Dreams of Senggigi

After a week of unsuccessful attempts to organize my class schedule and run some basic errands—even the easiest tasks are difficult when you don’t speak the language, I decided to take a deep breath and go to Senggigi.

La Casa guesthouse

Senggigi is a small beach town about fifteen minutes away from Mataram, and I had heard that its beaches were beautiful. Since I had no obligations ahead, a trip there seemed like the most sensible thing to do. A friend from France who is currently traveling around Indonesia agreed to meet up with me to go explore North Lombok. Perfect!

I woke up early Saturday morning, made breakfast using my newly purchased gas stove, packed a couple of t-shirts and a toothbrush, and walked over to the main street to catch a blue bird to paradise. The fare was about three dollars, and when I got to the guesthouse where my friend was staying, I saw him waiting for me on a scooter he had rented that morning. We left my stuff in his room, got a map of Lombok, and headed north, trying to find a monkey forest suggested by the guesthouse owner. About 40 minutes later, riding on a small interior road, we started seeing monkeys hanging out all over. We had found the monkey forest! We parked the scooter and went to look at the monkeys until one of them started showing its teeth, and another one tried to chew on the scooter. Enough of monkeys. Beach time!

Riding the scooter up and down hills with amazing ocean views all around made me feel like I was dreaming. We picked a desolated cove with white sand and aquamarine waters to spend the next few hours jumping in the water, picking shells, sunbathing, and talking about life. After a lazy afternoon we went to get some food, and then parked the scooter on the side of the road to watch the sunset and drink some coconut water. It was pretty much a perfect day.

Magic scooter

The next morning we got up early, had breakfast, and took off to visit a waterfall even further north. When we finally got to the place where the waterfall should have been, one of the locals said that there was ‘no water fall’ due to lack of rain and directed us to a different spot about two kilometers away. We jumped back on the scooter and kept going, but got lost and had to stop at a store to buy something to drink. The sun was bright and burning, and we talked about just going back to the beach and calling it a day. Apparently we got lost again and ended up at waterfall number two. Surprise! There were many locals swimming in the natural pools, and a guide took us to see the three main swimming holes. There were cliffs from where people jumped into the water, and since everyone was doing it, I was expected to jump too. Have I ever mentioned how scared I am of jumping off cliffs? Well… It took about 15 minutes and tons of encouraging words to make me jump, but I finally did it. I think I was shaking for the next ten minutes, so I had to float on the water surface while doing breathing exercises to normalize my heartbeat. A friend back in Illinois gave me a card that reads: “Do one thing that scares you every day.” Well, today I for sure did!

Kids jumping off the cliffs at one of the waterfalls in Gangga

Back on the scooter towards the beach… Another scenic ride, another lazy afternoon laying on the sand, and then a stop at a beach stall where I ate the best grilled fish I have had on my entire life. We picked a large, pink looking fish from a cooler full of fresh catches, and a woman seasoned it to perfection using some sort of spicy sauce (sambal) and then grilled it over a wood fire. I had to have a coconut to accompany that fish while sitting cross-legged on a little hut overlooking the ocean. On the way back to the guesthouse, my friend gave me a quick lesson on how to operate a scooter and I got to practice on a narrow and empty road, first by myself, and then with him on the back. Two scary things in one afternoon. Another perfect day!

View from the road

The next morning my friend continued his trip going on a four-day boat expedition to the Komodo island, and I awoke from the dream ready to get to work and eager to start with my classes. Now another week begins, and I look forward to becoming immersed in my new life in Lombok after getting to know much more about what this place has to offer. I still can’t believe how amazing this island is, and still have lots to discover.