Another snorkelling day around the Gili Islands from 8 am to 3 pm. Unfortunately the coral is damaged because of the 2004 tsunami and dynamite fishing. The latter is forbidden nowadays, though we heard a suspicious noise during our short snorkelling adventure on Moyo island.
Enjoyable anyway with a great sateh (for Ingrid, Arjan is more in the curries).
No accidents with our Rambo, though he is really stubborn and afraid for nothing. Our tour guide told us that locals treat stingray attacks - can be fatal - with only vinegar. Difficult to believe, but seeing our local snorkelling guide grasping the sand - under which the stingrays are hiding - of the sea bottom with his hands, maybe it works. The locals would recognize hiding stingrays....
We have seen a huge sea turtle, impressive. Unfortunately they are endangered. There is a turtle sanctuary just next to our accommodation, fully privately run by donations; the Indonesian government promised funds, but so far nothing. They are pounding their eggs on the Gili Islands, but not being the season, we will not see that.
Another - last? - snorkelling in front of the hotel after having finally bought the Ikat cloth for Trijnie for her patchwork activities and for our culinary wellbeing ;-))))).
Again dinner tonight at our private open air lounge cabin this time with another couple from the group, very relaxing.
Tomorrow we will leave these islands to reach the last destination of our voyage: the touristic and well known Ubud at the island of Bali. Back by local boat from Gili Meno at Bangsal at Lombok, then by our bus to Lombok's main airport at Mataram to take the plane back to Denpasar at Bali, where our voyage started.
A & I - 06-05-09 - beautiful sunny day, not that damping hot
Wednesday, 6 May 2009
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
05-05-09
Departure at 8 am from Tetebatu for a transfer day with some stops to start with Taman Narmada, a park around a scaled-down version of the summit of the Gunung (= volcano) Rinjani and its crater lake Segara Anak (one needs some imagination). Good to see that Indonesians at this part of the country are able (or rather: willing) to maintain a nice park with lots of blooming flowers. Very pleasant to walk around in the shadowed lanes, because it is another VERY hot day.
Then a visit to (Pura) Lingsar, a large temple compound, the holiest in Lombok, with its holy eels. It combines the Bali Hindu and Wektu (or Welu) Telu religions in one complex. Wektu Telu is an indigenous religion unique to Lombok, though it bears many similarities to Agami Jawi, the Javanese Islamic syncretism. Finally some culture after all our snorkelling adventures and beautiful scenery. For culture one needs to go more to the western parts of Indonesia. We made as well some short stops at a local forge (incredible working conditions going back to like it should have been with us before World War II) and a pearls shop.
Our guide invited us to have lunch at Mataram with his family: wife, 3 children and parents. Though we still doubt about his intentions (we actually think that the way he is acting, is a typical way for - poor - Asians to survive), it has to be said that this was very kind of him and an unique way to see how people are living in the kampong (= typical Indonesian village). Saving money to start his own travel agency and thus not investing it in housing, he has a very simple house with little luxury, but his family and some neighbours managed to serve us a very tasteful lunch incl. sateh with delicious peanut sauce!
Off for our last stretch by bus to the little port Bangsal to take a local simple (gosh, all the dangers we have to battle :-))) boat to Gili Meno, where we landed right in front of our accommodation. We are lucky with our bungalow, everything worked pretty well. A couple from our group had to let do some plumbery in the bathroom.....We both jumped right away in the sea; it is so hot..... and did some snorkelling, preparation for we hope a great snorkelling day tomorrow.
There is Internet down here, but I keep on using my distant editor Lilian, because it is too hot inside that place. I did not have access tonight to my personal email, but we have access again to your possible comments. I still have a serious cold with sinusitis and our tourleader recommended me a 'voodoo' trick consisting of tiger balm to be applied on my back and then move in a certain coin; a sort of Indonesian hidden power (in Dutch: 'Stille Kracht')?
Right now we are sitting in a private open air cabin on the beach, listening to the waves (Arjan is half asleep) and some music and singing not far from us, enjoying the sea breeze and our dinner (some excellent curries, hot in temperature and in taste!). It looks like we are on holidays!! First time I actually enjoy these beach places: such is because of the excellent snorkelling in remote quiet areas. Down here at Gili Meno there are some tourists, but happily we are not on the neighbour party island Gili Trawangan. Also nice of the Gilis: no cars and no motorcycles.
