Part II of Lombok Trip

I've debated what kinds of things to write about regarding the rest of our Lombok trip. Once Tris got sick on Christmas Day, the rest of our trip became slower paced because one by one each of us, except the kids, experienced stomach issues. I think that the best way to share the rest of our trip with you is to again post more photos and explain why they were so siginificant to me. The first one is of Abby, and I've uploaded it only because I think it is a beautiful shot, even if she is being goofy at the time. The next are of 2 of the different bugs that we saw while in Lombok. Unfortunately Matthew is at a sleepover as I write this or I'd be able to ask him what they are! If you know, please fill me in.












As I mentioned earlier, we rented a car for 2 days. The first day we spent exploring the south of the island, where we had our own private beach and I met the caribou rancher and his sons. One of the things I don't think I mentioned was the stop we made at a 'traditional village,' where they weave sarongs and traditional wear. We were told by the self-appointed guide that it wasn't a museum, but that Sasak (native to Lombok) people lived and worked in the village that we walked through. Little did we know until hindsight kicked later in the day (as we stopped at other little huts along the way) that the guide was lying to us big time, and that although the sarongs and scarves that we bought were beautiful, they were NOT woven there, and they weren't worth the prices we paid. However, if you don't experience you don't learn, and so out of this particular situation we learned that no matter where you travel, you can always find a better price somewhere else. If something is labelled 'traditional' for a certain area, then it will most likely be sold elsewhere as well, so it pays not to buy the first time you see something.

The guide told us that no woman is allowed to get married unless she knows how to weave. We're pretty sure that the older woman and the young girl were just plants that they put there as examples of pre-and post-. It sounds really cynical but we were royally ripped off. The old woman was spinning cotton but there were no other "projects" on the go anywhere else, except for the little girl sitting at a loom. She didn't actually DO anything while we were there except look at her mom like "Am I doing okay???"

Check out the expression on her face!!

The next day we decided to travel north. Mostly we stayed in the car so there were few shots of us, but we did get some incredible shots of the culture and the people. While the landscape in the south was mostly inland with incredible terraced rice fields and mountains, and ended (for us) at the ocean, the north was, interestingly, very different. We travelled mostly along the ocean and ended up high in the mountains. Most fields were cornfields except a few rice fields in the lower regions. This photo is of rice harvesting.There were canvas tarps alongside the roads everywhere, covered in drying corn, chilies and wheat. My goal of the day was to take a few shots of the colourful grains. I was very proud of Tris for 2 reasons: 1) he stopped and asked for directions and 2) he pulled over a few times to let me get the photos that I wanted.

At one point he pulled over just a half block away from some corn drying, and when I got out to take a few photos a bunch of young guys waved me into their village (it was next to the road). What they wanted me for was to take photos of a woman who was using a board with sharp nails poking through it to take the dried kernels of corn off the husks. Everyone wanted me to take photos and who was I to say no??? It was probably the best part of that day because mom and dad (who you can't keep in the car when there's people involved) and I got to speak with local villagers...and these ones didn't want our money! We find that when money or sales are not involved, the people of Lombok are extremely friendly and enjoyable to be with.

As we travelled along on the trip north we saw a few great shots of various means of transporting goods and people. I especially like the irony that both dad and Tris pointed out in this photo: it's muslim woman covered head to toe and they're riding in a minibus that is covered in Playboy Bunny symbols. This photo of a man riding atop a heavily packed bus reminds me of the five weeks I spent in the Philippines almost 20 years ago. We rode in very similar buses, and a lot of the time we rode on the top!

Sometimes the only way to transport goods is on a motorbike, and there are men transporting greens, lumber, chickens or whatever all over the island.

On the way home we saw a family ploughing their fields...right next to the ocean. When I think of ploughing I think of Little House on the Prairie type fields, not ones where there's an incredible view of the ocean right next to you.

You've got to wonder if the farmer even notices...that's very hard work that he's got to do, and the heat is pretty intense.

Back at the hotel, on the beach in front of our rooms were some fishermen who hit the seas every morning. Quite often they arrived on land around 8 in the morning and spent 1 1/2 hours pulling in a net. Both dad and I witnessed the results of all this hard work...I saw them pull in about 8 10-inch fish, and dad a few days later saw them haul in a huge amount of garbage but no fish. Not only do they fish for hours and get little food...they also have to deal with whatever the ocean gives them. Once when I was checking out the sales huts along the beach, I heard shouting. One boatload of fishermen weren't quite quick enough to outrun a string of huge waves and were overtaken by seawater. Later I asked if they were okay, and there was no damage to the boat or to any man. I love to look closely at this shot because you see men running all directions in what looks like panic.

It's my goal to try and not write more than a page each posting, but sometimes that's just not a possibility!

Thanks for taking the drive up to the north of Lombok island with us!