an entry somewhere else

Tripping Around-Day 1

On the whole Sengigi, the town I finally stopped in, was dead. After three flights, I made it to my place of reservation. As is typical to the budget traveler, I chose my lodgings based on a few sentences in a guidebook. Luckily, it wasn’t a bad choice. The first minor battle of my vacation was with the pre-paid taxi driver. He tried to get me to go to his hotel, saying mine was too expensive. I laughed and told him I was paying 75,000 rupiah/7.50USD a night. He remained quiet after that and the ride was quiet and fast along the west coast of the island from Mataram.

I arrived at Lina’s Cottages and was shown a clean and ugly room facing other rooms. I asked to see what else they had. An empty ‘deluxe’ room was fronting the garden and a view of the sea and other islands. 125,000 rupiah/night. One towel, no soap, A/C, a full mini-bar and a desk. Could I really pass on a seaside room for 12.50USD. Absolutely not. I planned this vacation for relaxation and this seemed like the place.

Sitting for a self-congratulatory beer and lunch at the edge of the garden and start of the steeply sloped beach, I was consistently offered trinkets by hawkers who clearly had few customers. I was confronted by more than 10 sellers: wristwatches, ikat (locally woven tapestry), cheap T-shirts, carved bullfrogs that had an accompanying stick that one could drag along its back in order to mimic the croaking, diving touts, tour touts, henna tattoos. I tried my best to be friendly yet steely with them but also let them know I was not interested in anything anyone was selling. Take this as a theme of traveling in these parts.

I took a walk to the north to get my bearings on my new town and made it as far as the road sign warning of a steep hill. Also, in this little jaunt, I was again continually accosted by touts and hawkers and the goods were extended to include marijuana, women and motorbikes.

A slight rain started as I returned to the hotel. I read The Jakarta Post, finished the crossword over a beer and took a nap before emerging for dinner. I watched the surfers catch small waves on the point and an unimpressive monsoon sunset. An eventful day that was mildly relaxing.

Tripping Around-Day 2

Breakfast at Taman Sengigi, a pleasant place fronting the street but run by Australians. This place had the best overall food and variety in Sengigi. The service wasn’t so slick, but I’ll take it over my hotel any day. Bought some postcards, wrote out a few while the rains came down again. Relaxed at the hotel most of the day listening to the surf crash loudly.

Tripping Around-Day 3

Booked a tour after breakfast. 300,000 rupiah for a day’s worth of driving toward Kuta Beach (Lombok). On the tour, I was shuttled to a pottery barn, weaving village, and traditional Sasak village. The pottery wasn’t too interesting except for the pieces that combined woven fiber as a covering. There were several barns doing the same thing nearby. Nothing is ever unique here. I bought a cowbell for 20,000. The woman dropped the price from 25,000 without my asking. Next stop, ‘weaving village.’ I took a short tour by a tour guide to see some women actively weaving in their homes. I ended up being thrust into one of their weaving machines to give it a try (see My Images). My bargaining skills were clearly lacking as I overpaid greatly on two ikat. Someone spent at least a week weaving this and I’m putting a price on it. What the hell? Second to last destination: Kuta Beach—not to be confused with the Kuta Beach on Bali. This place was nicely underdeveloped and looked like Bali 15 years ago—or so I was told. Nice white sands, a coral break off the short and kids fishing from boats tens of meters offshore. Very nice. Finally, I was taken to Mayura Water Palace. This place was left over from the Bali Hindu conquerings. I was first told to put on a sash to protect my upper body from spirits. I didn’t see any of the locals wearing one and knew that I would be having to give a little something in rental for the black cloth. Anyhow, a guide showed me to the ‘floating’ pavilion. It was floating on a block of concrete. Apparently, it was a place of law and judgement for the people of Mataram during the days of Balinese rulers. We then went to a couple temples for the Hindus and my guide suggested I give him some money to help with the upcoming festival. I still hadn’t paid for entry to the park nor did I have faith in this guy to put the money in the box I saw clearly marked for donations. He ended up getting 20,000 from me after saying people normally give 50,000. Who are these people giving 50,000? I dropped another 20,000 off at the gate for the sash rental and went away. If you’re over this way, give the Mayura Water Palace a pass.

Tripping Around—Day 4 (Christmas)

Spent the day resting and getting tens of text messages on my mobile phone wishing me a Merry Christmas. Went to a nearby hotel to chat with my co-worker and his friend, who happen to be vacationing on the same island.

Tripping Around—Day 5

Great Thai food at Bumbu Café in Sengigi. Mailed postcards. Leaving for Bali tomorrow.

Tripping Around—Day 6

It was a 40 minute, 35 USD flight from Mataram to Denpasar on a twin propeller plane. Checked in, wandered, rested, dinner. Beer & movie at a sidestreet café.

I read about an interesting occurrence at the lunch house I was at. An Indonesian blogger did a cut & paste of the Indo president’s head onto a photo showing him buddy-buddy with someone else. The blogger was questioned by police and can face up to 6 years in prison for ‘acts against the president.’ The president responded that the blogger was misguided but did not deserve the manpower used to question him. The author of the article about the blogger called the ‘cut & paste’ tasteless but worthy of an attempt at free speech. Just be happy most of you live in a country where you can say pretty much anything you want regarding the president or his office…

Tripping Around—Day 7

Wandered Kuta Beach (Bali) once again. Found a small Indian place where I gorged myself on a vegetable thali. Went a-hunting in the pirate DVD/CD stores and came back with aplenty. They even had King Kong ready for action. Two flights back to Manado—bumpy. Safe in Manado and making plans for a cozy birthday party. More photos to come in a day or two.