Island Hoping with My Scooter - Lombok/Sumbawa

Markit thanks for the post I am back to Bali for 10 weeks next month I also brought a scooter in June and fancy a bit of a tour. I flew to Lombok years ago and stayed in Sengiggi where I got to know the manager owner of the Sengiggi beach hotel he was the local Hash master also. The wife has a cousin living in Lombok somewhere so I could catch up with them. Apart for Sengiggi was Bintang widely available or just in hotels? The ferries were there any time tables or is it a turn up and wait bases?
 
modelt1826 said:
Markit thanks for the post I am back to Bali for 10 weeks next month I also brought a scooter in June and fancy a bit of a tour. Do it! It's great fun. As said the roads around northern Lombok are empty, wide, and new with long swaths of mountain switchbacks both up and down looking down on pristine white sandy beaches - ideal for biking.

I flew to Lombok years ago and stayed in Sengiggi where I got to know the manager owner of the Sengiggi beach hotel he was the local Hash master also. The wife has a cousin living in Lombok somewhere so I could catch up with them. Apart for Sengiggi was Bintang widely available or just in hotels? Yes and no. It's like doing a crack deal except around Sengigi. You ask, they then say (with waggling hand) "no". If you insist they send someone on a 10 minute bike tour to buy some. Make sure you have the exact change - they never have any.


The ferries were there any time tables or is it a turn up and wait bases?
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Type G O O G L E and put in Lombok ferries. Oh, then press "Enter".
 
Found one ;) Markit I am glad you visited Lombok and sorry you found it disappointing. We had an exceptionally long dry season. Down here in Kuta, the rains only started in January, we finally had to drill a new 48m bore as we could not keep up with the supply of water needed to be trucked in. Kuta is far from the best beach in this area. As I always tell guests it is ok for a photo stop but much better to head to Tanjung Aan, Mawun, or Selong Belanak to relax and swim. Tanjung Aan is my favourite and Warung Turtle there has free sunbeds and umbrellas if you buy a drink. Late last year Kuta would have been looking worse than usual. October 2013 the government came and demolished all the beach front businesses, bars, cafes, even a couple of sets of bungalows. They were all illegal and most owners, knew that and knew the day would eventually come. (There were a couple of western owners who bought and built blindly without checking if they could build on a public beach!) Nobody much tried to build again until about a year later when the government built a very bad path along the beach (which was falling apart within the year), an office & two public toilets. At that time a few people started building temporary type bars and warungs again. Soon there were a whole load of beach bars. The government came and confiscated all the booze but they reopened quickly with a new stock. So a couple of weeks later the government came back again and demolished them all again. That would have been just before your visit. So there was still a lot of rubble and rubbish around. That was all cleaned up for the president's visit last month. They also tried to clean up the beach of all the stray dogs for the visit. But "Kuta Lombok Dogs" and local other local residents, managed to get the cull stopped.

When I first came here in 98, the locals used to say in 10 years time it will be like Kuta Bali and I used to reply "not in my life time" However there has been a boom in development. When we opened in 2004 there were less than 20 accommodation options in the area there are now over 200 and more being built all the time. The big development is coming. My favourite spot, Warung Turtle that I mentioned earlier will be gone in a year - as it is located on a plot where Club Med is to be built. Supposedly a Pullman Hotel is also confirmed. Personally I hope not. Locals think these will offer jobs but most locals do not have the skills to work in a big hotel so I suspect staff will be brought in from Bali & Java.

The area is very beautiful. Yes in the wet and soon after it is much more lush. In the dry it becomes barren which has its own beauty. Markit, if you should ever decide to give Lombok another go, let me know and I will show you some of the beautiful beaches South Lombok is famed for. :)
 
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@modelt1826

Bintang is available at most restaurants and tourist warungs. There is only one restaurant in Kuta that does not sell beer but you are free to BYO from the restaurant next door. It is harder to buy in shops as it can not be sold in the minimarkets etc.

As for the public ferries they depart approx every hour and take about 4 hours to do the crossing.
 
