Monthly Archives: November 2015

Day 107 – Deflated

Actually quite fed up, we left Kuta to head to the ferry in Lembar that would take us over to Bali. Although we left early, we were covered in sweat already. I was still wishing for a pocket waterfall…when we had the following conversation:

“Nina, are all the bags still secured?” – *me checking all of them* “Yeah, all good.” – “Are you wiggling around?” – “Me? Not particularly.” – “Are you sitting further back than usually?” – “Eh, noooo?” *repositioning myself* “Is something wrong?” – “The bike is running weirdly.” – “Stop and have a look?” – “Yeah….”

Rocinante being professionally propped up on a center stand *cough*

Rocinante being professionally propped up on a center stand *cough*

Turns out we had a flat rear tire. Yay. Made me like Lombok even more in right that instant. Poor island being judged so harshly. But, actually, we were super lucky: Flo had pulled up right behind a workshop. It took him about one millisecond to consider to get out his tools and start getting the tire out or pay someone $4 and get it done for him. Guess what we ended up doing. 🙂

Despite not having all the Honda-approved tools, the workshop guy had the tire off in no time at all. Maybe enough time for Flo to finish half of his “es campur” (mixed Indonesian ice cream) that we were offered while waiting. Since we couldn’t see anything sticking in the tire, the tube must have a puncture. And we were still carrying the heavy duty inner tube that we got in Darwin despite thinking of ditching it for a million times already. Workshop guy cracked up laughing that we had a spare tube but it made his job even easier. He just changed out the tube and put the tire right back on. Flo had a look

Off came the tire and it took almost no time

Off came the tire and it took almost no time

for the puncture on the tube but couldn’t see anything. The valve was actually broken, letting air out which led to our flat tire. Which is much harder to repair than a hole in the tube. Suddenly we were glad to have carried that stupid tube for so long.

It cost all of 30.000 Indonesian rupiah and we were back on track. This time we prepared for the ferry even better, buying take away food before getting to the terminal. Everything doubles in price for the ferry.

Luckily, sleeping was possible...

Luckily, sleeping was possible…

Tickets for us and the bike were about $17. The ferry looked tiny (and slightly untrustworthy as it had rammed something in its past) but it wasn’t very full either. We managed the four hours to Bali alright, laying around and sleeping for most of it. I was very happy to sleep as the 30mins I was awake made me seasick again. Lombok was covered in rain clouds and the sea was on the choppy side.

Arriving in Bali at 4pm or 4.30pm, I was through with this day. So we went to a guest house right in the ferry port town. Which turned out to be a lovely little spot. We were already relieved to see the volcanic mountains and the rain forest that comes with it, but now architecture is different as well. None of the islands so far are resembling Bali in the architecture. And our guest house, despite being on the cheap side, is a little gem. Which also offers the fastest internet connection we had so far.

I couldn’t help but feel a bit like holidays here so went out and had dessert after dinner as well: apple crumble with ice cream. It was authentic and good but I kinda forgot that it will be hot….*face palm*. Flo, smartly, decided for an “Arak attack” instead.

Day 106 – Tourism

No, this is not a holiday. We are travelers. A clarification that I had to use more than once in the last week. The point becomes infinitely harder to make as soon as we get off the bike and base ourselves somewhere. And twice over, if that base is in an area “developed for tourism”.

No, no, no! I don't want to buy anything!!!

No, no, no! I don’t want to buy anything!!!

By why is that so important to me? Well, for starters, because we do not have the money that tourists have, nor their naivete for that matter.  No, I don’t want your overpriced trinkets, no massages, please stop hollering. I know how western food tastes like and have my own transport. But worst of all, it destroys most access on a personal level. All interactions of a tourist with the host environment are business transactions. This is the opposite of the genuine human element that we are looking for.

Is this our own fault? Are we not looking hard enough or looking in the wrong places? Maybe. For now our first lesson is to be weary of any place with a “great break”. For some reason, surfer beaches are filthy, westernized places of dread for us. Cheap booze, dirty sleeps and modified scooters with surfboards, ridden by shirtless “dudes”. Definitively not our scene.

So much like Tropico, I was looking for my cursor

So much like Tropico, I was looking for my cursor

So after all this sermon, you might be surprised that we stayed another night in Kuta Lombok. Well, it was too hot and our motivation was at rock bottom. We stayed close to the fan and Wifi and mostly did nothing much. One thing was sure though, we were through with Lombok’s south coast.

