First Backpacker Ever!

To celebrate my hard work of finishing my study in three and a half year, I decided to do a short backpacker trip to internationally known island, Bali (and Lombok). With some savings I've made after 3 months working and a lil bit sponsor I got from my uncle, I packed my things and leave. Here is my story of being a nice-lucky-backpacker for three days, last year. ;)

Day 1
Arrived at Ngurah Rai International Airport right before lunch time. I met my cousin in Nusa Dua Beach Hotel. There I got free lunch. Hihi. While waiting for the rain to stop, I planned my trip for what I was gonna do there. She helped me a lot by giving suggestions what beaches should I visit, what food should I eat, and where should I stay. With her, I was such a lucky backpacker ever. She let me stay in her dorm. She helped me by renting a motorcycle for 48 hours for me. And she showed me where I should eat. She was like the coolest cousin ever!

Time flew fast for we arranged so many things. It was almost dark outside and we should go change our clothes and went for sunset hunting in Nusa Dua Beach. So, we changed our clothes, put my backpack in her dorm, and went to Nusa Dua by motorcyle. I drove, of course. ;)

She showed me the unusual way to see sunset from Nusa Dua Beach. There were only few people including us who knew it. We saw the beautiful view and sunset there. Unfortunately, our camera weren't capable enough to catch the sun, so we just enjoyed it with our naked eyes. We didn't regret it because we've got the opportunity to see it. :) Then, our stomach was calling for food. We headed to Legian to find totally-not-a-fancy-dinner-yet-enough-to-make-our-stomach-die-satiate. Hihi..

Day 2
Because she had to go to work, I had so much time to explore beaches by myself. Before that, I chose to do fun things in Tanjong Benoa first. I did Banana Boat and Jet Ski. Too bad, the wind wasn't good enough to fly me through Parasailing. But, two of them had successfully made me happy. I changed my clothes afterwards and drove the motorcycle southward. Oh, I visited Garuda Wisnu Kencana first to see how the building progress. Unfortunately, it was still the same. The head of Plaza Garuda was still there, so was the rocks and the body sculpture. Well, I saw another side and found an interesting place. I got myself caricature there. Hihi.. Since my hunger attacked me, I chose to eat in the GWK canteen. I ate Nasi Timbel Komplit for only 20k. Next, I headed south. There I found Blue Point Beach, Suluban Beach, and Padang-padang Beach. It was more like a private beach since it was so quiet and deserted. I found my solitude. I drove myself back to the boarding house and cleaned myself. Kak Tania asked me to join her to go to Hard Rock Hotel to meet her friends. There went my luck again.

Kak Tania's friends let us to stay there for a night. Woohoo! I was such a happy girl! Its located was right in front of Kuta Beach. Did you know that the room inside it was reflecting the glory of the Rock N Roll era? Yes, paintings, icons, and memorabilia were adorning the walls. They reflected the changes of music, art, fashion, and artists histories of the 50's until the 90's era. Such a star! Well, I didn't waste my time by not using the facilities provided. Watched cable TV, slept on the best mattress, showered in a nice bathroom. Heaven. I even forgot what time I started to sleep because I so much enjoyed my time there.

Day 3
Woke up so early that I had to go to airport in hurry to catch a flight to Lombok early morning. Sad to know I was leaving Bali. Yet excited at the same time because I would visit Lombok for the very first time. There will always be a first time for everyone, eh? So, with a sleepy head I took a flight to Lombok. I could see that inside the plane were all foreigners. I was the only one who are Indonesian. Hihi..

Landed in Lombok without having any plans was exciting. Since I didn't know where to go, I enjoyed my time browsing popular places in Lombok that I wanted to visit. Knowing where to go didn't make any help. I had to think the transportation to go there, in fact. I searched for any possibilities there in airport. My choice was to rent a car with a driver. Quite nervous at first thinking about being gullible by a fraud. I did away my worries and started to bargain with one random car rental service. I did my payment and started off to ride it.

With just a map of Lombok and printed paper shows what places to visit in hand, I said to the driver where to go. He's such a nice driver too because he recommended me another places to visit in just one day. Yeah right, I only had one day. Not wasting any time, I headed to Bangsal Harbour via Puncak Pusuk. In Puncak Pusuk, there were a lot of riotous-human-like-living creature named monkeys, people said. Surprisingly, they weren't really wild. They just liked to find some foods by scaring cars that stop there to see. When you already gave them food, they were benign. They were too focus on finishing their food.

Arriving at Bangsal Harbour at 11 am. I directly bought a ticket to go to Gili Trawangan. It cost no more than 10k for one way. I waited solemnly. Suddenly, an Italian guy came and sat next to me. He started the usual conversation. From him I knew that Gili Trawangan was such a paradise. He added that I had to stay there for a long time because one day wouldn't be enough to enjoy all it had. I thanked him for the info he gave me. In the small boat, I was the only Indonesian people. The rest were foreigner. How could there were no any Indonesian people visiting Gili Trawangan? It remained mystery.

I so enjoyed the view there. Although I only spent 2 hours there, it successfully brought me peace and serenity. I went back to Lombok by boat in the afternoon and directly headed south. On the way south, we stopped to eat Nasi Balap Puyung for lunch. The journey continued to visit Pottery Art at Banyumulek, Traditional House and Tenun Art at Desa Sade, and last but not least, sunset Hunting at Kuta and Tanjung Aan, Lombok.

My first experience of being a backpacker alone is accomplished. It turns out nice and full of luck. I can't even find more words to describe how I feel and what I see there. It was totally AWESOME!

Bali