Vila Ombak Lombok

... Island, Flores island, Kelimutu, ) could be an interesting choice for those adventurous souls among you who prefer to mix the great outdoors with a little pampering. If you still have any other inquiries, please do not hesitate to discuss with us and therefore we could offer you optional solutions at the end.<br><br>NUSA TENGGARA<br>which comprise the island of Lombok, Sumbawa and hundreds smaller ones, is another destination of unspoilt paradise in Indonesia Lombok, the Island of ...

... our trek up Mt. Rinjani, which was approximately a six mile trek to the top. Unfortunately, I don't have a great sense of reality when it comes to kilometers in height, and I didn't register that a 6,000 feet trek over the course of six miles equals a VERY steep hike (for example, Yosemite falls is only 2,500 feet). In the past, trails that I have hiked have been a mix of uphill and flat, with an occasional downgrade and a lot of traversing. This trail was apparently created by ...

... to take other people's advice, we investigated for ourselves and came upon a massive landslide that put large felled trees across the road. There were dudes out there with chainsaws, but it looked like a futile effort that would cause us to turn around. We biked down the hill to a lookout and decided to wait 15 minutes and see if they had made any progress. Unbelievably, the chainsaw man's persistence paid off as they had carved a path ...

... though. Will and I and my parents took a 4 hr ferry ride to the island of Lombok yesterday. The scenary was beautiful and so tropical!! Such a heat wave. We ended up getting to the harbour at 1155 when the ferry left at 1200 so it was kind of a mad panic to get our tickets. We ended up getting ripped off because we were in such a rush but now we know for next time! All the vendors can tell we are tourists from a ...

... however our poor porter was doing the same with a stick across his back balancing on each end everything we would need for 3 days, food, water, tents cooking pans, allsorts, weighing in at around 40kg! and he climbed in flip-flops, insane. the second day we left basecamp 3 at 4:30 am and began the 12 hour climb in the dark inorder to catch sunrise on the crater rim, it was well worth it. we then climbed down into the crater toward the lake and volcano ...

... The story was a perfect ending to a long day and we slept much more comfortably 1000meters below our previous camp. The next day we set out again and were able to get to the waterfall, that is known in Lombok custom, to give a year of life to those that swim under it. We had to run some of the way and we were late getting back to the office but it was fantastic. The water cam rushing out of the sky and slamming into the rocks ...

... were way to high - and it might just have been a complete waste of time spent cooped up on buses, rust-bucket ferries and downright dangerous craft with 'friendly' locals with one eye on my bag and a hand on my wallet. Sadly, with more boats being cancelled for days upon days and apparently a plane hitting a cow on the runway and it's wing falling off (no way were we going to fly here) we made the painful decision and were forced east. (That'll teach us for coming in the rainy season ...

... to sell us grass :-) Every one of them. Seriously. There is no motorised transport on the island, not a single solitary scooter, praise the lord! The island is pretty small (only takes about 2 hours, or less to walk around it's perimeter) so no transport is really required. If your'e feeling particularly lazy, you can take a cidomo, a little pony drawn cart. The ponys are dressed up like drag artists, with pom poms and ribbons everywhere, and the carts jingle like santa ...

... that since these islands are only a few meters above sea level, they could disappear if continue to pump greenhouse gases into the air. This was especially on our minds give Canada's performance at the UN Climate Conference in Kenya. Tourism in both islands is way down from previous years. Most notably, we met very few Americans and Canadians, no Australians, and only a few Europeans. The Japanese are out in full force though ...

... kind of thing ailing celebrities do for charity. In the end we both stopped took our boots off and completed the final 5k in flip flops, the only other footwear we had with us. And of course on the way I stubbed both dodgy toes on tree stumps and almost fainted with agony, they throbbed with fury and I could only apologise and promise to make it up to them. And so it was we arrived at Senaru and the adventure was at last over. We had all made it to the top and all come down in one ...