Lombok INDONESIA Sailing and Touring SE ASIA

LOMBOK - INDONESIA

Gili Lawang Lombok

Sept 8

We left our protected little lagoon amidst another wave of canoes, children hoping to continue with the fun they had the day before.

We motored all day on glassy seas, finally joining Ventana, Ocelot and Estrella in an anchorage behind a reef off the NW corner of Gili Luwang island.

Gili Air Lombok

Sept 9

Another day of flat seas with little wind but we managed a spinnaker run for most of the morning, then remained under white sail all the way to Gili Air, some 42 miles from Gili Lawang.

Rounding the top of Lombok, we crossed the “Wallis Line” the imaginary line where the landscape amazingly transforms from dry, scrubby brush to lush and tropical.

September 10 - 14

We anchored in a somewhat crowded bay and went ashore to visit Gili Air, a popular backpackers hangout. Landing our dinghies on the beach, we passed unique fishing craft and followed a sandy road.

The road meandered past an array of eateries and small shops, the local people smiling and always saying "Hallo." the entire area was quaint with a unique charm and very, very clean.

Although several hawkers offered their wares, none were pushy and often just ended up visiting. This little girl made bracelets from shells.


We stopped at a little beachside bar for a belated birthday celebration drink with Aliesha. Ended up spending the entire day visiting with each other, and joking with the locals.			Clean, the dirt swept daily, the streets are bordered by lines of eateries, a few shops and some low key resorts. All the people were extremely friendly and everyone spoke excellent English.

Pony Cart Transports

With its seaside narrow dirt and cobblestone streets, the only traffic was colorfully decorated pony carts and the occasional bicycle. The frail little Lombok ponies faithfully trotted up and down the road an infinite times each day, always available to take anyone anywhere you needed to go.

Bartering for Pearls

I did some hard bargaining for black pearls, having to trade a large cooler and add a substantial sum of money!

Later, we enjoyed lunch.

Fav Hangout
Dinner at what became our Favorite eatery, Gili Simple where most cruisers seemed to gather.

Most restaurants were casual thatched roof open air platforms, where one sits cross-legged on big colorful cushions around a low table for food and drinks. The price for drinks and meals was cheap, however the beer got cheaper (and sometimes colder) the further along down the road you went.

Sept 12

We followed the cobblestone road and found the main village with homes, shops and a market. Throughout the area goats roamed randomly with the chickens. The houses were very basic but neat.

Around the Island

Annie and I hiked around the island, which didn't take much more than an hour. We passed lovely resorts, all deserted. A real indication of how dry the island is was the "Keep off the Grass" sign in the sand!

One evening we walked to the end of the island for drinks at a restaurant that is a great vantage point for sunsets. We stayed for dinner and decided to take a pony cart back to the boats. Gord thought it would be fun to drive and we were amazed when the young driver handed over the reins. Although Gord was doing a great job driving the cart, I think the horse had done the trip so many times that it probably didn't really even need any direction!

Drift Snorkel

Sept 13 - We organized a snorkel day and all took our dinghies to the strip of shoreline in front of the restaurants where the fish were reportedly plentiful. However, when we jumped in the water we were completely surrounded by small jellyfish which was totally unnerving. Eventually the strong current took us out of "jellyfish zone" and we were propelled through the water, dinghies in tow, travelling at about 3 knots. It was great fun to do the drift snorkel and we made several passes.

That evening, we returned to our old haunt Gili Simple for a feast of prawns.

Cooking Class

Sept 14 - We awoke to another glorious day on Gili Air, blue sunny skies, hot with a little breeze. Before heading over to the mainland, we took in an Indonesian cooking class. We could pick any 2 items from the menu at Gili Simple and learn how to cook it. We used all sorts of ingredients that I had never heard of before.

Afterward our husbands were allowed to join us for the spoils of our class. For lunch they dined on our curried fish in banana leaves, Olah Olah (a vegetable dish), chicken curry, rice, and squid. It was an amazing feast!

That afternoon we sailed to Lombok mainland where we were greeted by Mohamid who arranged to take us on a tour of the island. As we were anchored in front of a Muslim town, we again listened to the wailing from the mosques all night long.

Tour of Lombok Island

Sept 15 - Mohamid was waiting for us at the dock and we climbed into a comfy air-conditioned SUV to begin our island tour. From the anchorage at Telak Nare, the twisty road took us through bamboo woodland.

Pusak Monkey Forest

We pulled off the road and, as if on cue, monkeys appeared all around us, obviously expecting peanuts. Our guide supplied us with treats for the monkeys.

We hand fed the cute monkeys which were a little shy and quickly grabbed a peanut and ran off to quietly eat the delicacy in private. There were a few squabbles amongst the animals who thought they were not getting their share.

The obvious "king" of the tribe was an old monkey that ruled. He was never challenged and sat politely boldly but gently accepting the handouts.

One monkey got tired of waiting his turn and grabbed the whole bag of peanuts from Liam. He then retreated to a tree to enjoy the spoils of his crime.

The road continued along, seemingly everywhere in the state of construction, with piles of rocks and workers lining the highway making for a difficult obstacle course in places. They use finely crushed gravel pressed down hard to pave the roads but the amazing thing was how the gravel was produced. Along the road, sitting in the piles of rocks, were woman shattering the stones with mallets to produce the gravel!
	I can't imagine smashing rocks into tiny bits all day long in the hot sun!

Mataram

We stopped at the city of Mataram in search of an ATM. Mataram is a large city, charming with its pony carts, markets, colorful people and general activity. It was Friday, a religious day for Muslims so relatively quiet.

The common sight of motor bikes and pedestrians fill the narrow streets.

These Muslims answer the wailing loudspeakers as the Call to Prayer every 5 hours does not offer much time in between to work in the rice fields (right).


This mosque being built shows the interesting framework consisting entirely of bamboo struts	At Banwumulek, there was a huge pottery outlet with acres of ceramic items.	Women painstakingly labored over the ikat weavings on their hand looms at the Sukarara weaving village

As we headed inland, we climbed into more mountainous terrain, passing through agricultural land of Tobacco (below) and rice.

Rice Fields of Tete Batu

We had lunch at Tete Batu, overlooking extensive Rice fields terraced and looking like interlocking pieces of a puzzle. While we were waiting for our order to arrive our guide took me for a walk in the patties, many of which were first built by the Dutch.

After lunch we were taken to some shops that sold baskets but all seemed very pricey so there was no purchases made.


Our last stop was the Narmada King's Palace, laid out as a miniature replica of the summit of the huge volcano and its crater lake. The temple is still used. Narmada was constructed by the King although an aqueduct built by the Dutch remains and is still used for water supply.				Gord helps the Lions guard the Gates of the Temple.

After our full day of touring we were back at the boat at 6:30 pm

September 16-18

Muhammad arrived at Ascension very early with the hopes of selling us some Lombok Pearls. The pearls are very beautiful and somewhat unique to any others we have seen elsewhere. Gord spent the morning transporting diesel and I made papaya bread before we set sail back to Gili Air.

We relaxed a few days at Gili Air with Annie and Liam joining us for dinner on Ascension.

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