Riding across central Lombok

Leaving Senggigi around 10am I rode north along the coast past the large bay of Teluk Nara and round to the town of Pemenang, which is on the main road 14kms north of Mataram.

I could see the Gili islands and there sand white beaches. The 3 islands Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air are known for their diving and snorkeling and are a favourite with short-term visitors. To get to the Gili’s from Lombok you can take the Public boat from Bangsal which is 1 km from Pememang. These leave when they have enough customers and run from 7.30am-4.30pm. There are also Shuttle boats running from 10am- 4.30pm and charter boats for a maximum of 10 people. The time it takes to get to the islands ranges from 20-45mins depending on which one.

If you want to sail from Senggigi you can take the twice daily Perama boat which takes 1 hours 30 mins.

Today I again wore my convertible pants, running shoes and a white long sleeve shirt. I knew I was going to be riding for hours and wanted to avoid a toasting since the weather has been scorching recently.

The loop I did round to Mataram was about 20kms from Senggigi and featured lovely scenery and bays that are reminiscent of the coast in Amed Bali. I can see why Sheraton has set up here, they’re not stupid about which places are desirable.

From Mataram I headed east with the idea of riding up into the higher elevations and checking out a waterfall. Another cool thing about leaving the west coast was I would be getting deeper into Sasak territory, the native people who are muslim. The outfits people have often give a clue to their religion and many times I could spot the ethnic Balinese, however seeing someone in a sarong doesn’t really mean anything since they are worn all over the country.

The road from Mataram across the center of Lombok is a decent road and I could get up to speeds of 60kmp for periods of time. It is also the most heavily trafficed and bemos and trucks were a constant, not close to Bali levels but still there. I was thinking that Lombok really seems like Bali must have been 30 years ago with not too much development, unspoilt vistas and low traffic levels.

The main activities I saw were mosque construction with every other village in the process of building one and rice cultivation. With the elections approaching in April it was inevitable that there was some noticeable campaigning. I did pass some large dump trucks filled with supporters of various groups. They were riding around and making some noise. I can see why the government banned the ogah ogah (monsters) festival in Bali, anytime you get large groups of young guys together who are easily identifiable (soccer fans, does this ring a bell?) there will be trouble. The whole way they go about campaigning over here wreaks of corruption and a kind of lawlessness. The youngsters are paid to ride around and get whipped into a frenzy. Anything can set them off and law enforcement seems to be in the background. From what I have seen the red and black is Megawati’s PDI party, the yellow Golkar (Suharto’s old party) and green is the muslim morals party. I’m thinking of starting a beige Baliblog party promoting cultural and environmentally friendly tourism with a party aspect.

Passing a local fruit market I stopped by and bought 3 tangerines for 2,500rp. The owner wanted 3,000rp which I though was expensive and offered 1,000rp. She wanted to sell me a kilo but I didn’t want that much. She told me the apples and tangerines are from Java, the salak from Bali and the rambutan for Lombok.

I stopped several times to observe the scenery and the local life and got to the town of Masbagik which has a turn off to the coastal road. I stopped at a muslim snack shop and chatted to the family who owned the place. They were all super cool and even the people across the street were waving hello. As usual in Indonesia people love to show you their kids and one by one the youngsters come out to say hello. I got 2 bean cakes and a black coffee for 5,000rp.

One revenue stream that Lombok seems to have embraced is the roadside petrol-racks. Passing through villages there seems to be one every 50 meters and they all love Absolut bottles. Maybe Absolut should stop selling vodka and just market their bottles to Indonesians. I stopped a couple of times, not sure how much gas I would guzzle today. A liter is usually 2,000rp.

This roadside market had a group of ladies selling fish on a stick which was ready cooked, I was tempted but where am I going to put a big fish?

The Honda Supra was humming along and proved to be a reliable and economical machine. I strapped my day-pack over the handlebars so it sits in between my legs, this works okay most of the time.

Hitting the east coast at Labuhan Haji I swung down to Gubukdalam and inland across to Batunyale. All the way I was making eye contact with locals and saying hello. Most of the time this was returned. People here aren’t so used to tourists as much as Bali but still are pleasant.

The road from Batunyale to Kuta on the coast features about 5kms of rocky, rutted gravel roads. I almost thought I’d taken the wrong turn and stopped to check with people that this was the way to Kuta. I had to make way for bemos and trucks, pulling off between piles of gravel. The rice harvest is going on here right now and I stopped to photograph a scene that you see many times a day, the sifting of the rice, which is brown. The people here told me that the sacks hold 50 kilos of rice and they get 1,000rp per kilo.

My helmet stopped a few people in their tracks, it does have that ‘alien look’ but really its only for protection.

stay tuned for ‘Arriving in Kuta Lombok’.