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Lombok - The Other Side of Bali November, 2007 |
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Arriving at the dock with one
of the local guides from our guesthouse, he took us inside to purchase
our tickets. A smooth talking ticket agent took our money and arranged
taxi transport to our hotel once we arrived on the island of Lombok.
Even though we had paid four dollars each for the tickets, he valued
them as first class tickets, since he then proceeded to walk us to the
front of the line, where we waited for the ferry to arrive. Then he kept
commenting how nice my shirt was and offered free taxi transport if I
gave it to him. Still attached to the shirt, I declined his generous
offer, although in hindsight I probably should have taken the swap. Heeding his advice, we immediately scrambled to the top deck, where we secured a lovely set of bench seats directly outside the pilothouse. Lovely because they had overhead shade and it did get very hot. Soon other Westerners started dribbling their way to our little cove, and we had an international grouping of intrepid travelers for the voyage over. A great couple from Myorca, Spain, another from the United Kingdom, still another from France. I was glad the weather was pleasant, since you read stories all the time about overloaded ferries capsizing off some unknown Indonesian Island. Arriving in Lombok, the captain landed the huge rusty hulk on this impossibly small concrete pier, which overflowed with touts eager to transport you to your destination, or to a relative’s guesthouse. Fortunately, and surprisingly, our local transport was at the dock with our name, and we road away under rainy skies to the northern coastal town of Sengiggi, probably the nicest town on the Lombok, certainly the most developed.
Lombok is a lush island with fields of bananas, cabbage, corn, and of course rice. There are few developed villages, and only a couple of hotels. Unlike the Hindu influence of Bali, Lombok is a Muslim country with a call to prayer occurring six times during the day. From the roofs of the mosques, large speakers amplify readings from the Koran, respectfully intoned by the local priest. The earliest call to prayer seems to come around 5:00 AM, and in its own way is a kind of soothing wake up call. The other big difference between Bali and Lombok is the scarcity of roaming dogs. In Bali, they were everywhere, but in Lombok, the Muslims look upon dogs as being dirty, so you hardly see any of them. Well-developed Sengiggi has a few upper scale resorts, many gift stores, a good variety of restaurants, and an unusual amount of discos. I guess word has not reached Lombok that this fad died out in the seventies. Our hotel was minutes from downtown via a quick walk along the beach. Here we frequented an outdoor food vendor, who barbequed local fish and squid, served over a community of picnic tables shared with the locals. The Sheraton on Lombok supports
a turtle sanctuary where they harvest eggs, incubate and hatch the baby
turtles, then release them into the ocean. There are two kinds of turtles that are native to this island - greenback and the less common leatherback. Ninety percent of the turtles born are female, which is necessary to produce an overabundance of eggs when they come ashore to lay their eggs in the sand. At one time, turtles and their eggs were eaten or sold, which greatly contributed to their decline and eventual classification as endangered. Now, they have revered this decline, thanks to sanctuary programs, and monetary rewards. Tomorrow we leave for one of the Gili islands off the Northern coast of Lombok, a location known for its snorkeling and party atmosphere. We intend to move further eastward if we can arrange transport on a boat to visit the Komodo dragons on one of the outlying islands. At least, that is what we hope to do in the next few weeks before our two-month visas expire and we have to leave Indonesia.
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The
five-hour public ferry from Bali to Lombok has a bad reputation, but we
lucked out and it was an easy and enjoyable ride over. You can pay more
and board the high-speed catamaran for fifty bucks each, arrive in about
two hours, and neighbor with other tourists. However, there is something
about the atmosphere of public transportation, the grittiness, the
frugality, the slow crawl across the channel.
For
the next week, we stayed at the Sheraton at Sengiggi. An upscale resort
favored by middle-aged German tourists, it is located on a beautiful
stretch of sand. Our room at the Sheraton was probably the largest we
had on our entire trip, with a huge deck fronting the beautiful grounds
and ocean. The ocean itself was not clear or attractive to swim in, so
we ended up spending time around the lovely array of pools and relaxed
before our next segment of the journey.
Recently,
a local fisherman had caught two large greenback turtles in a fishing
net and brought them here for a monetary reward. Late one afternoon,
they had a release party, when they set these two turtles on the sandy
beach and they began a slow crawl to the ocean. Once they were
completely submerged, I expected them to swim clumsily away. Instead we
were shocked when – ZOOM – they rocketed into the deeper as if shot out
of a rocket. I will never forget our shock and amazement at the speed at
which they paddled away.