Around lunch time, enough energy was gathered to head out for one excursion to a restaurant recommended by the Lonely Planet. We did even manage to pack beach gear for an eventual afternoon at one of the “gems” promised by the same. Well, the restaurant was closed for renovations. At least there was another one right next door – although it was also in the “tourist” price range, about 2-3x more expensive than local food. The view was good though and we decided to risk it. The food was OK, we liked the chilly cheese popper and we got an instagram out of it that looked like a HD rendering of Tropico III.

not for us ...

not for us …

I’ll keep the “beach” experience brief. A filthy beach surrounded by scorched wasteland soon to be developed into a cheap faceless resorts. Currently only interesting for surfers. We fled.

As we were cruising back (very slowly, as we chose to ride without gear and stick to 30km/h) relieving clouds rolled in. And actually coalesced into proper rain clouds. Which later on would even lead to actual rain. Wohoo … still far less than would be normal for this time of the year though, thanks to El Niño.

And thus concluded our day. We loved the higher regions, the green and the serenity of Gunung Rinjani but we were bitterly disappointed by the savanna and the tourist of the south. Tomorrow, we will leave for Bali. There is a promise of lush green, but also of millions of tourists waiting for us. Will we be able to find some more of what we are looking for there?

Day 105 – From rain forest back into savannah

Nice view for breakfast

Nice view for breakfast

Tete batu was even cool in the morning. But we decided to just see one waterfall before heading off to Kuta. Maybe we could have a beach day after all.

Driving up the rather washed-out road, we stopped at the house of a local with whom we had spoken yesterday. He pointed us in the right direction for the Air Terjun and we walked the last 200m there by ourselves. The place was way smaller than the waterfalls we had seen so far but it was still a lovely little place. One of the small falls produced a rainbow where the water hit the rocks and the locals had made a dam by the two biggest falls to retain the water. The thus created pool was deep enough to wash in.

All handcrafted organic rice here ...

All handcrafted organic rice here …

Coming back up we asked for a short guided tour and were taken through the village and along the rice fields for a good while. The sun was burning down again…I was really wishing for a pocket waterfall by this time so I could refresh myself whenever I wanted…

The tour ended with a walk through the aptly-named “monkey forest” where we saw many black and grey monkeys, some of them even carrying babies. Pictures are not nearly as impressive as we still don’t own a tele.

After this, we just packed the bike with the luggage we had left at our guest house (and realizing it was on the “monkey forest street”) and left the lovely town of Tete batu, full of nice people and great roadside “nanas” (pineapple).

As soon as we came further south, the landscape returned to the very dry savannah we have seen for so long now. I simply found it too hot to ride which made me grumpy which lead to a misunderstanding with Flo. We discussed things over food which helped and continued to Kuta, one of the beach towns in south Lombok. Unfortunately, neither Flo nor I took a particular liking to the town so instead of relaxing, I got properly homesick. I haven’t been homesick in a while and I guess exhaustion also played its part.

To compensate, we (against better judgement) tried pizza again for dinner and were only mildly disappointed with the average one we got.

Day 104 – “Global Culture”

When Ted Simon was on his second trip, certain events unfolded durng that September of 2001 that would even impact a traveler, roaming the world on his motorbike. I remember reading about his experience of the events – how simultaneous connected and utterly removed he felt.

As we move about and explore Lombok, events have unfolded in the last week that may have an impact that has the power to break through and even touch us, here, a world removed. In the last week, Daesh has carried out thee terrorist attacks against foreign nations involved in the conflict in Syria, Iraq and Kurdistan. And as always, civilians have paid the price. 46 died in Beirut, 220 on a plane in Egypt and now over 120 in Paris. Through being online for the blog every day, but also just because of who we are and how we live we can’t escape but be touched by these events.

Yet it all is so strange, so far removed and so utterly saddening. Our filter bubble on Facebook shields us a bit from the hatred and the vitriol and the 20th century nationalism that seems to be the inevitable result of such events, but we know it’s out there. Yet here we are, in the (democratic) country with the largest Muslim population in the world. We hear the muezzins’ calls every day. We eat, we talk, we smile and laugh with the people. We see them react and share the sadness. All sense seems to escape. We will do as feels right: continue on, watch, learn and prepare to come home and spread the world.

