On The Road Again (Bali-Lombok Edition with Hubby)

Before I start to spill the tea, I would like to express my appreciation for our good friends who own @mib_rental and @balioverland to let us use their amazing motorbikes to support our journey from Bali to Lombok. 

Let’s begin. On day 1, we woke up at 4 a.m. in the morning to start riding from Denpasar to Padang Bai at 4.45 a.m. Make sure on the way to Padang Bai you cover yourself with warm gears cuz of the wind (long pants, jacket/hoodie, buff or scarf for your neck and closed shoes). We made it to Padang Bai around 5.45 a.m. To be able to buy the ferry tickets, you need to have e-money or a flash card. If you don’t have either one, don’t worry. There will be a friendly security guard helping you to buy a ticket using his card. Just pay his service accordingly. The ferry ticket from Padang Bai to Lembar Port in Lombok is 170k rupiah for one person and one motorbike. Once the tickets were settled, We had a coffee and a little snack.

At 6.30 a.m. we departed from Padang Bai to Lembar. It took us 5 hours to reach Lembar. At 12 p.m., we arrived in Lombok and had lunch around the area.

After lunch, we went to Sekotong Mangrove and enjoyed the scenery.

Around 3 p.m., we headed to Senggigi to check-in to our first night’s nest, La Vie en Rose. Super funky homestay close to the beach. Relaxing a bit and showered before going to Sunset Point at 6 p.m.

Yes, we might be starving, right? A local friend, recommended us to go to Pasar Seni to eat satay at 7 p.m. What a delicious local satay. At Pasar Seni you can go around the shops to find local souvenirs with a decent price. At 8 p.m. we went to Happy Cafe around Senggigi to chill and enjoy life music. Day one was well spent. 

Hello Day 2, get ready for the real adventure. We checked out at 10 a.m. to continue our journey. Guess what, The Gilis! Yes, headed to Bangsal port.

Made it there at 10.30 a.m. Parked our bikes in one of many parking services just right before the gate of the port. The price is 10k for one night. The guy will give you the ticket. Don’t lose it. As soon as we parked our bikes, we headed to the counter to purchase the ticket to the ferry. Two options, the fastboat will cost you 85k per person while the public boat will cost you only 25k per person. The fastboat is always available every hour but public boats will move once the passengers reach 40 people (re: unpredictable). We wanted to take the cheap one obviously HAHA and why not try to experience the feeling of a public boat?

So, at 12 a.m., we departed for Gili Trawangan. A high season made the public boat full in less than 30 minutes. We were lucky. It took us only 30 minutes to cross the island.

Had lunch at a local warung then checked in to Icha Cottage. It was such a hustle to find an accommodation cuz of high season. Anyway, after checking in we rented a bicycle near Blue Paddle to go around the island. It’s 50k a day for one bicycle. While we were in front of Blue Paddle choosing the bicycles, we kinda of wanted to do a cool activity. Yes, we booked a kayak for our next morning kayak expedition to Gili Meno. It’s 300k for two hours to rent 1 kayak with two snorkel masks. Once settled, we cycled around the island and stopped at different places to swim.

At 5:30 p.m., we stopped at a small little shroom shop in the corner to enjoy the sunset.

Dinner time by 7 p.m. and walked around the night market while having cocktails. 

It’s Day 3! 

Woke up at 6 a.m. to get ready for a kayak expedition to Gili Meno. Had a croissant and coffee for breakfast at Boulangerie. At 8 a.m., the kayak expedition starts at Gili Trawangan to Gili Meno.

We parked the kayak by the beach near the tower at Gili Meno.

It took us only 15 minutes paddling. Put the snorkel mask on and swam to the statue, the spot for snorkeling. Suddenly many people started to come so we went back to our kayak and moved to the turtle spot. You know what, we saw a massive mama turtle and we swan with her! Not sure what species it was. Nevermind Haha we indeed had an amazing morning.

Since it was almost 2 hours, we paddled back to Gili Trawangan, returned the kayak, and headed back to the cottage to checked out plus returned the bicycle to the owner. Ready for Gili Air yihuyyyyy! We went to the counter to get a fastboat to Gili Air. 85k per person and it took us only 10 minutes. We had lunch, rented another bicycle (still 50k per person for a day), and then checked in to our resort, Balengku Dua. Chilling while reading a book by the swimming pool and swimming a bit before going around the island with the bicycle.

At 5:30 p.m. we had drinks by the beach and then had a beautiful sunset at Vyaana Resort.

Went to dinner at Warung Sunny. Super yummy local cuisines.

Had a stargazing sesh by the beach before calling off the day. 

Can’t believe it’s Day 4 already! 

Woke up early to have a sunrise and swim on the beach plus had a small picnic.