Then a visit to (Pura) Lingsar, a large temple compound, the holiest in Lombok, with its holy eels. It combines the Bali Hindu and Wektu (or Welu) Telu religions in one complex. Wektu Telu is an indigenous religion unique to Lombok, though it bears many similarities to Agami Jawi, the Javanese Islamic syncretism. Finally some culture after all our snorkelling adventures and beautiful scenery. For culture one needs to go more to the western parts of Indonesia. We made as well some short stops at a local forge (incredible working conditions going back to like it should have been with us before World War II) and a pearls shop.
Our guide invited us to have lunch at Mataram with his family: wife, 3 children and parents. Though we still doubt about his intentions (we actually think that the way he is acting, is a typical way for - poor - Asians to survive), it has to be said that this was very kind of him and an unique way to see how people are living in the kampong (= typical Indonesian village). Saving money to start his own travel agency and thus not investing it in housing, he has a very simple house with little luxury, but his family and some neighbours managed to serve us a very tasteful lunch incl. sateh with delicious peanut sauce!
Off for our last stretch by bus to the little port Bangsal to take a local simple (gosh, all the dangers we have to battle :-))) boat to Gili Meno, where we landed right in front of our accommodation. We are lucky with our bungalow, everything worked pretty well. A couple from our group had to let do some plumbery in the bathroom.....We both jumped right away in the sea; it is so hot..... and did some snorkelling, preparation for we hope a great snorkelling day tomorrow.
There is Internet down here, but I keep on using my distant editor Lilian, because it is too hot inside that place. I did not have access tonight to my personal email, but we have access again to your possible comments. I still have a serious cold with sinusitis and our tourleader recommended me a 'voodoo' trick consisting of tiger balm to be applied on my back and then move in a certain coin; a sort of Indonesian hidden power (in Dutch: 'Stille Kracht')?
Right now we are sitting in a private open air cabin on the beach, listening to the waves (Arjan is half asleep) and some music and singing not far from us, enjoying the sea breeze and our dinner (some excellent curries, hot in temperature and in taste!). It looks like we are on holidays!! First time I actually enjoy these beach places: such is because of the excellent snorkelling in remote quiet areas. Down here at Gili Meno there are some tourists, but happily we are not on the neighbour party island Gili Trawangan. Also nice of the Gilis: no cars and no motorcycles.
Monday, 4 May 2009
04-05-09
Another early wake up to start before it's getting too hot. A beautiful 2 hrs walk through the numberless rice paddies and tobacco fields around Tetebatu. Pretty scaring, because you have to keep your balance to avoid falling either into the water or in the valley; the rice paddies being laid out in terraces on different levels in order to facilitate the transport of water needed for the rice production. Happily our own and local guide were very helpful, so we all survived with dry feet.
Our first cloudy day with our first rain, but fortunately nothing serious. The clouds protected us against the sun in the open fields, so not too bad that it was cloudy. We continued our walk to a waterfall in the Gunung Rinjani National Park. On our about 2 hours hike we saw some black monkeys jumping through the trees, fascinating.
Then we made a short ride with some horse cars through a village, being welcomed by lots of villagers. Interesting to see the enthusiasm of Muslim women ready to be taken their picture, usually no problem at all in these parts of Indonesia.
Off to the weavers' village at Pringgasela (sorry Trijnie, still nothing bought), an excellent lunch and the pottery village at Masbagik Timur, where we bought some souvenirs. Last part of the excursion consisted of some traditional dances Sanggar "Bao Daya" Lenek, something we usually dislike, but this was quite nice: all the villagers - in these remote parts of Indonesia there are a lot of children .... - of the neighbourhood were waiting for our arrival as well as the musicians. The latter accompanied us from our bus to the simple outdoor stage, where lots of other villagers were waiting for us. We tourists were as much part of the show as the dances ... Well, let's call it social wellfare.
Dinner again at the hotel under typical Indonesian conditions; this time we returned the soup because it was not warm enough.....