Mimpimanis, girl it's been a long time! I did think of visiting you when we were there but a: didn't know if you were still there (it's been years since you posted here last!) and b: my bud's bimbo wanted to be in Kuta so we stayed there, yuck!

Apart from all the trash and demolition I noticed that the surf/beach is waaaaaaayyyy the feck out. Not sure if this was some moon phase or what but it looked like you'd need a car to get to the beach from the beach, if you understand my meaning?

I do intend to swing by there again and now for sure that you have promised beauty unsurpassed and Bintang ice cold.

Refresh my memory where are you exactly?
 
@ Mimpi Manis

Hello again, hope all is well. How's the fishing?

I've got a couple of quick fishing related questions that I was hoping you might be able to consult Made on. Just curious what time of year he would consider the best for a dedicated fishing trip and with how often does he catch Wahoo and Dogtooth Tuna. Might sound like double dutch but I'm sure he'll understand. I've got a cousin hell bent on catching these fish and it might be a way to kill 2 birds with 1 stone on future Indo trips. Any info would be appreciated.

Cheers,
Adam
 
Markit said:
Mimpimanis, girl it's been a long time! I did think of visiting you when we were there but a: didn't know if you were still there (it's been years since you posted here last!) and b: my bud's bimbo wanted to be in Kuta so we stayed there, yuck!

Apart from all the trash and demolition I noticed that the surf/beach is waaaaaaayyyy the feck out. Not sure if this was some moon phase or what but it looked like you'd need a car to get to the beach from the beach, if you understand my meaning?

I do intend to swing by there again and now for sure that you have promised beauty unsurpassed and Bintang ice cold.

Refresh my memory where are you exactly?
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Yes I am still here. It has been 9 years sine I left Indonesia now. In fact I am planning my first trip out in May to take my now 9 year old to Singapore to Universal Studios, Science Museum etc, try to give him a little taste of what is out there. Would love to take him to London but too far out of our budget.

Nobody surfs at Kuta. Kuta is just a base for the surf breaks in the area. The closest is 2 beaches along at Seger but the most popular is Gerupuk where you get a boat out into the bay and have a choice of 5 breaks. Heading west there is some surf at Mawun, Mawi is the most popular break and then Selong Belanak for beginners on a beach break.

When you get to the first roundabout at Kuta bare right, taking the old road rather than the bypass and we are 50m down on the left hand side. If you just ask for Mimpi Manis most people know where we are. Not always to our advantage as our car was rented yesterday and the renter caused a problem on the road with a local woman so her husband and two other men came looking for us last night :icon_e_surprised:.
 
Adam said:
@ Mimpi Manis

Hello again, hope all is well. How's the fishing?

I've got a couple of quick fishing related questions that I was hoping you might be able to consult Made on. Just curious what time of year he would consider the best for a dedicated fishing trip and with how often does he catch Wahoo and Dogtooth Tuna. Might sound like double dutch but I'm sure he'll understand. I've got a cousin hell bent on catching these fish and it might be a way to kill 2 birds with 1 stone on future Indo trips. Any info would be appreciated.

Cheers,
Adam
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Hi Adam

Made is out fishing with guests at the moment so I will ask him when he gets back. They do often catch Tuna though I do not know if dog tooth and wahoo I have never heard of, maybe it is called something else here?
 
BTW how can I change my avatar? I have tried on the profile page. Might have been cute 13 years ago but I have out grown it now :icon_biggrin:
 
mimpimanis said:
Hi Adam

Made is out fishing with guests at the moment so I will ask him when he gets back. They do often catch Tuna though I do not know if dog tooth and wahoo I have never heard of, maybe it is called something else here?
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Hi again Mimpi,

My rough guesses at translation would be:

Dogtooth Tuna - Ikan Tuna gigi anjing
Wahoo - Ikan tenggiri fajar

If you wouldn't mind please ask him if he catches/sees/hears of Ikan todak/penumbuk/cucut (marlin), Ikan lemadang (mahi mahi) or Ikan layar (sailfish).
 
