Oceanfront Chandi Resort & Spa in Senggigi, Lombok
Greetings to my readers from Lombok, Indonesia! I’m currently typing this blog post from a beautiful oceanfront resort called Living Asia in Senggigi on Lombok, the big island off the coast of Bali, Indonesia. I arrived in the western port by private boat after finishing a photography job for a dive center, signing up a few new hosts on Airbnb, and celebrating my birthday on the satellite island of Gili Trawangan. I’m flying back to Bali on January 16th, staying at a budget hostel in Denpasar only 1km from the airport, and then flying straight to Singapore before my visa expires on January 20th. I’m relieved to have arranged onward air travel just in time to prevent being charged an overstay fee of 1,000,000 Rupiahs, or roughly $73 per day.
I would like to tell you about my glorious 3-night stay at the oceanfront property of The Chandi Resort. I reached out to a long list of boutique hotels in Lombok asking to arrange free accommodation in exchange for influencer marketing and photography. To my delight, the hotel manager of this beautiful resort replied with a generous offer, and the rest, so they say, is history. According to their website, Chandi is located in a beautiful coconut grove on the west coast of Lombok Island and offers its guests an exceptional level of comfort and tranquility. Guests can choose from 15 luxurious villas with king-size bed, spacious bathroom with open garden shower (my favorite!), flat-screen TV, and air conditioning. The resort also includes MERU Beachfront Restaurant facing Bali’s majestic Mount Gunung Agung offering a full menu of dishes for every taste. The daily meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) was my favorite part of staying at Chandi. All of the three-course meals were cooked to perfection and super tasty. I made sure to give my compliments to Chef I Gede Sudana on my last supper before checking out the next day. The hotel staff and my point of contact Nazar were incredibly friendly. The cleaning crew made sure my room was clean as a whistle and smelling fresh every day at noon, like clockwork. My only minor complaint is relatively slow wifi. However, it is nice to get away on a retreat away from the distractions and problems associated with constantly being available online.
The highlight of my trip to Senggigi was being chauffeured around by a private driver by the name of Opan. He was very friendly, generous, and I enjoyed our conversations together. His house in a village on the coast was partially destroyed by the earthquake that shook Lombok almost 2 years ago. Now he’s working as a chauffeur to pay for repairs, sleeping in a tent in the backyard while his wife is pregnant with their child. I felt obligated to help him in a meaningful way, but unfortunately I’m still a bootstrapping entrepreneur doing my best to survive on limited funds. Money comes, money goes, but you will NEVER get your time back — that’s precisely why it’s so important to live for today! Life isn’t always sunshine and butterflies, but I believe persistence is the key to success. I felt very privileged but not guilty since this was classified as part of my job for the resort. We explored the island together for about 3 hours. Driving in the hills above the coast felt like something out of a dream, and I had the strange deja vu feeling of having been here before. We visited the Batu Bolong Hindu Temple, Pandanan Beach, Monkey Forest in the mountains above, and another ancient temple built in 1714 to bring the religions together in solidarity.
Yesterday I rented a scooter and rode along the coast for about 45 minutes to visit the Lombok Elephant Park near Pemenang. It’s not every day you get up and close and personal with the critically endangered Sumatran elephant. They are majestic creatures, gentle giants, and I’m honestly slightly terrified of them. Fortunately, I was able to overcome my irrational fear and capture exactly the shot I was hoping for. Check it out!
Lombok Elephant Park
I’m super grateful to have the opportunity to work with the manager of Chandi Resort & Spa while she’s away in Germany, and excited to experience the luxurious comforts of Living Asia Resort before continuing my adventures back to Bali and then directly to Singapore. This has been exactly the relaxing retreat from financial stressors I was hoping for! My only regret is not having someone special to share it with, but we’ll save the story of loneliness on the road for another time. Highly recommend booking your stay at Chandi Resort & Spa when you visit Senggigi in Lombok! I will now wrap up this post with a few photos during my complimentary 3-night accomodation. Thanks for reading!