Tomorrow we leave this island Lombok for a full transfer day to our next destination: Gili Meno, 1 of the 3 Gili Islands, just off the north-western coast of Lombok, described as a vision of tropical paradise - a trio of tiny coral-fringed islands, each with white sandy beaches and pellucid water teeming with a kaleidoscope array of reef fish. Some new snorkelling adventures are waiting for us!
Our first cloudy day with our first rain, but fortunately nothing serious. The clouds protected us against the sun in the open fields, so not too bad that it was cloudy. We continued our walk to a waterfall in the Gunung Rinjani National Park. On our about 2 hours hike we saw some black monkeys jumping through the trees, fascinating.
Then we made a short ride with some horse cars through a village, being welcomed by lots of villagers. Interesting to see the enthusiasm of Muslim women ready to be taken their picture, usually no problem at all in these parts of Indonesia.
Off to the weavers' village at Pringgasela (sorry Trijnie, still nothing bought), an excellent lunch and the pottery village at Masbagik Timur, where we bought some souvenirs. Last part of the excursion consisted of some traditional dances Sanggar "Bao Daya" Lenek, something we usually dislike, but this was quite nice: all the villagers - in these remote parts of Indonesia there are a lot of children .... - of the neighbourhood were waiting for our arrival as well as the musicians. The latter accompanied us from our bus to the simple outdoor stage, where lots of other villagers were waiting for us. We tourists were as much part of the show as the dances ... Well, let's call it social wellfare.
Dinner again at the hotel under typical Indonesian conditions; this time we returned the soup because it was not warm enough.....
Tomorrow we leave this island Lombok for a full transfer day to our next destination: Gili Meno, 1 of the 3 Gili Islands, just off the north-western coast of Lombok, described as a vision of tropical paradise - a trio of tiny coral-fringed islands, each with white sandy beaches and pellucid water teeming with a kaleidoscope array of reef fish. Some new snorkelling adventures are waiting for us!
Sunday, 3 May 2009
03-05-09
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.....
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.....
02-05-09
Departure at 6.30 am by boat just in front of our hotel for a snorkelling trip to Pulau Moyo, an island off the coast just north of Sumbawa Besar, a nature reserve, with coral reefs teeming with fish. 4 of us were guided by a guide to an incredible beautiful part, magnificent. The water was 30 C, very pleasant. We had a view of at least 30 mtr down there. All kind of beautiful coloured fishes and coral.
Returning to the beach for a rest, it took us a while before we understood that something went wrong with a group member (the one of the tooth paste tube....), stung by most probably a stingray in his knee (on which he sat in the sand among the coral to take pictures, quite stupid thing to do because of the in the sand hidden nasty stingrays, stone fishes and scorpion fishes). He was in terrible pain, and being a kind of Rambo, we understood we had to get him back as soon as possible (1,5 hour by boat) to bring him to the hospital. The venomous spines of stingrays can be fatal! A couple in our group is cardiologists and together with the Lonely Planet they did the right thing: suck out the venom, bind off his leg avoiding the venom to move higher and bathe the wound in hot water. He didn't faint but suffered a lot. Anyway, he is doing fine again after a treatment in a nearby not so hygienic hospital and after having paid a bill of only Eur 30 incl. ambulance he returned to the hotel after a couple of hours.
We continued some hours later another excursion to a nearby traditional village with amongst others Ikat weaving (no time to buy anything, Trijnie...). Some water puts were installed by the Dutch welfare foundation Het Schone Streven. Also a common bath house transformed in a cattle food storage; visibly an example of wrong spent donations...
We visited as well the market of Sumbawa Besar, the (former) Sultan's Palace (Balai Kuning), all together not that interesting.
We returned approx. 5 pm, time for a swim in the swimming pool before dinner. For the first time I complained about the food: the rice and sateh were cold, once again. Finally they reduced something of the bill for compensation.
Returning to the beach for a rest, it took us a while before we understood that something went wrong with a group member (the one of the tooth paste tube....), stung by most probably a stingray in his knee (on which he sat in the sand among the coral to take pictures, quite stupid thing to do because of the in the sand hidden nasty stingrays, stone fishes and scorpion fishes). He was in terrible pain, and being a kind of Rambo, we understood we had to get him back as soon as possible (1,5 hour by boat) to bring him to the hospital. The venomous spines of stingrays can be fatal! A couple in our group is cardiologists and together with the Lonely Planet they did the right thing: suck out the venom, bind off his leg avoiding the venom to move higher and bathe the wound in hot water. He didn't faint but suffered a lot. Anyway, he is doing fine again after a treatment in a nearby not so hygienic hospital and after having paid a bill of only Eur 30 incl. ambulance he returned to the hotel after a couple of hours.