Never heard them mention anything except tuna and yellow fin tuna. Tenggiri they get often but I don;t know if tenggiri fajar but I will ask when he returns. :)
 
Thank you Mimpimanis unfortunatly i am back to UK but will be back in May i was just two busy over the xmas and new year then went to vietman for 8 days by the time i was back to Bali it was the rainy season. However in May my daughters will be in town the wife will be busy and i should be able to do some touring thanks for the info.
 
modelt1826 said:
Thank you Mimpimanis unfortunatly i am back to UK but will be back in May i was just two busy over the xmas and new year then went to vietman for 8 days by the time i was back to Bali it was the rainy season. However in May my daughters will be in town the wife will be busy and i should be able to do some touring thanks for the info.
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I wouldn't recommend going on your own. They will find your stripped and lifeless body next to the frame of your motorcycle - if you're lucky!

Other than that you'll have great fun :O)
 
Markit said:
I wouldn't recommend going on your own. They will find your stripped and lifeless body next to the frame of your motorcycle - if you're lucky!

Other than that you'll have great fun :O)
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No reason not to travel alone. I did and I am still here :) Also we have so many single travellers looking for a cheap room now that we have opened a dorm.
 
mimpimanis said:
No reason not to travel alone. I did and I am still here :) Also we have so many single travellers looking for a cheap room now that we have opened a dorm.
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I was only half joking. I really don't think it's a good idea to drive around alone Java or Lombok on your own and it's also much more fun with a lithesome, dark skinned beauty to translate your wishes into deeds.
 
Hi Adam

I finally got to ask Made while I am online..

He says March-June best season but every trip he has had last February has also had a very good catch. However some years it may be raining. This year we have had very little rain.

Wahoo - he says is Spanish Mackerel - which is one of the fish they catch very often.
Dog tooth tuna - only catch occasionally. Yellow fin is more common.

Marlin - they have hooked Marlin a few times but the guests have always lost them.

Mahi Mahi - often, but have to go far away for them.

I hope that is the info you were looking for :)


Adam said:
Hi again Mimpi,

My rough guesses at translation would be:

Dogtooth Tuna - Ikan Tuna gigi anjing
Wahoo - Ikan tenggiri fajar

If you wouldn't mind please ask him if he catches/sees/hears of Ikan todak/penumbuk/cucut (marlin), Ikan lemadang (mahi mahi) or Ikan layar (sailfish).
Click to expand...
 
Hi Mimpi,

That is awesome information, thank you (and Made) so much for taking the time to reply to my questions that only another keen fisherman would understand. My past fishing experiences in Bali have been mediocre at best and looking at some of your photo's have got me super keen. A lot of the fish are the same as what we catch in the tropical waters here in WA and in fact and to be honest I'm blown away by some of the catches as I would have thought the waters there would have been heavily overfished and not produced some very quality specimens like those displayed. If I may ask one last parting question it seems like they are fishing some deep waters at times. Any idea what depths they are dropping in?

Mad keen myself now to come and visit and bother Made for a week or two on the high seas. Thanks again for the info and I shall be in touch.
 
I confess I know little about motorbikes or scooters since I fell asleep on my Norton, whilst returning to my RAF base at midnight in 1956, and ended up bruised in a field...the bike was all twisted and written-off.
However, since reading this, and other threads about Scooters, I've noticed this Yamaha n400 scooter many times and boy...thats a fine-looking touring machine. Probably the most handsome of all the scooters and not, as some say....girly.....although I have seen some pretty girls ride them.
My maid is very proud to Ojek me to the pub on her Scoopy....which is a bit girly.....so I'm looking for any new BBF who owns one of those Yamahas to give me an Ojek and feel what it's like being on the back.
At first glance it looks heavy, and maybe a little difficult to manouver, but I just today witnessed two little girls make it look easy.....I'd imagine it would be great on any stretch of open road.
 
Personally, I'd feel a lot more comfortable and safe with this 250cc Kawasaki Estrella, yours for only 65juta.kawasaki-estrella-250-special-edition-2014-01.jpg
 
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