Kuta, Lombok, Indonesia - Day 5
Thursday, March 20, 2025
Today was our last full day in Kuta, Lombok.
We had another night of interrupted sleep as the Ramadan calls to prayer sounded until 10:00pm, then again at 3:00am and 5:30am. “Did anyone mention this in the reviews for this place?” I asked Andi this morning in a sleepy fog. Nope, not one person. I guess this is a good lesson for us to never travel to a Muslim country again during the month of Ramadan.
I felt like absolute garbage this morning. I’ve caught the cold that Tory had on the cruise last week — sinus drainage and a dry cough. I couldn’t lay down last night without coughing. Poor Andi was up most of the night listening to me.
Andi worked at his computer early this morning, and then he went to get a massage in Kuta. He offered to make an appointment for me as well, but I felt too sick to go along. For $200,000 Indonesian Rupiah ($12 USD), Andi said he had one of the best 90-minute massages of his life. The therapist even offered to pick him up at our airbnb and bring him back home to the villa when the appointment was over.
I came downstairs to the kitchen late this morning to find tiny red ants crawling all over the clean dishes in the drying rack. Ugh! I know we’re in traveling in a tropical location, but I cannot handle the bugs. Tory has hit her limit with them, too. She left a glass of Dr. Pepper on her bedside stand last night and a few hours later, it was crawling with ants.
Andi text me on his way back from the massage appointment to ask if the kids and I wanted to meet him for lunch. “Would you meet me at the bottom of the hill so I don’t have to walk all the way up to you?” he asked.
Aden, Tory, and I put on our shoes and walked down the steep driveway to meet Andi at the street level. As we left, the Above the Coconuts staff arrived to clean our villa & pool. Hopefully they’d know what to do with all those ants.
Andi picked a restaurant called The Well for lunch. The open-air restaurant was located just down the street from our villa, so it wasn’t too long or hot of a walk to get there. This place seemed to be a newer, tourist-focused restaurant with lots of healthy foods for all dietary needs. The menu offered plenty of build-your-own plate options, as well as smoothies, salads, and rice bowls. We liked it because we could order exactly what we wanted!
Aden ordered a burger patty, broccoli, white rice, and a fried egg for his meal. He was going for a “beef & broccoli” vibe, he said. Tory only wanted watermelon and grilled chicken, so that’s what she got. Andi had a plate of steak, roasted veggies, rice, and a side of watermelon. I had homemade yogurt, fruit, and granola.
Watermelon seems to be in season here; we’ve seen lots of roadside stands selling dark green melons. Additionally, we’ve seen fruits stands selling bananas, dragon fruit, and papaya. “I was hoping for strawberries,” Tory commented. “I don’t think that’s really an option,” I told her. It seems that Indonesians eat what they can grow here.
In addition to the restaurant, The Well also had an indoor/outdoor kids play area called Coconut Grove, and a co-working space. There were lots of tourists here, and Indonesian women babysitting little ones. Andi though it was a great idea to have both a co-working space and a kids play area in one location.
After lunch, the four of us debated walking around town, or going back to our villa for the afternoon. The sun was beating down on us, so we decided to walk back to the comforts of air-conditioning. I still didn’t feel the greatest anyway.
The kids and I did school work during the afternoon hours. The stack of lessons I brought along for this trip is lessening, so it must mean our trip is coming to an end soon.
After school work was done, I took a nap. That’s something I never do, but I’m so tired from not sleeping the greatest the past few weeks. First, the rocking of the cruise ship caused us all to wake up several times a night, and now the calls to prayer broadcasting here in Lombok. I long for the quiet comforts of my own bed right about now!
Andi woke me up at 4:00pm and asked if I wanted to go to the gym today. I couldn’t; I just didn’t feel up to it. He said he was going to go alone then, but then decided to make it a rest day after all. Instead, I agreed to walk with him to town to find something to eat for dinner.
We went to a restaurant called NOHI Food & Pastry Shop, and placed an order from their dinner menu. “Would you like us to deliver the food to you when it’s ready?” the server behind the restaurant counter wanted to know. Sure! That’d be great; then, we didn’t have to wait around for the food to be prepared.
Not five minutes after Andi and I arrived back to our Above the Coconuts villa did the sky open up and begin pouring rain. “I’m sure glad we had the food delivered!” I said to Andi.
About 20 minutes later, a delivery driver on a scooter rang the doorbell. He was wearing a plastic rain poncho and had our food order in hand. “Thank you so much,” Andi told him.
For dinner, we had lemon chicken and roasted potatoes, a cheeseburger and fries, and a beef & rice dish. Andi also got the kids chocolate chip cookies and crepes for dessert.
The four of us ended our evening watching shows together on TV. Tomorrow, we’ll travel to another part of the island of Lombok. Looking forward to seeing somewhere new.
