lombok

Just a 15 minute speed boat ride from Gili Trawangan is Lombok; I have no idea why it took us 6 months to actually make a proper visit of it. Sure, every month or so we’d go to the main city for supplies, but as our friend Fern said: “Every day I spend in Mataram takes a year off my life.”

The local boat services don’t move until they’re bulging to capacity with chickens, goats, cut wood, bicycles, empty gas cans, massive tarps full of used water bottles, and people with their screaming children. Helen and I got to the Gili T harbor at around 10am and we were numbers 1 and 2 in the queue so we knew we were in for a wait. At 1 o'clock we finally left. Upon arrival into Bangsal we rented a motorbike and moseyed passed all the black sand beaches along the north coast as we made our way up to Senaru. Stopping along the jouney we made new friends.

When we turned off the main road up to the mountains it started getting colder. Senaru is the starting point for the treks up Mt. Rinjani, the third highest peak in Indonesia. When we arrived in Gili T in October ’09 the mountain was closed due to volcanic activity. On clear nights you could see the orange lava glowing at the top of the summit. On this visit the mountain was closed due to the rainy season. A week prior to our arrival a few people had been killed by mudslides. Evidently, a few years ago before anything was regulated many “guides” would take Westerners trekking up Rinjani and they’d end up robbing them. When the government cracked down, who did they hire as legitimate guides? The ex-thieves ­– after all, who knows the mountain better than the bandits who used to ply their trade there, right?

We hiked to some beautiful waterfalls checking out one specatcular view after another over the rice paddies to the sea. Every time I glanced at Mt. Rinjani it looked different. On the way back from the waterfall we saw something rustling in the bushes. It jumped on the path and stood at full height and it was almost my size! A gigantic big black monkey! It was so big that we thought it may be a gibbon. I was certainly not prepared for this so by the time I fumbled my camera out and took a picture it was already embedded in the jungle, although you can get a glimpse of it in the 3rd row down, center picture. When we got back to town we asked someone what the heck it was and the man said: "a big black monkey." Upon asking several other people they responded the same. Evidently, they have become quite rare and the locals were excited that we saw one. After a nice super-strong Lombok coffee to get the juices flowing again, Helen and I puttered around the local villages that make their living planting and harvesting rice, bananas, and peanuts (who knew that the peanut shells themselves are grown underwater?- not us!). I think just getting lost on the paths through the local villages was my favorite part of the Senaru area.

The following morning we set out for Sugian. Someone had told us they knew someone who knew a Dutch guy who owned a guesthouse. Nope – no such person/place/thing existed. But thanks to the amazing hand of fortune, we met Watham who runs the local community center. He spends his days trying to organize 17 North East villages into a cooperative so they can try to capitalize on the tourist business that Lombok is beginning to generate. He set us up with a homestay in a lovely little village on the beach called Kokok Pedek. The family was beyond excited to have us and we had a perfect experience. Accommodation plus food for both of us ran a whopping Rp. 50,000 ($5.45) for the night. While sitting with us Wytham was the recipient of several frantic calls and texts. I asked if he had something to attend to and he explained that in Makassar, on Sulawesi, a student had been arrested for passing out flyers in support of  the Anti-Corruption Government Party and the poor guy was beaten senseless at the local police station. The aftermath, which got absolutely no new coverage in the West, started as peaceful student marches. But as the police started shooting at them, it turned into bloody student riots that spread all over Indonesia and lasted several months. It turns out that our kind and very gentle host was on the phone with Makassar and Jakarta organizing the protests that were taking place on Lombok… well done Watham!!!

We hired a local fisherman to take us snorkeling so we could check out the condition of the reefs around the islands of Gili Lawang and Gili Sulat on the North East corner of Lombok. Watham came along and explained that 2 brothers had bomb-fished the reef dry in one single month. Now all the locals have to go further into the Sambawa Channel braving heavy current and huge waves to find their food. We didn't take a camera for fear of getting it wet, but below are some pictures of it on land; when you look at the size of the boat we were on, you can understand my worries! On our way back, the captain accidently ran into a jetty. How he did that in broad daylight I have no idea, especially since all 4 passengers on the boat were yelling "Hati-Hati" which translates to "Careful! Careful!". On impact one of the outrigger arms cracked very loudly and broke in two. No problem-o, he and I just tied it back up and aimed for the tumultuous seas of the channel.

This is the face of the "!!*#X@$%" that seranaded from 2am and stopped at sunrise. I didn't like chickens in Thailand and I have not grown any more fond of them in Lombok. I named this one Colonel Saunders. Unfortunately, North Lombok is the only place in South East Asia that does not have a KFC so I'm afraid my humor was not well understood!