Today, as we were walking back to our accommodation from buying a beautiful fresh pineapple in town, Nina got side-lined. Three giggling girls obviously on their way to some kind of sport practice have waited on us to get a “selfie”. They were delighted when I offered to take the picture (clearly the woman was the attraction here). More giggles, honest thanks and smiles and we walked on with a great experience as they got to it sharing the picture on Facebook. … Oh, and they were all wearing the hijab.

We have escaped the “bule” or tourist circus in Senggigi and the traffic and heat of Mataram. Instead, we have arrived at the foot of the mountain once more. The heat is tolerable here, we are surrounded by immaculate rice terraces and gardens. All the noises are water flowing, frogs quacking and the occasional scooter passing by our guest house. Tetebatu is just the place we need to recover from our first encounter with a touristically developed area.

Nina’s input: Those girls were so cute! We passed them on our way down into the village and on the way back, they “ambushed” me with a request for a picture. I just wish we had our own camera with us. Flo took a “selfie” of the bunch of girls and me, cracking up laughing because I was about 50cm taller than them, while I cracked up laughing at Flo, holding out a mobile phone covered in “Hello Kitty” stickers.

Day 103 – Waterfalls

We had booked a half day hike for this morning. It was supposed to start at 8am but our guide turned up early so we left early as well. We started with the hike to the waterfall. There is an official path to get there but we took the unofficial road which leads along the artificial waterway and gave us great views over the valley with rice fields.

Beautiful place and enormous ...

Beautiful place and enormous …

We basically stayed on the same height line until we could see and hear the first waterfall. Apart from the waterfall, we could also hear something resembling thunder. Rani told us that those are eruptions within Rinjani, though, when the magma hits the water of the crater lakes. That was not the most reassuring of all explanations.

Going down to Air Tejung Sendang Gile, the view was lovely. The water falls down in two steps from a steep wall that is completely covered in green; ferns and jungle creepers. It has been ages since we saw the last waterfall…probably back in NZ.

You shouldn’t go underneath the water (it is falling down about 60 meters) but you can still get close enough to get wet from the spray. A couple of photos and a biscuit break later, we started for the second and more important waterfall. Again, you follow the artificial waterway and even cross an aqueduct with a drop on both sides before you have to cross the river twice to get to the place. The river is quite cold and the water is so clear that you can see everything. Rani helped me through the crossings; it’s just a bit hard crossing with bare feet rather than in water shoes as the rocks make footing uneven. It was much fun nevertheless. Continue reading →

Day 102 – Mehs and Yays

Google is wrong! Well, maybe not in general, but regarding the geolocation of Dalam Loka, a historic sultan’s palace.

Build in the 19th century for the Sultan in Sumbawa

Build in the 19th century for the Sultan in Sumbawa

But in order: We managed to do as we set out to and pack up early enough to get on the road before the heat is too unbearable. Nina wanted to see the weaving of traditional cloth, called ikat by the lonely planet, first hand. We have seen woman dying cloth and weaving in mountain villages on Flores, but did not stop to take photos or have a chat. Going into more and more developed parts of Indonesia, this felt like one of the last good chances to do so. But alas, the geolocation demons struck again. The directions in the lonely planet were sketchy at best, the open street maps has the village mentioned in the wrong place and it was Friday early morning in an Islamic part of the country. We did not even find the right village in the end, but the round trip on beautiful back roads through lush green rice paddies was worth it none the less.

With that first failure under our belt, we decided to give the sultan’s palace a go. Google said it is 20 km south in the mountains. It was also a point of interest on the OSM map, so we let the GPS guide the way. Turned out we ended up back in Sumbawa Besar after all – within walking distance of our hotel …

The palace was a nice photo-op but not much more, and we decided that it was time to head east for good. When we came upon the fork in the road, leading either south to some more Sumbawa surfer beaches or east to the ferry to Lombok, the discussion was a short one. Although we met amazing people, we never really warmed to Sumbawa and we went towards the ferry. We are here to enjoy ourselves after all.

nice place for a ferry port ...

nice place for a ferry port …

The ferry was quick, painless and reasonably cheap. The sea was roughest of all ferry rides so far though and poor Rocinante got a good spray of salt water on the way. Well, at least it was quick this time.

