I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.
Robert Louis Stevenson
Gili Gede has no roads and no cars: its five small villages are connected by footpaths and animal tracks. The Lombok mainland was always going to be a culture shock.
Fortunately we had the right man for it: Mr Hak the driver was recommended by our homestay on Gede and it can only have been by some odd quirk of karma or spacetime that he was born into this place and moment. With scooters overtaking us on left and right, trucks parked precariously on both shoulders of a narrow winding road, pedestrians and animals in the hubbub of the street, we sailed on serenely in our bubble at a steady 30km per hour. It felt like we were in a cruise ship; Hak’s car certainly cornered like the Titanic. Michael Schumacher he was not, but he got us to our destination about as quickly as our nerves could manage, and an hour and a half later we pulled in sedately to the driveway of the Driftwood Lombok, 48km and a world away from Gili Gede.
Selong Belanak had been recommended by Alain on Gili Gede as a good spot to enjoy laid-back Lombok life: green hills and sheer black rocks dropping to white sandy beaches, gentle waves rolling in, sunset cafes, not too many tourists. That sounded great but finding a place to stay was a challenge: unbeknownst to us but apparently well knownst verging on obvious to the rest of the world, the neighbouring town of Kuta was hosting Indonesia’s MotoGP that very weekend. Accommodation all over the island was booking out. Luckily after some searching we found a promising spot between the village and the beach, called Driftwood.
We spent three days on the white sandy beach of Selong Belanak, Finn and Steffi learning to surf, Alex drinking a lot of coffee, and all of us enjoying sunsets by the water.
First impressions of Indonesia
We already had a taste on Gili Gede of what would become one of our enduring experiences in Indonesia: Indonesians are crazy about kids. Their own kids have a status that we would call spoilt; it’s a common attitude that a family without kids is not a family. It’s an interesting contrast to Australian culture and at times confronting. Hospitality is important here and Indonesia is a warm and welcoming society, and the locals seem especially fascinated by tourists and white people in particular. Finn with his white skin and rosy cheeks and blue eyes is a target – in a wonderful but sometimes very full-on way. Everyone – everyone – wants to stop and say hello, and often they don’t stop at that. People take photos of us in the street, they come up and touch Finn’s face, they want to know where we are from. We hear “Hello handsome boy” so often in the street that it’s become a refrain whenever Finn is in trouble, “Don’t you know that I’m a handsome boy?” As if that’s a get-out-of-jail-free card. Arriving back in Australia and losing his princely status is going to be hard.
Another funny, striking and at times alarming thing is the scooter culture here. Pop quiz: which of the following have we not seen on the back of a scooter?
- A family of four
- A man carrying a 12-foot extending ladder
- An entire travelling balloon shop
- Another scooter
( It’s a trick question: we’ve seen all of these, some many times, and many other weird and wonderful configurations besides. )
Driftwood Lodge
I won’t lie, Driftwood and Selong Belanak generally felt like cheating. This is not Indonesia, this is super deluxe Byron Bay by another name. Surfing, coffee, outdoor showers and white fluffy towels: this was not roughing it. We had come to experience the rough and tumble of off-grid travel, the inconveniences and tight spots caused by not speaking the language, a new world and culture and a whole different way of doing things.
But hey, those are the breaks and we settled in to enjoy the best of our luck. The first smooth cappuccino took the edge off the guilt, and by the end of the second we were celebrating our life choices.
You can find it on google maps, here.
Selong Belanak beach
Selong Belanak is the perfect beach to learn to surf: soft white sand as opposed to the rough coral which is more common around these parts; and very steady, gentle rolling waves. If you can actually surf you will be bored here – the waves are too small and short – but if you’re looking to get started it is the perfect spot.
Surf lessons
If you’re looking for surf lessons you can’t do better than Sandy, the owner at Black Fin Surf School. He had first Finn and then Steffi standing up in no time, and he can also sort you out with beach chairs and umbrellas if you prefer relaxing on the beach.
The Whiteleys in Asia 