Lombok

Today we explored Lombok’s (Indonesia) capital city, Mataram and the surrounding countryside. We visited a temple, a pearl shop, a market, and a museum. As usual, it was hot and humid, but still interesting and fun.

Unlike Bali, which is predominantly Hindu, Lombok is mostly Muslim. Our guide said there are so many Muslims that there is a mosque nearly every 100 feet. That was a bit of hyberbole, but not much–there were always 2-4 mosques within sight as we drove from place to place. We drove by the largest mosque in Lombok, but didn’t stop, so it was hard to get a good photo of it.

The temple we visited is an important temple complex on the island because it is a place where four religions worship and pray together on special occasions–Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, and Christians. In the center of the complex is a fountain containing fish that are believed to appear only when a person’s wish is going to be granted. Several of our group members threw coins into the fountain and made wishes, and a fish leaped out of the water after one of the wishes. The temple, built in 1714, hosted a major festival yesterday, so many of the festive decorations were still visible as the clean-up crews worked to pick up litter from the festival.

Black and white cultured pearls are grown in a number of places around the world, but only Lombok grows gold cultured pearls.

At the market, we were welcomed with a stick fight dance performance. While men beat on drums, two boys try to hit each other as hard as they can with rattan sticks. A referee (the third boy in the courtyard) determines who scores points. The boys have shields to protect themselves, but when their opponents find an opening around the shield, the fighters can be injured and bleeding. This dance is done only on special holidays. After the performance, we entered the market, which was arranged in a quadrangle and was very colorful.

Our guide told us not to pay the asking price for anything in the market. I didn’t plan to buy anything, but I saw a pretty little basket that Ted and I thought would be a nice souvenir of Indonesia. I told Ted I wouldn’t pay more than $5 for it and we agreed it would probably be $4.95 at Target in the U.S. The seller wanted $20 USD, so I just said no. He asked how much I wanted to pay and I told him not more than $5. He came down to $10, then $7, but I just turned away to leave. I was probably supposed to meet him in the middle on price, but I really didn’t think the basket was worth more than $5 and I could live without it. As I was leaving, he called out that he would accept $5. Then his boss (I assume) came over and asked if he could help. I asked if he’d take a credit card or USD and he said he’d take USD for the $20. So I had to do the same negotiating thing with him. He asked the vendor if it was true that the vendor had agreed to sell it for $5, the vendor affirmed his decision, Ted handed over a $5 bill, and we left with the basket.

At the museum, we were welcomed with a variety of traditional Lombok cakes that were delicious. It was a nice place to visit, because it was cooler inside. We saw many interesting things from Lombok’s history–fabrics, musical instruments, weapons, farming tools, household items, etc. Like the First Ladies’ dresses in the Smithsonian, my favorite display was the formal wear of past royalty in the country.

The most unusual exhibit I saw was these horses.

They look like children’s toys, but reading the description on the sign presented a very different story. There is a little bench/step on each side of each horse. Young boys would sit on these horses with their feet on the steps, holding on to the horses while the boys were held in place by men during their circumcision. The horses were described as “comforting” to the boys. Yikes!

In the city, we saw lots of scooters (just like in Bali) and a different kind of taxi, pulled by a horse. Our guide joked that these taxis have a one-horsepower engine with enough power for a half day. (The taxi drivers have two horses, and use each for a half day.)

Lumber strong enough for building is scarce in Lombok, but bamboo is plentiful and very strong. We saw a lot of building construction that was framed with bamboo, and a number of lumber vendors with cut lengths of bamboo instead of pine 2x4s like in the U.S. Lombok is planting forests of harder wood, but it will take many years to grow enough wood to use it for housing. Meanwhile, much housing is framed with bamboo and sided with corrugated metal. Concrete is another popular construction material.

Housing in Lombok is nearly always enclosed by a wall with a split gate. Compared to U.S. houses, the homes are small (10 m x 10 m is considered roomy) and often shelter multiple families.

The city sidewalks are very decorative, and not only in a few areas–they were decorated with a variety of patterns everywhere we saw a sidewalk. The black and white curb indicates good (white) and evil (black), and the pattern reminds people that everything in life must always be in balance.

We saw pretty scenery wherever we went, but this is equatorial country and it’s literally a jungle, so it was hard to take landscape scenes without trees in my way.

As we neared the ship on our return, the skies darkened. The wind became fierce (Ted thinks a least 50 mph), and it started raining just as our bus parked at the dock. Ted and I had travel umbrellas in our bags and debated if we should use them or run for it. Since the wind would most likely either (1) turn our umbrellas inside out, or (2) blow the rain sideways against us, we opted to run for it. We just cleared the ship’s doorway when a cloudburst-type downpour started and thunder boomed. (We were on a metal gangplank oceanside. Not good with lightning.) The people behind us got drenched. Those still on returning buses were told to stay onboard while the ship’s crew members brought them umbrellas and plastic raincoats. At lunch after everyone dried off, we all agreed the morning ended with an adventure. Here’s what the rain looked like from our stateroom when we got inside.

Our guides in Bali and Lombok both told us that life is good here. Crime is minimal (someone might steal your chicken); road rage doesn’t exist (horns are used to indicate a desire to pass or to take the right-of-way and drivers yield with a smile and a wave to each other); kindness to others and caring for family and community members are deeply ingrained in the culture; and people of all religions get along well with each other and often have communal worship services. Not everything is perfect, of course, but the United States could become a kinder, gentler nation (cf George H. W. Bush) by practicing these values.

Tomorrow: the Indonesian Island of Komodo.