The slow boat to Lombok (Mar. 15/09 - Senggigi, Lombok, Indonesia)

With only a few days left before our flight to Australia on the 18th, we decided to spend the last couple days checking out Lombok, Bali's eastern neighbour. Despite being able to see the island from where we were in Amed, we had to drive back to Padangbai to catch the ferry across. Tour companies offer a fast boat that only takes an hour to cross the straight, but with a price tag of $70 each, we opted to join the rest of the locals and the frugal travelers on the slow public boat. It was an hour late leaving the harbour, so we plunked down in the shade with everyone else and chatted with other backpackers to kill the time. Eventually, the boat showed up and we grabbed an outside bench to take advantage of the sea breezes and avoid the noise, smoke, and cluster of people inside. As we pulled out of the bay, tenders from an Italian cruise ship were ferrying tourists to the dock, and the massive "welcoming party" (touts and taxi drivers) awaited them, ready to pounce when they got off the boat. It's only 25km over to Lombok, but the ancient ferry only cruises at 7 or 8 knots, so it would take over four hours to get there. The scenery was nice though, with Nusa Penida to the south and Lombok's southwestern tip passing by. Various people came and went from the other end of our bench, including a local family that seemed keen to learn some more english. I was dismayed to watch the little four year old boy finish a snack and throw the bag overboard into the sea, then do the same with his water bottle. No wonder the ocean is thick with garbage. I wonder why people aren't more concious about little things like not bothering to walk the five steps to the garbage can? It seems to happen all the time in this part of the world, and it sickens me because every piece of garbage that falls into the water will likely kill a fish, a piece of coral, or a turtle.

We pulled into Lombok's Lembar harbour four and a half hours later, starving from having not eaten yet today and sore from so long on the bench. The town we were aiming for is Senggigi, a beach town with some tourist facilities that sounded just right for our last few days in Indonesia. It was a 90 minute drive, through the main town of Mataram and past rice fields and looming black storm clouds gathering on Lombok's signature Gunung Rinjani volcano. Not knowing where we wanted to stay, we ignored the overpriced offers from the booking office we were dumped at and started walking. Two separate guys on motorbikes pulled over and whipped out cards to try and get us to go to their hotel, but the one we had picked out of the guidebook turned out to be just fine. We paid a few extra dollars to be away from the road, as motorcycles roaring down the street is a recipe for a sleepless night. Instead, we got a big room with views of the ocean and just the sound of waves rolling in. Sure, the walls are crumbling from water damage and you have to turn the shower knobs on with pliers, but we're ok with that!

Finally, we were well enough and had time to get some food in our stressed-out stomachs, then we walked along the beach just in time to catch the sun setting behind Bali, directly west. The dramatic swirling clouds over the silhouette of Gunung Agung and sailboats on the horizon really made for a pretty sight. Postcard perfect!