Checked out at 11 a.m., then brought back the bicycle and rushed to the harbor. This time we took a speed boat to go to Bangsal. It costed us 170k for two people. It was super worth it as we got to the boat as soon as we paid and it was only four people on the boat. Fany fancy! Hahaha In less than 10 minutes we made it to Bangsal. We got our motorbike back, had lunch then headed to Sembalun at 1 p.m.

On the way, we stopped on the beach to freshen ourselves. Then, at 3 p.m. we continued our ride to Mangku Sakti waterfall. The waterfall is unbelievable! You should see it by yourselves.

We had sunset around there then continued our journey to Sembalun. At 7 p.m., we arrived in Sembalun. We checked in to Sembalun Kita Cottage. This Cottage is super cozy and elegant. Luckily the cottage serves food so we could order dinner and get drinks. No more night activity. We were exhausted but happy plus it was super cold. We were freezing. Warm clothes felt useless (so weak so weak). The hot shower was perfect to end our day. Superb! 

Finally, Day 5! I am tired of writing HAHA

Let’s finish this. We woke up freezing. The morning sun really helped us to get some energy to move pit of bed.

Had a delicious breakfast at the cottage while enjoying the mountain view. At 9 a.m., we went for a little walk to Bukit Selong.

Back at the cottage to check out at 10:30 a.m. At 11 a.m., we are heading back to Lembar Port to catch our ferry back to Bali.

Before leaving Sembalun, we bought fresh strawberries from the garden. Then went down South taking a different route. After one hour of driving, we stopped to have lunch.

Then continued for one hour and a half driving. Once we reached Praya district, we had a coffee break at 2 p.m. Then, we continued our ride to out final destination. We made it to Lembar at 3:30 p.m. Someone helped us to purchase the ferry ticket to Bali. At 4 p.m., the ferry left Lembar to Padang Bai.

We arrived in Bali at 8 p.m. Got out of the port, and headed back home. Finally, we made it home at 9:30 p.m. 

What an amazing journey! Thank you, husband, for making this trip happened. We’ve been talking and planning this trip for quite some time. I LOVE YOU. 

Itinerary Bali- Lombok 5D4N

Day 1

• 4.45: Depart from Denpasar to Padang Bai by motorbike
• 6.30: Padang Bai to Lembar (Lombok) via ferry
• 12.30: Lunch, explore Lembar, Sekotong Mangrove, head to Senggigi
• 16.00: Check-in accommodation in Senggigi
• 18.00: Sunset point
• 19.00: Satay dinner at Pasar Senin and windows shopping
• 20.00: Hangout at Happy Cafe

Day 2

• 10.00: Check-out and head to Bangsal Port
• 11.00: Get the boat’s ticket to Gili T
• 12.00: Crossing to Gili T
• 13.00: Check-in
• 14.00: Rent a bicycle, lunch, book a kayak plus snorkel mask for the next day, swim and explore Gili T with a bike 
• 17.30: Sunset 
• 19.00: Nasi campur for dinner 
• 20.00: Cycling and walking around the night market 
• 22.00: Rest  

Day 3: 

• 07.00: Breakfast at Boulangerie 
• 08.00: Kayak expedition starts from Gili T to Gili M, park the kayak by the Beach. Swim to the statue spot to snorkel and move to the turtle spot. 
• 10.00: Back at the cottage to check out and return the bike
• 11.00: Fast boat to Gili Air
• 11.30: Lunch and rent bikes 
• 12.00: Check-in 
• 13.00: Chilling and swimming at the resort 
• 16.00: Go around the island with a bicycle 
• 18.00: Sunset 
• 19.00: Dinner at warung sunny
• 21.00: Chilling by the beach stargazing 
• 22:00: Call it off

Day 4: 

• 11.00: Check out, return the bicycle and get to the harbor 
• 12.00: Heading to Bangsal with Speedboat
• 12.30: Get the motorbike and lunch 
• 13.00: Head to Sembalun
• 14.00: Stop at the beach to freshen up
• 15.00: Continue the ride
• 16.30: Stop at the waterfall 
• 17.30: Continue the ride
• 19.00: Accommodation check- in @Sembalun
• 20.00: Night activity (dinner, resting) 
• 21.00: Rest

Day 5: 

• 09.00: Trekking to Bukit Selong
• 10.30: Check-out
• 11.30: Head  back to Lembar 
• 13.00: Lunch in the way 
• 14.00: Coffee break in Praya District
• 15.30: Arrive in Lembar to catch the ferry back to Padang Bai
• 16.00: Ferry to Padang Bai, Bali
• 20.00: Arrive in Padang Bai
• 20.30: Padang Bai to Denpasar
• 21.30: Arrive at home