Barry and I had been excited to be once again so close to Bali, where we had visited for 10 days in the mid 1990's after being in Sulewesi for 10 days on business. We still think that Bali is the true paradise on earth, and we would love to go back, so this was as close as we would get on this cruise. Although there are some similarities between the two islands, there are also quite a few differences that struck us right away. This island is part of the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands. Lombok is separated from Bali by Lombok Strait. Indonesia is one of the most populous countries in the world, numbering 240 million (only China and India number more). Lombok numbers 3.5 million which is quite a lot considering it is fairly small. The Dutch first visited the island in the late 1600's but settled mostly the eastern half, leaving the western half to be ruled by the dynastic Hindus from Bali. Cultural and religious tensions simmered until a revolt which occurred between 1891 and 1894 leading to the annexation of the entire island to the Netherland East Indies. Mount Rinjani is the islands most dramatic geological landmark, rising 12,224 feet, making it the third highest in Indonesia. There are 6 religions now with Muslim being the dominant one, followed by Hindu and Christianity. Bali's dominant religion is Hindu, the animism version and the sacred is woven into their daily life like water. We saw many Muslim temples but only one Hindu shrine in one field.
Over 95 per cent of the Lombok population have their own home, but not everyone owns land which is vital for growing rice. Rice is the main crop, with two seasons and vegetables being planted in the third. Everyone has to have a second and third income, which is usually a craft of some sort. The first crop, they keep 20 % and sell 80% and the second they keep 60% and sell the rest. If you don't own land you can obtain your rice by helping others harvest theirs and you would receive 10% of what you harvest for yourself. The annual income is less than $1000/ household from rice. Tourism is vitally important, with some of the most beautiful beaches attracting surfers and snorkeling and divers. The surfing is some of the best in the world. It is advertised as the unspoiled Bali.
We tendered into this port and it was not an easy tender - another domino effect including 25 minutes each way, motor problems, heat, lost tempers, huge amounts of people disembarking - all combining to make us late leaving in the afternoon. A high percentage of our crew are from Indonesia - most of the dining staff and room stewards and many from Bali. Therefore there were a lot of crew getting off to meet family who had spent a day coming by ferry to see them, or else just to get off and to pick up the food items they love and miss after being onboard for many many months. The delay meant lots of them didn't get too much time with their family. Others were lucky enough to have made arrangements for their wives and children to come onboard the ship. Most passengers go out of their way to facilitate the crew making the most of the their time ashore and we were glad that our room steward Ben and his fiance, Sari, saw her brother if only for 30 minutes, and that he got a supply of his favourite food. Our dining room steward also got ashore and was smiling ear to ear about getting food and just getting off the ship. One of the Lido servers entire family, except for his parents, came to see him and he was really delighted.
Our tour involved 4 stops - seeing pottery and textiles being made, and visiting a traditional Sasek thatched village, then ending up on Kuta beach at the Novatel restaurant for lunch and a swim. We loved seeing the countryside from the bus, with the familiar rice paddies planted right up to the front door of homes, schools, and public buildings. We noticed immediately that Lombok was not clean like Bali - with open water ditches in Lembok, our port town, with sewage evident and children playing in the water, as well as garbage visible everywhere. Our memory may be fuzzy, but we remembered Balinese home areas as being swept clean daily and as being very very clean. This island is very poor, for sure, and we did notice that sprinkled here and there were signs of new larger homes, and new developments of little town homes. Our guide told us that things were improving gradually and that the old native homes were gradually being torn down and being replaced. This is a culture where people live very close to one another as they really do depend on one another for their agrarian life. We saw many people harvesting the rice crop by hand - threshing the rice sheafs by hand, unto sheets to dry for a few days before packaging it up. Our guide also told us that international investment is trickling in, and one example is Newmont, the largest gold mining company in the world who has been here for 15 years. Educational opportunities are improving, with most wanting their children to become doctors. The Indonesian government is trying to encourage people to decrease their family size to 2 children from the average of 5 or 6 today. If you work in the public sector you are not paid very highly, but your pension passes to your wife after your death, then to your eldest child till they turn 35, then to the next one. Only the first 2 children qualify. Our guide also told us that the poverty was driving hundreds of thousands of people to attempt to float their small boats to Australia hoping to claim political asylum. This problem was so bad that Australia is paying Indonesia to fix the problem.
At the pottery place we were off loaded into tiny carts drawn by ponies. This was particularly challenging for Barry whose six foot four frame could not bend into this cart so the jolting ride to the homes was very uncomfortable for him. Our little convoy was followed by hordes of young men on motorbikes who wanted to sell us their wares. Where ever you go there are hawkers selling you things so we had plenty of company. Of course we bartered and bought some things as most things are beautiful and relatively inexpensive, although as we progressed through the day, we realized we could have bought most of the items most cheaply from the hawkers on the beach at the hotel. Oh well. Barry bought a hand carved blow gun, a real weapon, and the guy who sold it to him ran over to others and yelled that his friend had just bought one so he should too! They have all the lines.
The hotel was beautiful and there was a lovely Indonesian buffet laid out for us, then we went down to the gorgeous beach just in time for the rain to hit. Sitting in the sand waiting for us were the most darling children ranging in age from about 5 to 12, who wanted to sell us bracelets, coconuts, table runners and batiks. We had spent all of our money and when they realized I was telling the truth they just sat down for awhile and talked to me - (Barry had run for cover and I stayed under the umbrella ). The children go to school from 7:30 till 12:30 then go out to the beach to sell what they or their mothers have made. They told me they had learned English on the beach, and they have excellent negotiation skills. When it poured rain hard they all gathered under a tree beside me. They peppered me with lots of questions too as they are quite curious. The older ones, and the women swarmed our buses as we were leaving, coming down in price hoping to make that last sale - waving at us as we sat in the bus. This is good training for India where I will have to practice not talking or making eye contact or else I will be overcome with young children wanting me to buy from them. I find this particularly difficult, as I know their lives are very hard.
The really disappointing thing for me was that our bus was travelling at such a high speed for the hour and a half ride back that I just couldn't take pictures of the sights I was seeing. The ones I missed included the threshing of rice, water buffalo being herded, gaggles of geese, homes, packed motorbikes carrying enormous loads, markets, women carrying things on their heads -- just a feast for the eyes that unfortunately I can only tell you about, but not show you.