On Lombok, the route was pretty clear: North, up the mountain where it is nice and cool. And green, oh such sweet green. I can honestly say, I am over savannahs. Too dry, too hot. And gosh, Lombok delivered. Lush, green rainforest enveloping the beautiful, winding road. Vistas, monkeys. Our spirits sored. Nina got fresh strawberries in a mountain valley!  Although, we got more than a little homesick for New Zealand at this point.

The accommodation was good, much better than what we got for that price so far, and the climate really suited us. We booked a guide for tomorrow for a half day track through the surroundings and two waterfalls nearby, since Gundung Rinjani (the big volcano on Lombok) was still closed for all climbers due to its recent activity.

Day 101 – A day in Sumbawa Besar

We didn’t make a lot of plans for today just one which was to get up early and visit the market. The day was quite the burner so during breakfast we broke our first sweat. It didn’t help much that we had fried rice and egg omelettes.

People, motorbikes, wares, all zipping around

People, motorbikes, wares, all zipping around

Afterwards, walking to the market was quite the trial. The market itself is gigantic, under a roof and a complete maze to me. I followed Flo around first through the fruit and vege section and then through the clothes section. In between there was a stretch with fish and chicken which I tried to pass quickly only to find that I had entered the innards section. Ewww…the only stall with sweets was right in the middle so I had to pass on those as well.

Within a short amount of time, we were overwhelmed and ready to leave. Not without buying more, strange looking fruits though.

On the way back, we had to take breaks in the shade as the sun was just scorching us. Luckily, our room is air conditioned. It was then that we decided to take a rest day to replenish our batteries. For the rest of the day, we lounged around our room, watching episodes of a series and listening to an audiobook. Despite thinking we’re having a rest day at a beach, we ended up taking it in a city. Flo and I are simply city people and we enjoyed it muchly to walk around one corner to top up our phone credit and around another corner to great street food. Sumbawa Besar is super convenient for us, as there is even a laundry service on the opposite side of our hotel. All our clothes now smell like flowers which hasn’t happened in a while.

Day 100 – Centpostial

One hundred days ago, we left a cold and rainy Wellington, for good, at least for now. If we were a government this would be the point at which pundits would call for a first resume. So did we archive what we set out to do?   Continue reading →

Day 99 – Incredible Hospitality

We took our time this morning, hogging the free wifi at the hotel for a bit longer. Breakfast was included but, again, tested our resolve as it was fried rice with fish or vegetable fritters. I am really struggling with the food for breakfast which I would find tasty at a later point in the day… The tea on the other hand was the best I had in quite a while and it didn’t go well with the fritters.

This is how selling local ice cream looks like

This is how selling local ice cream looks like

Leaving Bima which we found to be an interesting and lively place, we stopped at a gas station again to refuel. It was a swelteringly hot day and we had run out of drinking water in the hotel so it didn’t take long for us to stop at a roadside warung to buy water and peek into the freezer to check out the ice cream.

Unfortunately, there was no ice cream to be had and I saved Flo from buying a Fanta with strawberry flavour thinking it to be a coke. Instead, we had an orange juice and a big, chilled bottle of water. Everybody was super nice to us and when we opened the bottles in the shop, chairs appeared in the shade and we were sat down.

Ladies were keen for me to try the ice cream (and get into the picture) :)

Ladies were keen for me to try the ice cream (and get into the picture) 🙂

At that moment, one of the local women came back with another woman in tow. It turns out that Wati was called to translate for us. Since we had already bought all we wanted, we had a conversation with her instead which she partly translated for the crowd which was swelling and ebbing with the arrival and departure of school kids. The local ladies asked if we had tried “Indonesian ice cream” already and were quite keen for us to try when the answer was no.

“Indonesian ice cream” consisted of a few ice cubes in a bowl to which are added red and green jelly blobs. As a sauce, you get coconut milk poured over it, then some kind of sugar melasse as a sweetener and bits of bread as crunchy pieces. I actually enjoyed it a lot, clearing the bowl with just one spoonful for Flo to try.

Just before I caused an uproar with my camera

Just before I caused an uproar with my camera

Wati turned out to be an incredible human being and she shared her very personal and touching story with us. Also, she invited us to “rest” aka stay overnight at her parents’ house or at least have a shower. At some point we relocated to her parents’ veranda where we were fed with water melon, mango and a kind of dessert cucumber I have never even heard of. Flo also got a taste of home-made lunch and, of course, the local coffee. I caused a minor incident with the school kids who had followed us to the house. I picked up my camera to take a photo of them and instead of laughing or running away as I expected, they all ran towards me right onto private property, only stopping short of hopping onto the veranda themselves. Oops. The commotion meant I only got a blurry picture of the kids though.

