Kuta, Lombok style!

We woke up in Senaru, said good-bye to our new friend Curio and so-long to old friend Anto, and we were off to the south of Lombok, to visit Kuta, apparent surfing mecca of this island.  Given that Senaru and Kuta were on pretty much the opposite ends of the island, it took over 4 hours to drive there, but we finally arrive by early afternoon and after a couple of stops, found our place to stay.  We took a walk to get oriented and realized, like Senaru, that there's not much to see.  Kuta is famous for its surfing, but it does not really have a beach to speak of.  All of the surfers rent motorbikes, to take the drive east and west of the main town for the isolated beaches and surf breaks, accessible only by boat.

With not much to do, we made plans for Jen to have a surf lesson the following morning (I had an ear infection at this point -- attended to by a lovely nurse in Senaru and then a doctor in Ubud -- don't worry, I'm okay, just no surfing for me!).  The evening was spent reading and relaxing, as it poured monsoon rains all around us.

The beach was like nothing I've seen before. Just miles and miles around of green hills, falling into ocean.

The next morning, the surf school came to pick us up for the trip to Gerupak.  We drove for about 15 minutes until we reached a small fishing village.  We were taken to a little fishing boat, which would take us to a beach, for Jen to practice and me to wait at while Jen did the surfing.  The beach was like nothing I've seen before.  Just miles and miles around of green hills, falling into ocean.  The beach, once Jen and the surf teachers left, was totally deserted.  Just me and the hills...

The boat came to pick me up a little while later, and we were back to Kuta.  More rain meant we were inside for the afternoon, enjoying our books and some hot tea at the Family Cafe, the surf school hang-out.  Very relaxing!  And very off the beaten path...