We came off the Komodo liveaboard at the harbour around 9am, where a small crowd on the quay cheerfully grabbed our four suitcases and loaded them into the car (a tip was, of course, expected afterwards). Then began the drive up into the hills to Senaru — about an hour and a half, on a winding road that had most of us feeling green. Noah lost the battle with car-sickness; Vitus came heroically close but held on. Noah did, at least, get the front seat — "it was my turn."
Our base was a small family homestay run by lovely people — it turned out the driver was the owner's cousin, and the family ran the transport, the homestay and a little restaurant between them. The rooms were simple and clean, fans rather than air-con, but the whole thing felt personal in a way a hotel never does. We're always a bit nervous about finding food every day on a trip like this, but the homestay food was genuinely good, so that worry evaporated. In Indonesia, we learned, more or less anything that resembles a guesthouse gets called a "homestay" — and after Labuan Bajo's prices, everything here felt refreshingly cheap.
Tiu Kelep — a waterfall you feel before you reach it
The family recommended an easy first outing: a walk down into the jungle beside the village to see monkeys and a couple of waterfalls. We didn't have big expectations — and then were completely won over. The big one, Tiu Kelep, is genuinely spectacular: so powerful that you're soaked through just standing a few metres away. There used to be a pool you could bathe in at its foot, but a rockslide has since put an end to that. A perfect, gentle start to Lombok.
Back home for a good dinner, a few rounds of cards, and an early night.
Rice paddies, a “coffee plantation” and a Sasak village
Around 8 the next morning we headed out on a tour with two of the younger family members (about 18 and 22, and great at explaining everything). Half an hour's drive, then a walk of an hour or so through the rice paddies — a proper look at just how hard the work in the fields is, with terrific views back toward Rinjani, the mountain we'd be climbing in a couple of days.
The promised "coffee and cacao plantation" was a bit of a let-down — the guide essentially pointed at a couple of trees and said "there it is"; clearly not the season. Then a traditional Sasak village, where you put on a sarong to go in and had a quick look inside one of the houses to see how people still live in the very traditional way. It was a short stop and touristy — but a fair little glimpse all the same. We also stopped by the village football pitch, where Noah got to throw a few disc-golf holes while Vitus and Line went off on a Pokémon Go walk.
Sunset over the volcano
Later that afternoon came a sunset tour that, after some confusion, turned out to be included in the day's price (we'd braced ourselves to pay a small fortune for a fifteen-minute drive each way). It took us up to a viewpoint looking out over Rinjani, the rice fields and the sea, with the sun going down behind it all. We soaked it up for an hour or so before heading back to pack — because the next morning began the real reason we'd stayed on Lombok: the three-day trek up Mount Rinjani.
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