169. Lombok

It had been almost a month since leaving Indonesia on my 3-day visa run but I was finally returning, with a shiny new passport in hand. In the weeks that I was away, Kevin sailed from Komodo to Lombok, diving along the way. I arrived in Lombok to meet him but he had other plans of doing a surf and yoga retreat and would be off the boat for another week. To fill the time, I also signed up for some yoga and found myself at Mana Eco Retreat in the main tourist town of Kuta, Lombok.

Mana Eco Retreat was a beautiful property and exactly what someone might picture if you say you’re going to a yoga retreat in Southeast Asia. Complete with yoga shala, a landscaped pool, thatched roof bungalows, and a purely vegan menu, this place was straight out of Instagram. I checked myself into their only dorm room which was easily the nicest shared accommodation I had ever stayed in.

I booked a package of 5 yoga classes and quickly made friends with some of the girls staying in the room with me. It seemed most of the solo travelers here were in their early to mid-thirties and going through some kind of life transition. I loved meeting people of a similar age who also had no idea what they were doing with their lives. It was wonderful passing the days eating healthy food, doing yoga, and talking about our self-growth journeys.

One day, I walked around the main town of Kuta, which reminded me of Baja Mexico. The landscape was no longer lush and tropical, but dry and brushy, giving the same desert-like feel. The street was lined with cute restaurants, coffee shops, and boutique stores but the prices made it obvious that this was becoming the new Bali.

I passed by one shop that I had heard about from friends in the conservation world: Project Hiu. The organization seeks to hire shark fishing boats to take tourists on day trips instead of shark fishing, providing the fisherman with an alternative form of income. Indonesia is the largest shark exporter in the world, fueling the appetite for expensive shark fin soup throughout Asia. One of the largest shark markets was just an hour’s drive away, where you can see all kinds of sharks (some threatened or endangered) being harvested for their fins.

Intrigued by their mission, I decided to book a day trip and convinced two of my new friends, Dani and Chloe, to come along. We met the group in the morning and then sat in a van for the hour-long drive to the fishing village on the southeast coast of the island. We were greeted by a half-dozen local fishermen and escorted onto the boat. The day was comprised of two snorkel stops and lunch, interspersed with discussion and talks with the fisherman.

Although it would have been handy to have a translator, we learned that most of these men no longer want to fish sharks for a living. Due to the declining shark populations, it can take weeks to fill up their ice chests, having to travel farther and farther offshore in these small, wooden boats. Not to mention, it’s a dangerous occupation and their families fear for their safety on every expedition. Lack of education and resources have left them with limited income opportunities. The day trip was eye-opening and a sad glimpse of the future of our oceans but I’m thankful to learn about organizations trying to make a difference.

After being in Kuta for a few days, I was itching to see a different part of the island and heard about a place called Tetebatu. I booked a diver to take me a couple of hours up into the lush vegetation at the base of the island’s massive volcano. The farther into the island, we drove, the acres and acres of agricultural fields spread out throughout the land. The terraced rice fields with workers in cone-shaped straw hats felt like the stereotypical Indonesian postcard.

We arrived at my accommodations, a place called Sama Sama Bungalows, and I was shown my room that overlooked the thickly vegetated gorge. At just $10 a night, the accommodations were basic but the surrounding landscape was stunning. It seemed like the perfect place to get back into nature and enjoy the peace and quiet… until the neighboring mosque’s loud speaker shook my room with prayers throughout the day. The terrain was made up of ridges and deep valleys and it seemed every ridge had a town which also had a mosque and Muslim prayers could be heard broadcasted throughout the day.

In the evenings, the temperature would drop and I found myself layering up with whatever clothes I still had with me from my visa run. After dinner, the young guys who managed the accommodation broke out instruments and began performing reggae covers of popular songs. This was nice until I went to bed and they continued to play until 2 am, not for any guests, just for themselves. After the music stopped, I was woken up again, throughout the night but what seemed to be a family of rats living in my ceiling. My quiet jungle getaway was not so quiet.

The next day, my friend Chloe, whom I met the week before, arrived and stayed at a different bungalow on the property. We spent our days walking and exploring the rice fields and hidden waterfalls. I visited Bali a few years ago but, to me, this felt more like Bali than Bali did. The time passed quickly and soon it was time to meet Kevin back at SV Kismet.