Living on a Narrowboat
Which is just the right distance. Took about 5-6 hours. Straight through. I had a late start in Wallingford due to trying to achieve some things on the computer.
After going down to Waitrose to get milk and finishing up the videos and stuff it was getting on for 11.
Instead of stopping for lunch, I decided to make a sandwich and just eat it when I was hungry. Save messing around.
I’m yet to start looking for gainful employment. Whilst the weather is fine and I still have some money left, I’ve decided to move the boat over a little.
The Oxford canal is being shut down in stages.
It’s very short of water.
Many of the places I’ve visited in the past in the summer are now not reachable from the South.
Here’s some links Southernmost to Northern.
Aynho Wharf Strech
Pig Place – Nell Bridge
Cropredy – Slat mill and Little Bourton locks
Cropredy – Varneys lock and Claydon Flight
All of them are closed to navigation. The water levels are too low. That gives you an indication of the scale of the problem on the canal. Roughly half of the Oxfordshire section I navigate is close or restricted.
For that, and other reasons, I’ve decided to move my operations over to the Grand Union Canal. Which, looking at the regular updates from the Canal and River Trust, is having relatively less problems.
Also, the mobile signal should be more consistent. In Oxfordshire, it’s seen a significant drop in speeds and reliability, and I suppose if I want it to be, the Grand Union is closer to the action.
To do this, my only option now is to passage along the Thames.
More or less straight across. It was around 110 miles when I measured it last.
Spent Friday night in Jericho which is basically central Oxford. Went out for one or two drinks then got going in the morning through ISIS lock.
A hiking trip for Mount Rinjani in Lombok
This guide is based on a trip I made I made this trip 24th – 27th June (2025).
Rinjani is a semi-active volcano on the Island of Lombok. At 3,729m it’s the highest peak, and towers over the rest of the island on days when it is visible.
There’s a 2 day or a 3 day trek option. With Rinjani 2 day trek option, you spend one night on a lower ridge see the crater lake and the active volcano, then begin your descent back to Senaru in the morning.
With the 3 day trek, you see the crater lake, active volcano, walk down to the lake and hot springs. On the second night, you will walk and camp on a higher altitude ridge at 2,800m. At 2/3am on day 3, your guide will take you and a thousand other visitors up to the summit of Rinjani ,3927m, for Rinjani summit sunrise which is quite spectacular, if you make it up! Believe me, not everyone does.
I can’t think of any reason why you would do the 2 day trek. The 3 day is much harder, but it’s so much more rewarding. 2 days is like eating half an ice-cream then having it whipped out of your mouth as you’re about to take a mouthful.
The prices I’m giving here and all the experience are from the 3 day trek from SENARU. I booked it in Bang Sal, Lombok with my homestay owner.
If you want to, you can book online.
I paid 2,678,000rp (including card fee). This was for the 3 day, 2 night trip going to the summit and crater lake from Senaru. I believe the opening price was above 3 million. Over the course of my travels, I bartered it down to this level. The company I booked with was called ‘Go Rinjani’. Go Rinjani is one of the main tour organisers for Rijani trips.
I didn’t book it directly with the tour company, I did it with one of my homestays. The owner gave me a better price than anyone else was offering.
The price in UK pounds was £127. That includes meals for the 3 days you will be hiking. Breakfast on day one to lunch on day three. You get a tour guide; he will speak English or other languages, (you must check), will talk to you about the hike and deal with any problems or questions. You get one night’s accommodation in a homestay in Senaru and two nights accommodation on the mountain. This is in two man tents. As I was a solo traveller, I got a tent to myself. You also get a sleeping bag. You may be able to hire essential kit, like boots or a jacket from your tour company. You should check with them if you require these items.
Continue reading “Rinjani 3-day trek from Sanaru”Kuta Beach runs a close second to Gili Trawangan as a party, nightlife and general place to be.
