Sorry we haven't updated in a few days, but we have been taking a vacation from our vacation!

A week ago, we flew from Bali to Lombok, a smaller island to the east in the chain of islands that make up Indonesia. Known as being "an unspoiled Bali", we found Lombok's slow pace, natural landscapes and traditional way of life to be enchanting.

Our first Lombok sunset from a lookout point near Sengiggi Beach.

This guy was up every morning on his board.

Our intentions were to fit in a little beach/snorkeling time, but mainly to hike Mt. Rinjani, an active volcano with a peak over 12,000 feet, perfect preparation for our upcoming Mt. Kilimanjaro trek in a few weeks.

We arrived at our hotel Qunci Villas on the west coast of Lombok, which totally blew us away with its nonstop ocean views from our room, its 3 restaurants, and 3 beautiful infinity pools at the edge of the beach. Qunci is one of two hotels on Mangsit Beach, and the location felt remote and incredibly authentic. It was stunning (and surprisingly affordable), and we were very relieved that they also offered a post-Rinjani spa treatment with a shoulder massage, foot massage and body scrub! This would be perfect upon our return from the hike.

After a few lazy pool days, we reconfirmed the hike and packed for the next two days of slogging through volcanic scree and camping at the crater rim with a view of the turquoise crater lake below. Unfortunately when we woke up at 4am for our pickup, Stephen was feeling really sick. Bummer! We talked it over and decided that his health was more important, so we made the call to skip the hike.

Instead, we extended our stay and moved to a private villa with a huge pool (we thought it would make his recuperation easier!). We enjoyed more beautiful sunsets, dinners beside the ocean, and fresh sugarcane juice concoctions created by the hotel bar.

Our private pool villa.  It was amazing. — Our private pool villa. It was amazing.

We knew we couldn't leave Lombok without a little adventure, so on our final day we rented a catamaran and entrusted our lives to our guide Eddie, or Emphysema Eddie as we liked to call him (nasty cough). He jetted us over to the Gili Islands, 3 small islands between Bali and Lombok, popular with backpackers and known for their party scene and excellent snorkeling. We spent the day drinking in the ocean air, snorkeling through colorful coral reefs, and checking out the different vibes on each island. It was a fun time and the perfect way to end our time in Indonesia.

View of Gili Trawangan from the catamaran, the most developed and most rowdy of the three gills.

Another catamaran, with Lombok in the background.

Traffic jam on Gili T.  Most people get around by horse cart or bicycle. — Traffic jam on Gili T. Most people get around by horse cart or bicycle.

Rock formations on the ride back to Lombok.

Our catamaran being carried back to shore.

While we didn't plan to be beach bums all week, it was nice to take a break from sightseeing and in essence, take a vacation from our vacation.

-Michelle