The next day I left Ubud for Senggigi on the neighboring island of Lombok. Instead of public transportation, this time I opted for the tourist service offered by the Serama company.
Serama’s office is south of Monkey Forest Road and the ticket to Sengiggi including the 4 hour ferry cost me 150,000 rupees.
It was really much more comfortable to carry the ticket in your hand, since in this way you avoid having to look for different means of transport each time you finish a stage: from Ubud to Padangbai, from Padangbai to Lembar and finally from Lembar to Sengiggi. In addition to this way I made new friends with other travelers. The first bus came from Kuta and carried barely more than 12 people, most of whom were headed for the Gili Islands. From Ubud we joined four more. The journey in total lasted about eight hours and we arrived at Sengiggi around three in the afternoon.
Reading the guide one imagines Sengiggi as a kind of Agonda in Goa. A little exploited place with coconut palms and little frequented beaches. Although it is not really exploited like other areas of Bali, there are many more hostels and shops than what Lonely Planet tells that are concentrated on the main road extending a few kilometers.
I joined an English and a Canadian couple and we found a simple bungalow hostel on the same beach for 50,000 a room. The place was rather dirty and I even found a condom in the sink… it didn’t surprise me then that they asked us for so little money to stay in that hole.
Sunset at Sengiggi beach.
Sengiggi beach has dark sand and the water is very warm. Abundant coconut trees are outlined on the beach as well as the boats of the town’s fishermen. The beach is frequented by locals such as those from the city of Mataram. We didn’t see any tourists in our area, only in the center of town where there are plenty of restaurants with local and western food as well as live concerts.
The hostel was located about two kilometers south of the center of Sengiggi. It was called Atithi and is in the middle of reforms. To get to the center we asked for a taxi that was metered and it did not exceed 15,000 rupees per trip.
Since there were five of us on the first day, we surveyed prices to rent a car . In this way, we would save money and we could reach many more places in Lombok in a single day than renting motorbikes separately. The prices moved around 170,000 a day without haggling and the deposit to be returned in the same state.
In theory, to rent a car in Indonesia, you need an international driving license . However, many people rent it without having it. If the police stop you, the matter can be settled immediately with a fine that may or may not bite at the pleasure of the police officer on duty. If they stop you, you ask “Can we resolve this problem with a fine?” let’s see what they tell you…
Semaru waterfalls.
Once in the car we headed towards the north of Lombok. The goal of the day was to reach the Semaru waterfalls and return little by little, stopping at other waterfalls on the way and visiting the beaches of Sira north of the town of Bangsal from where the boats leave for the Gili Islands.
The beaches I saw in Lombok – from Sengiggi to Semaru – are nice but not spectacular. The palm trees reach the beach, which is dark in color, probably due to the effects of the Gunung Baru volcano. The water is clean but does not reach the turquoise colors that can be seen in the south of Bali or in the Gili Islands. However, they are beautiful and make Sengiggi a good place to rest for a couple of nights.
Lombok beach.
We arrive at the Senaru waterfalls where there is a parking lot, a small souvenir shop and a few guides willing to take you into the jungle to show you other waterfalls further inland. They charge admission and it leaves for 5,000 rupees. Once you have the ticket, a short 10-minute walk awaits you, descending some stairs until you reach the foot of a 40-meter-high double-jump waterfall. It is beautiful, although if you go in the dry season it is probably not worth it.
We stop at a detour to visit the other waterfalls. This time they were called Ganga and they are about 7 kilometers inland from the Tanjung turnoff. We reach a point where cars are not allowed and we go down to complete the last two kilometers on foot. We crossed a village and because of the welcome we received, we imagine that few tourists should see a day. The children followed us and the older ones greeted us.
Ganga waterfalls.
I think that the original path has been cut and instead they have made it pass through a house and some kids take the opportunity to charge admission. We didn’t and continued to the waterfall passing through a beautiful rice plantation.
The waterfall is not a big deal. A fairly wide fall of about 30 meters high. On the way back they made us pay but we didn’t do it as we understood that they had invented the path so that we could go where they wanted and we followed the path in the direction of the car.
It was getting dark and we didn’t have time to visit the Sira peninsula and its beaches. According to the Lonely Planet -although they exaggerate quite a bit- in Sira there are two of the best hotels in Lombok and a beach that they literally define as “sickly beautiful”.
