Trisha Ray - Log of a Travel Artist: Indonesia

Showing posts with label Indonesia. Show all posts

On Motorbikes in Bali

It's true what they say about Bali.

In spite of its popularity - there's something gentle and special about the place.

They built the airport in 1960.

Although tourism arguably started back in the 1600's,

the airport still had a major impact.

And - yet...

We saw no beaches.

No resorts. No hotels.

Not many tourists.

We stayed in a traditional old house “Rumah Antik” in a Balinese village.
Sembuwuk, with a lovely Balinese family.

When we went out for a walk in the village,

people stopped to ask where we were from.

Where we were staying.

They’re very curious.

Everyone knows everyone else.

The white on the roads is the remains of the sheets of drying rice. Stan waits for me at the bottom of the village.

Gardens are filled with little shrines.

Each is dedicated to a different manifestation of a particular deity.

In fact, some gardens are quite crowded with shrines.

Full of local and ancestral gods.

You'd hate to offend a deity who might be helpful.

We rented motorbikes. Our host Gusti brought them to the garden.

We set off through the rice fields and villages to explore the countryside.

We stopped for lunch along the way.

We weren't even sure if it was a restaurant.

They grew vegetables and fruits.

They didn’t speak English, but the food was delicious.

Bali has splendid natural beauty.

Volcanoes and rice terraces.

Spice farms and coffee plantations.

Foggy calderas and torrential rainstorms.

Waterfalls, caves, stone carvings and gargoyles.

Incense, painted ceilings and calligraphy.

Rice drying on narrow roads.

Huge forests of bamboo, filled with colorful butterflies.

The frequent favorite - Ganesh.

Yes, we spent a morning in Ubud, with its Serenity Spas and Yoga Barns and Meditation Centers and chic boutique hotels and upscale shops and motorcycles and traffic and tourists and cafes and restaurants and guys holding “Taxi” signs and it’s all quite noisy and crowded.

Luckily, we first went the wrong way, and walked through a local part of town, which was quite enjoyable. We visited temples and museums and had the necessary de-tox fruit shakes, but after lunch, I was ready to leave.

For me, Bali was offerings, towering fruit plates on women's heads.

Small banana leaves with sticky rice in front of every home, shop or statue.

This offering was found on a wooden footbridge. To appease the trolls?

Often, the streets were filled with processions.

Lots of drums and special clothing.

Festivities, long skinny villages with thousands of hanging penjors.

A lot of islands have good beaches - but - not many have this.

Women in handmade ikat sarongs with colorful sashes.

Men in long skirts, with small pointed hats.

We were also required to wear a sash entering holy places.

Penjors - made of braided palm leaves - line every street.

There are 4 castes in Bali - people's names often denote their caste.

Or their position in the family, regardless of gender.

"Wayan" means first born.

There are names for first, second, third and fourth born.

If there is a fifth child, he or she is called Wayan Balik, or Wayan Again!

There are no last names, but everyone gets a new name after they die.

Our host, Gusti Made - "Second-born leader of Wasya caste". And Stan.

In the afternoons, it RAINED.
Not like New Mexico.

In 30 seconds, drenched.

On motorcycles?
VERY drenched.

After visiting a number of other islands in Indonesia, we returned briefly to Bali on our way north. The second time, we rented yet another beautiful villa, nearer town. It was CRAZY beautiful, so we barely left home.

Very welcome after some of the more primitive places we've stayed in on other islands.

We TOTALLY enjoyed the luxury.

Bali is a Hindu island.

It's different.

Most Indonesian islands are Moslem.

No sticky rice offerings.

No decorations or temples.

No colorful towers of fruit on women's heads.

We never even SAW one of the famous Bali beaches.

At a civet cat coffee farm in the highlands.

So - our Bali Experience may have been unusual.

Still - that's okay.
I wouldn't have changed it.

Gili Air - Mushrooms and Monitor Lizards

This is the first time I've worried about getting a sunburn IN the shower.

In our rented cabin. It's a definite risk.

We're in Gili Air.

East of Bali, off the coast of Lombok.

It’s gorgeous. Total tropical paradise.

Not many people here.

So we rented bikes - $2 a day - in Yahuuut.

(yes, 3 u’s! I wonder - what is the story on THAT?)

Needed bikes to explore the island and find some place to stay.

Came across Island View Bungalows on the quiet windward side of the island.

Bungalows - lovely gardens - privacy. Little wooden shelters on the beach to drink beer.

Watch the sun set.

A sleepy bar, and a bevy of young men from Lombok.

They couldn’t be more helpful or friendly.

Breakfast comes with the room. Served anywhere we like.

On our balcony, at the beach, in the bar -

The "main road" goes through Island View Bungalows.

In the first 5 minutes, I see a LARGE lizard, maybe 4-5 feet long, with a long forked tongue.

Not at ALL like an iguana.

It was crawling through the garden near our bungalow.

My first Komodo-style dragon!

Although I think it’s a monitor lizard.

Which I guess a Komodo dragon is, too.

