February 2016
After almost two weeks on Siantan, the small ferry finally ran again. So we boarded the ship and went to Jemaja, a neighboring island. Siantan and Jemaja both belong to the Anambas Islands, a group of islands which roughly lie between Borneo and Singapore / Malaysia. We spent a day cycling the beautiful island, swimming on several beaches and sharing food with locals. It was an absolutely picture perfect!
After staying in Lombok’s capital Mataram for nearly a week, we were itching to get cycling again. Wanting to avoid the busy main road through the middle of the island we set off towards the north coast.
Cycling along Lombok’s north coast was a beautiful couple of days. Coming from Bali we noticed a big drop in tourist numbers which meant that we got a lot more attention from locals. So we cycled up and down the undulating roads, bathed in the views, enjoyed coffee breaks and lots of small talk about where we go and where we come from. And a mere three days later we were already on the ferry to Sumbawa!
After we recovered from our conversation early in the morning the tablelands were an amazing place to be. Of course you had to be willing do work for it. Instead of many words we’ll let the pictures speak for themselves this time!
Looking back over these pictures the tablelands really offered some of the most stunning scenery. It didn’t come without effort though. It was a constant up and down and I’m really looking forward to some rest days now. And I’m curious to meet our next host, Dale – a recommendation from a warmshowers host who is currently out of town himself!