We continued some hours later another excursion to a nearby traditional village with amongst others Ikat weaving (no time to buy anything, Trijnie...). Some water puts were installed by the Dutch welfare foundation Het Schone Streven. Also a common bath house transformed in a cattle food storage; visibly an example of wrong spent donations...
We visited as well the market of Sumbawa Besar, the (former) Sultan's Palace (Balai Kuning), all together not that interesting.
We returned approx. 5 pm, time for a swim in the swimming pool before dinner. For the first time I complained about the food: the rice and sateh were cold, once again. Finally they reduced something of the bill for compensation.
01-05-09
Transfer day of 235 km by bus on the island Sumbawa from Bima to Sumbawa Besar, the principal town of the western half of the island. Road conditions are bad. Sumbawa is as beautiful as Flores, but turns out dusty brown at the end of the dry season which is fortunately some months after our stay. Right now still abundant vegetation, beaches (often polluted), rice paddies (harvest is going on).
We made several stops at salt pans, shrimp farmers and rice harvesters. The contractual workers harvesting the rice are camping during the harvest with their wife and children (not sure if such applies to all of them) in improvised very simple camps along the fields with no sanitary facilities at all.
We had to hurry the first part of the trip to make sure that we passed by a certain village in time as they close the passage because of Friday = Islamic holiday. We made a stop at a village just during the (1 of the 5 daily) praying attended by exclusively men in one of the numberless mosques. Particular that it was very quiet on the streets and hearing the voice of the imam citing verses. Hanging around a while we saw the men (and children) getting out at the end of the service and most of them were willing to have a (small because of the language) talk and their picture being taken.
Lunch at the beach.
Arrival late afternoon in an enjoyable place on a quiet, sandy cove where we stay for 2 nights in timber individual bungalows with a view on the beach. Being too far from the centre of Sumbawa Besar, we had to stay at this place for quite a nice dinner. I am still not too adventurous with the often cold or half warm (that is the way Indonesians serve food) food, protecting my stomach. Unfortunately I caught a cold, as usual because of the AC buses and rooms.
We made several stops at salt pans, shrimp farmers and rice harvesters. The contractual workers harvesting the rice are camping during the harvest with their wife and children (not sure if such applies to all of them) in improvised very simple camps along the fields with no sanitary facilities at all.
We had to hurry the first part of the trip to make sure that we passed by a certain village in time as they close the passage because of Friday = Islamic holiday. We made a stop at a village just during the (1 of the 5 daily) praying attended by exclusively men in one of the numberless mosques. Particular that it was very quiet on the streets and hearing the voice of the imam citing verses. Hanging around a while we saw the men (and children) getting out at the end of the service and most of them were willing to have a (small because of the language) talk and their picture being taken.
Lunch at the beach.
Arrival late afternoon in an enjoyable place on a quiet, sandy cove where we stay for 2 nights in timber individual bungalows with a view on the beach. Being too far from the centre of Sumbawa Besar, we had to stay at this place for quite a nice dinner. I am still not too adventurous with the often cold or half warm (that is the way Indonesians serve food) food, protecting my stomach. Unfortunately I caught a cold, as usual because of the AC buses and rooms.
Saturday, 2 May 2009
29-04-09 / 30-04-09
29-04-09
Second part of the story on the island Rinca (the internet café I was sitting in 2 days ago was too smoky and too hot; tonight I publish this story with the help of Lilian, thanks to her and thanks to BlackBerry!) :
We have seen some domesticated Komodo dragons i.e. they are fed by the rangers just to make sure that 1. tourists get to see them instead of being disappointed by coming all the way down and seeing none and 2. tourists are not attacked.There are no set dragon-feeding places any longer.There would be about 2.450 still alive on the islands Komodo, Rinca and on the west coast of Flores, but our guide is doubting such. Cannabilism would be the major danger of this endangered species; yearly the female is laying 15 to 30 eggs, from which only 1 to 2 get adult. Why they only exist on and around Komodo is a mystery, as is why males outnumber females by a ratio of 3,4 to 1. They are impressive to see with their ugly heads, massive bodies, enormous claws, strong tails and yellow split tongues getting out of their mouths like with snakes. But seeing them laying down and hardly walking around the ranger camps and none in the fields was quite deceptive.