Saying good-bye

Saying good-bye

When it was time to continue on our way, I got really emotional. I wish just the best to Wati, her husband and her family. She is about to leave for Japan again with the plan of staying a couple of years so hopefully, we will catch up in Japan at some point.

Back on the road, it looked like rain and yes, we had our first tropical rain downpour today. It didn’t rain for long but the streets still flooded while the kids played in the enormous puddles at the roadside wearing nothing but underwear and having the time of their lives. Unfortunately, we have no pictures as I didn’t want to expose my camera to the rain.

Arriving in Lakey Beach, we had a look around the beach and despite Sumbawa being not very touristy developed, this place already seems too touristy for us. I am not quite sure what we will think of Lombok and Bali.

Day 98 – On to Sumbawa

tucked away behind all the little ones

tucked away behind all the little ones

After our two day holiday from the bike, we were back to business today. Since we had reached the western end of Flores in Labuan Bajo, it was time to hop on the next ferry bringing us to Sape on Sumbawa. The ferry goes every day and was scheduled for 8am this morning.

To make this rather early cut-off, we got up at sunrise which is about 5.30am at the moment. Packing still is rather quick (if you don’t have to put the tent down and store all the sleeping gear) so Flo got Rocinante out of her safe parking spot in the hotel yard to put the panniers back on. The bike didn’t fit through the gate to the yard when it was fully loaded so to manoeuvre it, it had to be without luggage.

At 6.45am, we were on the bike, driving to the ferry terminal. These tickets turned out to be expensive, probably because Flo ended up paying bemo fares for Rocinante which means she was treated like a mini-bus. One of the first on the ferry, we again, selected two empty rows for us and I lay down for another nap. Being scheduled to leave port at 8am, we finally left Labuan Bajo at 9.45am. While the cargo hold was pretty full, there were still many empty seats on the ferry. We had feared that it might be overcrowded with the volcano on Lombok playing up and all flights being cancelled. On the other hand, we trusted that vendors will come on to the ferry to sell us lunch but we were disappointed as they only sold bananas and snacks this time. Flo braved his first “Pop Mie” instant noodles cup while I stuck to oreos and TimTams.

No trouble with space this time

No trouble with space this time

We had lovely company for hours on the ferry, meeting Katja, a German backpacker, and Clement, a traveler from Slovenia. They both told us more about a story we heard…a tourist dying while snorkeling at Komodo. At first, it was said through the grapevine (aka news that travelled from boat to boat) that the tourist stayed in the water too long and exhausted herself which lead to her breathing in water and she basically drowned. Katja and Clement said it looked more like a stroke or so in the water. The tourist lady was about 70 years old.

Despite our late start, the ferry arrived in Sape at 3.30ish. So the ride itself was not nearly as long as getting to Flores and passed quicker than we had thought. There was a bit of chaos at the port as everyone tried to leave at the same time and get to their further means of transport on land but we managed to get out fine. We even found an ATM that would let us withdraw about NZ$250. The limit on the ATMs here seems a bit arbitrary and each withdrawal costs us fees at kiwibank.

Better than expected from reading the Lonely Planet

Better than expected from reading the Lonely Planet

Coming to a new island is always exciting. Sumbawa is less developed in tourism then Flores but, all in all, it seems to fare better. The houses all look bigger, all built out of stone and quite neat. The fuel at the roadside often comes in little pumps with the same brand as the gas station rather than in reused water bottles. However, there are also horse-drawn carts on the road which seems slightly weird. It’s not a tourist attraction but a legitimate way of travelling. Those poor horses must be close to a heart attack in the dense traffic.

Riding out of Sape, we headed for Bima, a town further north. The road was again in very good condition (but most roads are compared to East Timor) and we came through quite a few roadside towns. Now, it is noticeable that the majority of the people here are muslim. Mosques can be seen quite often and some of them are really impressive. The majority of women also wears hijab, most of them in very colourful tones.

We booked into a hotel for the night and it has free wifi, something we haven’t had in ages. On top of the free-ness, it is also quite fast so Flo is in internet heaven at the moment. 🙂