Gemini says – “Kuta has evolved from a sleepy fishing village into a burgeoning tourist hub. For centuries, it was a quiet enclave shaped by the indigenous Sasak people, largely off the radar. However, following Bali’s rise as a global hotspot, Kuta began its gradual emergence, now becoming the main focus of tourism development on the island.
Surfers, from beginners to pros, flock here for the consistent waves, with numerous surf schools and rental shops and a general ‘surf’ vibe around town. Also, the proximity to 4 different surf spots within half an hour drive on the scooter makes.
So far Kuta has managed to retain much of its original charm. Visitors can explore nearby traditional Sasak villages to glimpse into local culture, enjoy fresh seafood at beachside warungs, and unwind in a setting that feels reminiscent of Bali decades ago. This blend of natural allure, active pursuits, and cultural immersion is precisely what draws a growing number of travelers to Kuta Beach Lombok.“
I’ve editing it slightly, but that’s a basic and fairly accurate description of the main Kuta Beach area.
I went here one afternoon on the scooter after having visited the beach.
You don’t have to pay a specific entry fee, but they do ask for a ‘donation’. For that, depending on what time you arrive, you can get to watch a performance such as the one below, where the participants dress up in authentic gear and fight with authentic wooden swords!
After a few warm up fights, they got into it and really started whacking each other!
There was a winner and the crowd were encouraged to join in.
I managed to sit in on this display. Afterwards you can visit the many shops selling wares at different levels of authenticity.
I bought some coffee. It came from the hills beyond the village, (maybe). There was a lot more textiles and metal, pottery etc they were actually producing in situ.
Prices were variable depending on how hard you wanted to bargain and how much you wanted the item.
I also went to one of the beaches, the most popular one in the Kuta region, it’s called Tajuun Aan beach. It was really clean. The sea was warm. There were plenty of places to grab a drink or some food and relax on a sunlounger or beanbag. If you didn’t want to pay, you could just put your beach towel down on the beach, and there were plenty of people just doing that.
Tajuun Aan also has fairly good surf and there were many learners out in the waves practising their moves.
Continue reading “Kuta Beach – Lombok”My travel blog looking around Senggigi in the North of Lombok and the Eastern Gilli’s.
Spent from 17th June until the 9th July here and on the gilis. So, a good chunk of the holiday wandering around, climbing mountains, getting drunk and chilling on the beach. That’s in addition to other activities. There’s certainly no storage of things to occupy your time here on Lombok and the gili’s.
By the gili’s, I mean Gili Trawanga, Gili Air and Gili Meno. I visited all these islands, although only Gili Meno briefly when I swam over from Gili Air. Had a glass of water then swam back. In the dark, that turned out to be not such a good idea.
Lombok island had different stop overs for me and I’ll look at these in the order that I visited them.
After I got off the ferry from Bali, Sengigi was the 1st choice to stop. The port, Bang Sal, looked very functional and didn’t have much appeal when I read about it. Even less when I actually visited.
In the past, Sengigi was the number one resort on Lombok. That must have been some time ago, because now it is empty and boring a lot of the time, at least when I visited. There didn’t seem to be very much in way of visitors. It still has all the hotels, bars and restaurants, which gives it a Morecambe-esque feel to it.
Most of the foreign types were expats, mainly from Aus, who now lived in the locality. One approached me at the convenience store, he didn’t seem very lucid. Looked at me in a confused way and asked a lot of questions. I visited Sengigi again on a separate visit to extend my visa, I got talking to another Aussie. He was a bit more compos mentis, able to understand jokes and such like. He’d run a business locally which had got shut down by COVID. We chatted about various stuff. He gave me the low-down on where to go for a drink in the locality and some other local gen.
The best place I found was called Le Chill Bar. They had nice bean bags, good food and decent music, a chill vibe and the staff were friendly.
Whilst I was eating dinner there on my first night, this turtle came up the beach and started laying it’s eggs on the beach around 10yards from my table!
Continue reading “Senggigi and Eastern Gilli’s – Lombok”
