental drift of the tectonic plates resulted in the landscape we know today. So Lombok actually belongs to a different tectonic plate than Bali. This is the reason vegetation, flora and fauna are so different.

The beach Selong Belanak is usually for beginners to learn to surf. Otherwise there are cows and only a few cafes. It is still a very quiet area and has been one of our favorite places. Here Sally is eager to learn the mechanics of surfing. I am eager to teach again. She is quite afraid of waves and surfing in general. In Guatemala she got hit by her surfboard. The result was a bleeding nose and pain for month. Time to tackle those fears. The sessions mostly go smoothly and she even caught some waves! The landscape is serene. You are surrounded by many of these boats, hills and beaches. These boats were once used for fishing. Now they are mostly used for surf trips for the more advanced surfers.

We were stunned by Lombok. It seemed so empty and wild. It seemed to be the complete opposite of the insanity of Balis traffic. The coast is still underpopulated and you can find empty surf spots, unmarked surfspots and small villages. It becomes clear to us that we might end up here longer than expected. I had to pinch myself, that I was not dreaming.

We ended up staying for a week. In the week I did a few boat trips to more remote surf spots. This was more or less successful. I went to Mawi two times. It is a surf spot that is protected from the south eastern wind trades. However it is a treacherous fast wave. It is breaking over a sharp reef and gets quite big on the smallest hints of swell. The first time I went there I was quite overwhelmed. Big sets would roll in now and then. The surfers were fast agile. I watched the waves go by. I tried to stay on the outside and not get caught by the massive waves. I gave up at some point and went back to the boat. As I watched the waves I noticed that I could maybe catch some on the far left of the spot. Here some other intermediates were trying their luck. Determined to catch at least one wave I went back out again. After some fine tuning I paddled into a wave. The sheer excitement went through my whole body. When I was looking down I saw the reef flying by below my feet. In my head only one thought went off. “This is how it feels to surf such a fast wave!” Just as I finished this thought the wave started to break and ripped the board away under my feet. I was caught tumbling. Damnit should have turned faster… We headed back soon after, but was happy!.

I tried to surf Mawi a second time. This time the waves are about four to five meters big. The sheer power these monsters posses is beyond my understanding. When these things start to form and clash on the ocean they make a terrifying thundering sound. I was too afraid to even surf these. In the end I gave up and wanted to paddle back to the boat. Just as I wanted to paddle back to the boat I see the biggest set approaching. I paddle for my life. I can’t seem to make it over the monstrosity. It is too late… It starts breaking directly over my head. I dive as deep as I can while the first wave rolls over my head. There were three more of those. Diving as deep as I can every time. I am so relieved when the last wave of the set rolls over me. This is my queue to get out. The ocean often puts your ego at place. This was not a successful surf session. Yet again it was a brilliant lesson of life. Never overestimate yourself. In the end you can only control your breath, not the ocean. I am happy to surf somewhere else and I never went back to Mawi. After that experience I had some fun on the beginner beach and on an undocumented surf spot. This is more fun as you are not constantly afraid of looking for the monstrosities of big waves. THe undocumented surf spot only works when the south east trades are not blowing. This basically means to get up as early as possible and go to the spot. Since our scooter didn’t have a surf board rack sally had to hold the surfboard. I had some fun completely alone on these waves. They were not too terrifying and yet had enough power to carve out some turns.

After this we headed to Kuta Lombok. We expected something as bad as Kuta Bali. However we were blown away. It had just the right amount of tourists, so you would have enough western food as well as local warungs. (Warung means something like restaurant). Some Warungs at the beach were catching their own fish locally with a spear fish. You could get a whole feast of barbequed fish, rice some vegetables and other stuff for 3€. We ended up staying another week in Kuta Lombok. Taking it slower than usual. The beach of Tanjung Aan has become one of our favorites. The sand so white and the water crystal clear made us come back many times.

I ended up surfing Tanjung Aan everyday. It became a love hate relationships. On the small days I would curse the surf schools. They were just pushing anyone on a wave. Even if you were already on it. They didn’t care. This can become very frustrating. However since this is an mellow wave I can’t really blame them. You have to learn somewhere. On the bigger days it was the perfect wave for me. Not too soft and not too hard. One morning I was up early watching the tide come in. Nobody was out and I was enjoying the silent morning. I thought it was going to be a quiet day with easy to no surf. Suddenly I see five or six guys coming out with really small surfboards. This is often an indicator, that the swell is about to hit the coast. In thirty minutes the wave transformed from these lush small half meter waves into an absolute fun park of intermediate and advanced surfers. The wave ended up being bigger than me. I went in and had some of the best waves of my life.

Our visa was close to expiration. We couldn’t believe it. Had another month already passed? Of course it did. So we headed out to the ‘imigrasi’, the Indonesean immigration office. Luckily Lombok had one of this office. So we created all those documents in a copy shop neatby. Packed everything and drove one hour to get to the office. It is friday and we have to hurry since the immigration is closing doors at around 4 p.m. I was driving the scooter like a madman. Overtaking people everywhere I could. We just arrived in time about 3:30 p.m. We get everything ready until Sally is suddenly searching for our passports. She says that the passport might still lay at the copy shop… The anxiety kicked in. What were going to do when the passports were lost… Where would the next German consulate be. More questions and more anxiety flashed into my head while we were driving all the way back. This was one tedious hour. To our dismay the copy shop was already closed when we came back. After asking some locals they got in touch with the owner. People in Indonesia often live behind the shop. Luckily this was the case as well. We got there and the owner was already smiling at us and waving with the small case with our passports. I am so glad, that these people are so honest and kind. So far we never had any problem with stealing. Well except when one sunscreen disappeared after surfing (small hint, locals don’t use sunscreen). Other than that we had no problem. Luckily our passports were still here. Whew.

Thank you for reading and until next time!