It slid under one of the bungalows. -Glad it's not ours.

Our bungalow. A/C. Hammock on the balcony. On the beach. $42.

There are no cars on the island, so no need for roads.

No cars, no motorcycles, no dogs.

This is the main road.

"Downtown" Gili Air.

There are tracks - and trails - for bicycles and horse carts.

Even our scuba equipment is transferred by horse cart.

We got on our bikes and explored the island. It isn’t big.

It's only about 2 hours’ walk in total circumference.

It’s gorgeous, almost empty, not expensive.

I think it might be rainy season.

There is a mosque and a school in the middle, and about 3-4 villages.

They’re simple places. Everyone says hello.

Women wear scarves or more. It’s a Moslem island.

The tourists - mostly young backpackers - are on the edges, at the beaches.

The locals all live in the interior, in the villages.

Not a bad system.

Gili Air is one of 3 tiny Indonesian islands.

Gili means "small island".

We took a ferry from Padang Bai in Bali to get here.

At some point, I got a call from Kilian - “Are you ok?”
I had no idea there’d been a 7.8 earthquake off the coast of Sumatra.

That's pretty big.

(Don't even THINK about tsunamis-!)

No sign of any earthquake here...

I told him we'd been invited to a "trance" party on the beach tonight by a gang of young travelers. Most of the visitors to Gili Air are young backpackers. It's firmly on the "Banana Pancake Trail". Complete with mushroom shakes and all that.

(Magic mushrooms grow wild here. They even put them on pizzas.)

Tonight - or early tomorrow am - is apparently a full solar eclipse.

However - we decline - a cold shower and a glass of wine in our air-conditioned room just sounds SO much more appealing! We'll get up early to see the eclipse.

So here we are tonight. Under the mosquito net, which gives it all a privacy and intimacy that’s kinda cool. Inside the net: My Kindle, phone, and computer - and an almost empty glass of Bintang beer.

Most visitors pass through the Gilis quickly. Since we're here longer than most, we get to know the fellows working here. They're mostly from Lombok - (I remember an older man we stayed with in Malaysia complaining about those charming boys from Lombok who come over and steal the hearts of their daughters in Malaysia-! He was quite serious.)

One night, the lads caught a large tuna, and asked whether we wanted it to share it - grilled or sushi. We got both. With a Bintang beer. On the beach. With a view of Gili Meno in front of us.

UNDERWATER:

The diving and snorkeling here in Indonesia is impressive.

(and I grew up in the Caribbean!)

The dive instructors are often young Australians.

Full of energy, very professional. The gear is usually good.

The undersea wildlife is amazing.

Plus, the wooden boats are just - fun.

Today - Stan did a refresher course, since he hasn't been diving since Roatan.

Diving: 490,000 rupiah (just under $40), including dives, boat, equipment, wetsuit.

Can’t complain.

The boats - including dive boats - are often handcrafted outriggers.

FOOD:

The food in Indonesia so far has been good: Nasi Goreng, Mei Goreng, Gado-Gado.
Spices and noodles and rice and chilies.
Not a lot of choices, but it’s filling and good.

Most restaurants on the island are about the same, pretty simple but lovely, little bamboo platforms out on the beach.

Tonight, had gin and tonics and Greek salad and spring rolls and satay - what international fare!

Dinner main course is about 35,000 for something Indonesian (less than $3) and up - for fancy stuff. Wine is very pricey here - we’re trying to stick to beer. But the local beer is good.

THE PLAN:

It's month 4 of our SE Asian trip.

We've been playing it by ear for the last 3 months.

At times, this feels like the BEST possible way to live! Always something new.

Constantly learning - exploring - being challenged by the unknown.

Finding unexpected corners of paradise, like Gili.

It takes time to figure out where to go next and how to get there. Especially in this part of the world, where we really don't know our way around. We don't know what's possible.

Also, Indonesia is HUGE.

Good-bye to all our Island View friends...

So we're off to Flores.

It's only the next island but one.

You'd think it would be easy! But - it's not.

By boat it would take 3-4 days, sleeping on the deck.

That's not for us.

We start with a horse cart to the ferry port at 7 am.

Found a seat on the public ferry, after having to climb aboard through the water.

Thinking about a ferry crossing on a public boat, I was a bit apprehensive, after the regular reports of overloaded Indonesian ferries capsizing in rough waters and people drowning.

But Lombok isn’t far, and it turned out the ferry wasn’t half as crowded as the one yesterday.

Not as rough as I’d feared, either.

There were a couple of other travelers on board, but for the most part, all local.

Women in headscarves, workers going home on their day off.

The fare was 12,000 rupiah to Lombok. About 85 cents.

We were met at the Lombok port by someone who handed us off to someone else who handed us off to a driver who took us to the airport at Bandera. (Can't believe that worked.)

'Taxi' stop in Lombok. Stan's pants wet from getting off the ferry.

About 1.5 hours' drive or so through the mountains.

Our plane was delayed, so no rush. Our connecting plane in Bali was also delayed. (we have to fly back to Bali in order to fly east to Flores.) Both planes are prop planes, about 80 passengers, almost all locals.

