Today we braved the chaos that is Indonesia's traffic. We aren't even sure where we went, but we rode for about 3 hours on mopeds. Pretty sure we went through Lombok's capital, Mataram, twice. Once we came upon a Hindu procession along the (probably only) one-way, double lane street. It meant a mass of scooters and cars and trucks trying to get around a whole bunch of Hindus (collective noun). We did pretty well, not hitting anything or anyone, and not having our feet run over. We made our way out of town (still not sure where) and on to a country backroad, full of potholes and gravel piles (it's ok Dad, they were hire bikes), but through lovely villages, rice padis and creeks. A white person on a moped must be a rarity, as all the school children waved and giggled when we said hello. We weren't sure where the road was leading, or even where it started, so we turned around eventually.
It was good to get out of the touristy areas and see how and where Lombokus live, but it still has little appeal to me. Constant pollution from burning plastic, horse shit everywhere from the horse and carts, and fumes from dodgy mopeds (ours included) don't do it for me. Give me the crisp Invergowrie air anyday.
Sengiggi, though, is beautiful. The main drag is along a sheltered bay facing west, so lovely sunsets. Although like most beaches we've been to, hotels and resorts seem to occupy the space between the main street and its shops, and the sand. This emphasises the tourist nature of the town. Where are the locals meant to hang out with their families? And how do we get from our hotel, on the other side of the street, to the sand, without going through a bar and having to stop for an icy cold Bintang?
We arrived in Sengiggi yesterday, after a six hour ferry ride from Ubud (130,000Rp). Our shuttle bus from the port in Lembar to Sengiggi deposited us at a tourist information centre, and despite being adamant about not saying yes to the first thing we were offered, we were presented with a deal we thought was good - 3 nights accommodation, 2 days moped hire, and the overnight trek up Mount Rinjani for 1.75-million Rp each (about $220).
The hotel - Puri Sengiggi - is nice, but no shower curtain!
Buy of the day - Phill's sarong for 50,000Rp, from our friend Jef at the art market. Jef had his name on his thongs, and took a photo of us shopping to put in an ad.
And a blackout at dinner meant free fruit!
Advice for the day - wear sunscreen on your hands while on a moped...
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