We learnt in the European press that an Indonesian fisherman picking fruits in Rinca, fell of the tree and has been killed by a Komodo dragon at the end of March this year. Down here however we have been told that it was actually a ranger preparing food in the kitchen of the Komodo National Park being bitten in his arm and leg by a dragon (having climbed a staircase???), survived such but being half paralysed.....They can expend their mouth cavity considerably, enabling them to swallow prey as large as a goat. To tackle even bigger prey, they ambush their victim, bite it and wait for the potent bacteria (over 60 in number!) their mouths contain to take effect - waiting around for up to 2 weeks for a buffalo to die - before tucking in.
We made a beautiful hike of about 2 hrs through the National Park guided by rangers with great views from the hills on the surrounding islands, sea, savannah and forests.
Off for the next part of the boat trip for a great snorkelling experience at the Red Beach (Pantai Merah) where our group was the only people around. Water of 27 C (that is quite cold after 31 C a couple of days ago) and beautiful fishes - like you are swimming in an aquarium - , corals and anemones. Because of the protection of the surrounding islands, there is no damage here of the 2004 tsunami. Komodo National Park has some of the most exhilarating scuba diving in Indonesia. It's a region swept by strong currents and cold upswellings, created by the convergence of the warmer Flores Sea and the cooler Sumba Strait - conditions which bring in a rich soup of plankton and an astonishing diversity of marine life. Bomb- and cyanide-fishing previously did some damage to the reefs in the National Park, but its waters are now patrolled by navy vessels and the coral is recovering well. Good that we bought our own equipment back home, since one can not always rent it in these remote parts of Indonesia and at least it fits well.
Off again for the last part of our boat trip today. Our boat was anchored for the night and we were surrounded by flying foxes, night fisher men, the moon, sparkling stars,....
The trip by boat is wonderful: bright sunshine, nice breeze, passing by 100s of inhabited islands with great beaches, sometimes jumping dolphins before our boat,.....
Excellent food prepared by the cook (fresh fish, chicken, rice, vegetables, soup, fruit,.....) in a kitchen of 1 by 2 mtr for the 18 of us + tour leader + 4 crew members. Regularly coffee and tea with biscuits (like during our transfer days for which we make a stop along a nice stretch on the road), enough cold soft drinks, beer,.....Sleeping was less fun: it was so HOT!!!! Incredible that we managed to sleep anyway. The boat itself is simple, but OK for 2 days and a group like ours with enough place to sit or hang around outside in the sun or shadow. Thanks God we had excellent weather, since the seas in this part of Indonesia can be extremely hazardous. A great day!
30-04-09
Early natural wake up because of the heat in our cabines in the boat and some new adventures waiting for us. We could have slept on the deck outside but we were not sure of such being too windy, which turned out to be true.
We returned to the Red Beach for another snorkel experience which was wonderful again.
Then we continued our boat trip to the Komodo island itself to spot some more - semi-domesticated - Komodo dragons. Besides that the ranger this time showed us plenty of trees, insects like grass hoppers, birds, wild water buffaloes, wild pigs, wild cows and again great views on and from the National Park on the surrounding islands/seas.
Off again for a long - about 6 hours - very pleasant last part of the boat trip to our final destination for the coming days, the island Sumbawa with arrival at the harbour of Sape late afternoon. A new bus with a new driver and co-driver was already waiting for us, to drive us to Bima, the principal town of the eastern half of the island, a run-down place. Before arrival at the hotel more than 10 km from this town, we had dinner in the town itself and some time for ourselves to walk around in this unexceptional place where horse cars called benhur still hold their own with bemos (public transport in Indonesia by mini buses).
At this town was this terrible internet café.....
