Before leaving the island Sumbawa by public ferry we made a last snorkelling just in front of our bungalow. Corals were not that nice as the day before nor the fishes (seen however 2 impressive lion fishes = koraalduivels in Dutch), but it was a pleasant way to say goodbye to Sumbawa.
Departure at 10 am for a 2 hrs drive to Tano to catch the 1 pm ferry to Labuhan at Lombok. Seeing the poor condition of the ferry, one understands easier that ferries happen to sink once a while in Indonesia. And it is completely accepted that you throw your rubbish right in the sea .....
We arrived around 2.30 pm at Lombok and continued for our final destination of today: Tetebatu, an attractive rural retreat nestling in the lower slopes of Gunung (= volcano) Rinjani (3726 mtr), the highest mountain of Lombok and the 2nd highest of Indonesia.
Lombok is the most popular destination of the Indonesian eastern islands. There are lush evergreen landscapes and parts which are chronically dry. The indigenous Sasak (around 90 % of the population) are Muslims but have a culture and language unique to Lombok. By the way, there are over 300 languages in Indonesia. In 2000 serious riots engulfed Mataram, the administrative capital of Lombok. The agitators came from outside Lombok. Ultimately all Lombok suffered, and tourism has yet to recover, the situation compounded by the Bali (at Kuta) bombs of 2002 and 2005. Today Lombok's tourism potential remains strong, but with many Sadaks adopting a stricter practice of Islam, the cultural gulf between conservative Islamic and liberal Western values is acute. What does such mean in the daily life?
At arrival at about 4 pm in our chalet-style cottages at Tetebatu we made a short walk in the near environment. Very pleasant with all the friendly people around (in Indonesia, people are outside, especially children). A man said Hello to us with some Dutch phrases, so we decided to have a chat with him. He explained that he used to be a local guide for Dutch tour operators, earning good money, but that since the bombings he is cleaning offices.... Sad to see how his capacities are under used because of some senseless terroristic activities.
Writing this weblog, I am sitting at the veranda of our stay, with a torch in my mouth because as usual the lightning conditions are terrible. I am surrounded by the singing of the 3 mosques, there are 1000 of them on Lombok. We crossed Mataram where one can find a mosque every 500 mtr. Such is hard to understand if one sees the poor conditions the people are living in....
Lilian is still our distant editor for this blog (thanks!), so please be aware that we have no access to your possible comments or our personal emails.
About the dinner tonight: warm sateh with thick abundant peanut sauce! Chaotic typical Indonesian (Asìan?) service. We were quite lucky with our cottage, because other group members had quite some justified complaints.....
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