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Indonesia

Bali and Lombok

This was the first toilet that we encountered in a "hotel"in Bali, and it was nearly our last. You can imagine what Monica's reaction to this little gem was. It was actually clean, but that hasn't prevented the past 20 years of use and mineral deposits from ruining its appeal.

For a number of reasons, the heat and humidity of Bali being #1 & #2 of the list, we hopped a ferry to Lombok. This island sits due east of Bali, and the residents are mainly muslim. It is popular with backpackers, but sees very few regular tourists. As we discovered, this is a shame. Or not, according to the backpackers who do go there.

"Welcome to Lombok Island" From there we took a small boat out to a group of off-shore islands called the Gilis. We stayed on Gili Air. Lombok, and the Gilis, are much more arid than Bali, which takes the brunt of the rain headed north-east around Australia. Less rain, lower humidity, happier Monica! I knew that I was getting weird when I started to feel cold when the night-time temperatures dipped below 83 degrees. Guess I'm getting used to the tropics.

This is how you get there, in a dugout canoe. Paddled by 4 10 year-old children, it takes about 6 hours to make the 41 mile crossing between Bali and Lombok. No wait, in a "modern" Indonesian ferry that cruises at about 6 miles an hour (which made you think that it was being propelled by 10 year-olds) it took 6 hours.

Canoe is hand-carved and will be used by the villagers on Gili Air to go fishing. It is about 9 feet long.

Our bungalow was set back from ths beach about 30 feet, and this was the view every morning. In the distance is the remains of a very large volcano on Lombok.

A view of our beach from just off-shore. This was taken from my dive boat on the way out to my first in-the-ocean dive.

The Indonesian Navy on patrol. About a week after we arrived, the local kids showed up on the beach with this huge chunk of foam. They all stripped naked, except for the admiral, as you can see, grabbed a couple of plam fronds for oars, and commenced local area operations. The crew would occassionally mutiny, and chaos would reign as bodies were thrown into the water. Eventually a new captain would be appointed, paddlers would change places with the kickers in the rear, and the patrol would start again.

Young childern worked right alongside their parents in keeping the island running. There were only about 150 tourists on the island, and maybe 150 locals, including babies and children. This little guy wanted his picture taken. He'll be getting a copy soon.

Dinner, Gili Air style. Grilled snapper smothered in roasted garlic, onions and peppers. As always, Coke and steamed rice. And all for about US$2.50 a person.

The bungalow's owner's brother would return home from fishing almost every night with tuna. Fresher than this, you can't get.

This bungalow was our home for 20 nights and 21 days. Complete with hammock and 3 foot long monitor lizzard in the yard. It was warm ad sunny almost every day, with a nice breeze to cool us. US$7/night.

On the day we went to leave, we took the only form of transportation on the island to the shuttle boat beach, the horsey cart! These things are driven by 1/2 stoned, the other 1/2 drunk madmen who race around the paths (not roads) with no lights at all, all night and day long. We nearly rolled one of these things on our first day.

Back on Bali

Rice fields in Ubud.

Hindu carving of an elephant fountain.

Typical street traffic in Kuta beach, near the resorts and the airport. This area had some charm, but not much. The countryside has a real appeal when the weather cooperates.

The owner of our hotel in Kuta (left), his amigo the van driver (right), and their friend Monica. W e gave them a whole handful of Indonesian currency that we had left over, and they smiled and said that they would use it to get drunk! I think it was about US$4. If they drank Arak (local rice wine), I wouldn't want their headache the next day.