Surprise, surprise: at arrival at our hotel, the latter had decided earlier that evening to give our rooms to another party because of our late arrival and we had to return again to the restaurant annexed to a hotel! Happily enough that hotel had enough rooms for all of us. As usual there were some justified complaints: like in India there is always something broken, missing or not working (and I bet that the same thing is applying to 5 stars hotels in Indonesia....). But both Arjan and I were so tired after our hot (in temperature ....) night on the boat, that it could not bother us too much after, however, having let cleaned our bath tube from a ton of sand ....
The potential for tourism remains vast, but, due to political instability, poor infrastructure and transport links, and low educational standards, Nusa Tenggara (the eastern islands of Indonesia) looks unlikely to profit much from this sector for some time yet. On top of that, popular and rather well developed Bali is opposing itself to the development of the neighbouring island Lombok.
Sumbawa is larger than Bali and Lombok combined. Though Sumbawa is an extremely scenic island, it's a poor one, and health and education is very much at the development stage in most parts. Few Western travellers venture here other than wave-seekers and we! That is quite nice of this trip, we hardly meet any other tourists.
Sumbawa is an overwhelming Islamic island; Christian missionaries didn't even bother here. But in remote parts adat (traditional indigenous and animist laws and regulations) thrive under the veneer of Islam.
Also here lots of volcanoes; interesting is following story: in 1815 the Gunung (= volcano) Tambora in Sumbawa exploded, killing ten thousands. One of the most cataclysmic eruptions of modern times, it reduced a 4200 m peak to approx. 2850 m. All around the globe, the following year was known as 'the year without a summer', due to the amount of volcanic ash in the atmosphere.
Later on I try to catch up the backlog of our blog, I have to sleep right now. Thanks again Lilian for publishing this edition; first time during my travels that I meet so few internet cafes, it shows how under developed it still is here.
I have read about the terrible accident during Queen's day in The Netherlands, sorry to hear about it.
And no pigs sateh anymore for us because the swine flu (Mexican influenza) having touched Indonesia as well.
Second part of the story on the island Rinca (the internet café I was sitting in 2 days ago was too smoky and too hot; tonight I publish this story with the help of Lilian, thanks to her and thanks to BlackBerry!) :
We have seen some domesticated Komodo dragons i.e. they are fed by the rangers just to make sure that 1. tourists get to see them instead of being disappointed by coming all the way down and seeing none and 2. tourists are not attacked.There are no set dragon-feeding places any longer.There would be about 2.450 still alive on the islands Komodo, Rinca and on the west coast of Flores, but our guide is doubting such. Cannabilism would be the major danger of this endangered species; yearly the female is laying 15 to 30 eggs, from which only 1 to 2 get adult. Why they only exist on and around Komodo is a mystery, as is why males outnumber females by a ratio of 3,4 to 1. They are impressive to see with their ugly heads, massive bodies, enormous claws, strong tails and yellow split tongues getting out of their mouths like with snakes. But seeing them laying down and hardly walking around the ranger camps and none in the fields was quite deceptive.
We learnt in the European press that an Indonesian fisherman picking fruits in Rinca, fell of the tree and has been killed by a Komodo dragon at the end of March this year. Down here however we have been told that it was actually a ranger preparing food in the kitchen of the Komodo National Park being bitten in his arm and leg by a dragon (having climbed a staircase???), survived such but being half paralysed.....They can expend their mouth cavity considerably, enabling them to swallow prey as large as a goat. To tackle even bigger prey, they ambush their victim, bite it and wait for the potent bacteria (over 60 in number!) their mouths contain to take effect - waiting around for up to 2 weeks for a buffalo to die - before tucking in.
We made a beautiful hike of about 2 hrs through the National Park guided by rangers with great views from the hills on the surrounding islands, sea, savannah and forests.
Off for the next part of the boat trip for a great snorkelling experience at the Red Beach (Pantai Merah) where our group was the only people around. Water of 27 C (that is quite cold after 31 C a couple of days ago) and beautiful fishes - like you are swimming in an aquarium - , corals and anemones. Because of the protection of the surrounding islands, there is no damage here of the 2004 tsunami. Komodo National Park has some of the most exhilarating scuba diving in Indonesia. It's a region swept by strong currents and cold upswellings, created by the convergence of the warmer Flores Sea and the cooler Sumba Strait - conditions which bring in a rich soup of plankton and an astonishing diversity of marine life. Bomb- and cyanide-fishing previously did some damage to the reefs in the National Park, but its waters are now patrolled by navy vessels and the coral is recovering well. Good that we bought our own equipment back home, since one can not always rent it in these remote parts of Indonesia and at least it fits well.
