Arrived from the ferry into Lombok in the heat of the day. After lunch we headed south 20km, amongst manic traffic, made all the worse on our arrival into the next village that coincided with the end of the school day & about 300 teenage & younger boys heading home on motorbikes. Nowhere to stay & the main through rd was way too busy so headed up the mountain rd. We knew of a place to stay in Sapit, 17 km away. 3 km in, drenched in sweat & so steep, we spotted an empty pickup truck. There were a few guys sitting around so I pointed at the truck & said taxi Sapit & we were loaded in & whisked up the hill. Great! Lovely place to stay with nice view from our room, nestled amongst 8 mosques, all trying to make the loudest noise at the same time, fried potatoes & omlettes on the menu. Tashi decided Trevor needed an Indonesian flag so he sorted him one & off we went the next morning intending to ride 11 km to the summit. 1.8 km in we r both pushing our bikes, heart rate through the roof & realized it was impossible riding. So Trevor flagged down the first gravel truck, we loaded the bags & bikes in & got a lift to the top. No way could we ever had ridden that. Amazing how $5 can turn a potential crappy day into a good one. Awesome ride down the other side where we decided to stay, at the base of Mt Rinjani. Still quite high up, cooler & a lovely growing area. Nice feel to both the villages. An incredible amount of mosques here & more being built all the time. They r just for the men although the women can go on Friday afternoon...
Awesome 24 km down the next morning & then a nice coastal ride. About 70 km in total. Enjoyed bbq fish for lunch then found a beautiful hotel with restaurant just a few coconut palms away from the beach. We were the only ones there. Had a nice swim in the evening & could not believe it was the same place the next morning with all the locals fishing for crabs. Gili islands next stop.
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