The further east we get into Indonesia, the less I know about it.

I have NO idea what tomorrow will look like.

That's fine by me.

Life is good.

Komodo Dragons & Indonesia

The place we’re staying in is quirky. In a good way.

Most unusual. Kind of a tree house.

Up a narrow stone path and a slippery muddy trail.

Between rocks so tight that Stan had to turn sideways to get through.

And this - after the taxi dumped us off on a side road god knows where.

In the pouring rain.

Stan - with his pack - and folding guitar.

The bathroom is open to the sky.

When it rains here, it comes down with intense tropical enthusiasm. For good measure, the toilet is placed just beneath the runoff from the roof of the bungalow.

Timing is everything.

There's a bar, but it only had 1 beer. (luckily a large one-)

We took it.

But the place has a great balcony.

I keep thinking - where the heck ARE we?

I think we're the only ones here.

Watching the scene below.

Pretty pleased with our choice of being on the hill.

We're overlooking the city of Labuan Bajo.

On the edge of the island of Flores, Indonesia.

Ships and containers.

Tin roofs and wooden boats. Lots of both.

It's a working town.

When it’s not raining, sounds of an impromptu soccer game.

Hammering from the boatbuilders.

More enthusiastic roosters.

Motorcycles.

Cheering from the gang watching the soccer match.

All sounds of a regular city, doing the things they do everyday.

And we're SO FAR from everywhere we know.

Handmade boats and lumpy green islands.

Lots of cool old wooden boats.

Fishermen, construction, mosques - and the occasional small dive shop.

The scuba diving here, however - is incredible.

Sharks and rays and turtles and corals and seahorses - SO much to see!

It's a complete wonder world. We spend a LOT of time underwater.

Then, someone mentioned we could go snorkeling with giant manta rays, so we signed up.

We didn't realize we'd be seeing Komodo dragons, too.

There weren't a lot of takers on the trip.

A lovely old traditional Phinisi wooden boat.

Over 10,000 of the 17,000 islands in Indonesia are uninhabited.

Islands in all directions, and so very green this time of year.

Even with the inhabited ones, transport between the islands is NOT straightforward.

I looked into going to Raja Ampat and the Banda Islands.

The best I could find was 39 hours from here, with 6 transfers!

All - within the same country.

But - back to the Komodo dragons.

When we get off the boat, we see this sign.

Crocodiles? - As if Komodo dragons aren't enough.

Looking for crocodiles.

These guys are dangerous. Shark-like teeth.

Their saliva is saturated with toxins. There's no anti-venom.

And - they're cranky.

A cranky Mama Komodo.

On the island, Komodo dragons are just - well, lying around.

On trails. Under laundry lines.

We had to be accompanied by a local guy with a big stick.

I can't believe people just - live casually around them.

These are under someone's kitchen!

Plus, Komodo is home to poisonous snakes.

Vipers, kraits, and cobras.

Pythons, too.

Unbelievably, they allow camping here.

-Really.

Then: GIANT MANTA RAYS:

They call it "Manta Point" for a reason.

You could FEEL and SEE the currents working beneath the surface.

The waters churned and swirled.

The captain cut the engine and we - jumped off.

The swirling water creates a sort of jet stream of fish and plankton.

We were being carried along with the current, and the mantas came towards us, huge mouths wide open, feeding on the plankton.

They are HUGE.

2-3 meters across.

Their mouths are wide open.

Dozens of them.

Beneath us.

Next to us.

Around us.

We struck manta gold.

Something I’ve never seen before, even though we have seen mantas in other places.

WAY cool. I was totally impressed.

This alone was worth coming for.

Also, dolphins followed us out there, jumping and swimming along with our boat…and there were even sea eagles. A regular nature film in the making.

Just before sunset, we anchored off a mangrove island.

Around us, hills and islands, green humps in the water, in all directions.

No lights.

Just hanging out.

Waiting for sunset.

As the sun went down, thousands of giant fruit bats begin to appear.

The ones they call flying foxes.

Over a meter across, enormous. Coming out of the jungle, cruising slowly over our heads, into the night sky. They flew in front of the setting sun, and the rising moon. Each one looked like a miniature "Batman" sign - just so much larger than any I’ve ever seen before.

Thousands and thousands of hunting bats.

They come out of the mangroves and head for night feeding on Flores Island.

Every evening.

It felt like a classic scene from a zombie film.

And then - we cruised back home to Labuan Bajo.

In the dark.

With no lights.

The captain says he keeps everything dark so he can see the smaller boats - also with no lights - by the light of the moon. Lovely.

An impressive day.

Can’t ask for much more than that.

Some day, all of this may be very popular, but for now, it's pretty low key.

KANAWA

Back in town, we found a small desk in a closet-sized office that advertised stays on an island called Kanawa. It was supposedly located inside the Komodo National Park, which I didn't think was allowed. But supposedly, it had accommodation. No idea. We couldn't find out much about it. Anyway, off we went.