Off again for the last part of our boat trip today. Our boat was anchored for the night and we were surrounded by flying foxes, night fisher men, the moon, sparkling stars,....
The trip by boat is wonderful: bright sunshine, nice breeze, passing by 100s of inhabited islands with great beaches, sometimes jumping dolphins before our boat,.....
Excellent food prepared by the cook (fresh fish, chicken, rice, vegetables, soup, fruit,.....) in a kitchen of 1 by 2 mtr for the 18 of us + tour leader + 4 crew members. Regularly coffee and tea with biscuits (like during our transfer days for which we make a stop along a nice stretch on the road), enough cold soft drinks, beer,.....Sleeping was less fun: it was so HOT!!!! Incredible that we managed to sleep anyway. The boat itself is simple, but OK for 2 days and a group like ours with enough place to sit or hang around outside in the sun or shadow. Thanks God we had excellent weather, since the seas in this part of Indonesia can be extremely hazardous. A great day!
30-04-09
Early natural wake up because of the heat in our cabines in the boat and some new adventures waiting for us. We could have slept on the deck outside but we were not sure of such being too windy, which turned out to be true.
We returned to the Red Beach for another snorkel experience which was wonderful again.
Then we continued our boat trip to the Komodo island itself to spot some more - semi-domesticated - Komodo dragons. Besides that the ranger this time showed us plenty of trees, insects like grass hoppers, birds, wild water buffaloes, wild pigs, wild cows and again great views on and from the National Park on the surrounding islands/seas.
Off again for a long - about 6 hours - very pleasant last part of the boat trip to our final destination for the coming days, the island Sumbawa with arrival at the harbour of Sape late afternoon. A new bus with a new driver and co-driver was already waiting for us, to drive us to Bima, the principal town of the eastern half of the island, a run-down place. Before arrival at the hotel more than 10 km from this town, we had dinner in the town itself and some time for ourselves to walk around in this unexceptional place where horse cars called benhur still hold their own with bemos (public transport in Indonesia by mini buses).
At this town was this terrible internet café.....
Surprise, surprise: at arrival at our hotel, the latter had decided earlier that evening to give our rooms to another party because of our late arrival and we had to return again to the restaurant annexed to a hotel! Happily enough that hotel had enough rooms for all of us. As usual there were some justified complaints: like in India there is always something broken, missing or not working (and I bet that the same thing is applying to 5 stars hotels in Indonesia....). But both Arjan and I were so tired after our hot (in temperature ....) night on the boat, that it could not bother us too much after, however, having let cleaned our bath tube from a ton of sand ....
The potential for tourism remains vast, but, due to political instability, poor infrastructure and transport links, and low educational standards, Nusa Tenggara (the eastern islands of Indonesia) looks unlikely to profit much from this sector for some time yet. On top of that, popular and rather well developed Bali is opposing itself to the development of the neighbouring island Lombok.
Sumbawa is larger than Bali and Lombok combined. Though Sumbawa is an extremely scenic island, it's a poor one, and health and education is very much at the development stage in most parts. Few Western travellers venture here other than wave-seekers and we! That is quite nice of this trip, we hardly meet any other tourists.
Sumbawa is an overwhelming Islamic island; Christian missionaries didn't even bother here. But in remote parts adat (traditional indigenous and animist laws and regulations) thrive under the veneer of Islam.
Also here lots of volcanoes; interesting is following story: in 1815 the Gunung (= volcano) Tambora in Sumbawa exploded, killing ten thousands. One of the most cataclysmic eruptions of modern times, it reduced a 4200 m peak to approx. 2850 m. All around the globe, the following year was known as 'the year without a summer', due to the amount of volcanic ash in the atmosphere.
Later on I try to catch up the backlog of our blog, I have to sleep right now. Thanks again Lilian for publishing this edition; first time during my travels that I meet so few internet cafes, it shows how under developed it still is here.
I have read about the terrible accident during Queen's day in The Netherlands, sorry to hear about it.
And no pigs sateh anymore for us because the swine flu (Mexican influenza) having touched Indonesia as well.
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