The next, and final, destination of our epic adventure was Kuta, Lombok. Now it must be pointed out that we talking about Kuta on Lombok, not Kuta on Bali. Kuta on Bali is where all the Australian gap-year students go to behave extremely badly, and is very commercialised. Basically its the tourist center of Indonesia, and we had made a point of avoiding it. Kuta on Lombok, on the other hand, is only big on surfer's tourist maps, which means that it has all the basic ammeneties the average tourist needs, but without the mass commercialism. Sadly times they are a-changing and Kuta Lombok may soon be heading the same way as Kuta Bali whith some serious developements in the pipeline.

Anyway, in order to get to Kuta we had to go from Gili Air, near the North of Lombok, to the mainland and then down South. We booked on a shuttle which are normaly quite good, but this one proved to be the worst transport we had taken in Indonesia. The boat ride wasn't too bad, and the port we landed at felt scary but we got through unscathed. The shuttle bus, however, was another story. Lets just say it would make an average taxi at home look rather good, and we had a 3 hour journey ahead of us. Luckily it wasn't over crowded and Damon and I got 'extra' leg room by sitting infront, which also gave us the best seats to view the horrors of the road. The saving grace of road transport in Indonesia is that nobody drives faster than 60 km/hr so everything sort of happens in slow motion. Though, trust me, overtaking a horse-drawn cart directly into oncoming traffic consisting of an old lady on a scooter overtaking a lorry is absolutely terrifying, even if its in slow motion! In fact it might even make it worse. Thankfuly we negotiated the horse-drawn carts, bicycles, scooters, buses, lorries, dogs, cats, goats, buffalo and pedestrians, and finally made it to Kuta.

When we arrived we went on our customary aimless walk around to see the place. Kuta itself is basically one street lined with some hostels and bamboo costructed restuarants and shops. We walked along the beach and further to the next bay. The whole area is made of bays and big peninsulas which possibly accounts for all the surf spots in the area. One of the reasons we had come to Kuta was because our friends we had made in Java, Pete and Hen, were there so they could show us around. We met up with them and spent the night at a sort of unofficial bar on the beach, around a bonfire, watching Damon attempt flick-flacks and fire dancing (not at the same time), which was very entertaining.

Pete and Hen had found that the only practical way to enjoy Kuta was to hire a scooter and explore. Now I personaly believe that the scooter is the most dreadful and dangerous mode of transport devised by man. The only thing worse would be to ride a rhinoscerous around. Infact the scooter is more dangerous than riding a rhino because if a rhino and a scooter had an accident the scooter would definitly come off second best. Seriously scooters are horrible, the wheels are too small, you sit all crouched up, they have a top speed of 60 km/hour and Damon insists on falling off them. Its like driving a sewing machine powered shopping trolley with only two wheels. Okay enough with the scooter rant. The following day we hired two of these denomic steads and headed out with Pete and Hen. We went out west to a beach they had found called Selong Belanak. The landscape on the way was awesome with conical green hills, emerald rice paddys and small villages complete with water buffalo. It was the real rural Indonesia. The beach was without a doubt the best swimming beach we had seen in Indonesia, as well as being situated in a stunning bay. You forget that people from England have never seen waves before! Pete was so excited to see waves he didn't know what to do with himself and played for hours in them, like a kid. On the way home we stopped off at a place called Ashari and had coffee and cake whilst taking in awesome views of Kuta bay. Really a special place.

The next day we decide to explore the area to the east of Kuta. The landscape was similar to the previous day, however some heavy overnight rain had made some roads quite muddy which made going tough in parts, especially on the scooters with their useless little trolley wheels. We took a side road and found a bay full of what we assumed to be fish farms, which was interesting. Eventually we ended at an uninteresting harbour with unfriendly looking locals and headed home for lunch. After lunch Pete and Hen decided to go back to the swimming beach to see the amazing waves again, whilst Damon and I went to Gerupuk bay where the surfing is centralised to see if I could get a surf in while I was there. It turns out that most of the spots are fairly far out to sea so you can't see them without a boat. Also the best time to surf is morning. I haven't surfed for months, and my confidence and fitness are low, so I decided to go to a beginners break called Inside Gerupuk the next day, and headed home to rest.

I woke at 6 the following morning and headed off to Gerupuk bay on my untrusty scooter. I had images of massive barrels breaking over shallow, shark infested, reefs so I was rather nervous. I chose quite a short board to compensate for the steep waves I anticipated and jumped on the wooden outrigger that would take me out. We arrived and I must admit it wasn't quite what I had expected. Basically it was like Muizenburg, crowds and all! That said I had a nice surf and it was very cool to be taken out on an outrigger and be in such warm water. Like I said it was the beginner break, and from what I heard there are a whole host of properly world class breaks in the area, some of which I could see barrelling in the distance. One day when I have practised a bit more, and am more confident, I would love to come back and try out some of the proper breaks. Hopefully they will be less crowded!

By the time I got home Damon had managed to drag himself out of bed. We had breakfast and said good-bye to Pete and Hen who were heading home to England. We then headed out to Selong Belanak for one last swim in Indonesia. Suprisingly we survived the scooter drive and had a good swim. All in all a good last day to our wonderful holiday!

Kuta really was a highlight of our trip, though Indonesia has been so amazing it is difficult to single out any one spot as a favourite! As I mentioned before I would love to come back with a surf board, especially before they start developing the area. It also had such amazing scenery and a rural, untouristy, feel that it is an awesome place to visit even for a non-surfer. We ended up spending 4 nights there, which was the most consecutive nights we had spent in one place since leaving home. This constant travelling has tired us out so I think we are both keen to get home and relax a bit, though we have an epic 32 hour journey ahead which we really are not looking forward to!