Honky Tonks Surf, Sand and Sunsets…

Hello Young Lovers 😉

So, Emma and I rented bicycles in Bali, which enabled us to explore the coastline faster, and to regain access to Man Frydays Chip Shop more quickly. Emma also enquired as to whether I would be interested in taking a boat trip to the Komodo Islands, and explained that she had identified a company named Perama (who I naturally nicknamed Piranha) who offered a cruise over several nights.

I leapt at the opportunity, so we cycled up to Perama’s offices in Bali, to see if we could make an advance booking. It transpired that they could offer us a bus transport to Senggigi, Lombok, where their office there could actually arrange the boat cruise itself. We booked the coach (pick up was at some unearthly time, and I didn’t enjoy that much, as I’ll never be a morning person) and before we knew it we were on the road once more.

The Early Bird!

Following the coach we were dropped off at a port, where we then embarked on a ferry journey which took us overseas to the respective island of Lombok. The ferry was slow (there was a fast ferry but as ever, more expensive, so we went economy with the locals) and it was a monster of a vessel, lurching heavily in the sea from one side to the other, as it sauntered on to its destination.

Captain Trent on board!

The vast majority of the passengers on the ferry were amicable enough, but at least one of them was what Emma and I have come to term as a ‘Buleh Snapper’. These are South East Asian people who delight in taking photographs on their mobile phones of westerners. We first encountered this bizarre inverse racist practice on a beach in Bali. It’s one thing when someone asks permission to take your photograph, it’s something else when people start snapping away without your permission, whilst sniggering, or grinning away from ear to ear.

I’m quite fortuitous insofar as my parents drummed into me from an early age that racism was wrong, plain and simple, so I didn’t need to experience racism myself to be able to empathise with what it’s like to be a victim of racist practice. None the less, the nature of the beast that is prejudice, in any shape or form, is that it does discriminate, so as individuals we were given a taste of it anyway 😦

Emma and I were both agreed that it was somewhat ironic that as travellers we were being exposed to racism, as like many Europeans we have met who are moving around the globe for an elongated period, we’re mostly liberal people who are certainly against racial stereotyping and such like. But I guess that’s just life. We’ve also met several young German people who bemoan the fact that some South East Asians always bring up Hitler, and even more strange, Emma and I have spotted the occasional local sporting nazi garb, which definitely has nothing to do with the Hindu swastikas which adorn some buildings and religious sites.

I suppose human nature is human nature, and fortunately our negative experiences have been confined to a minority of people. Here is a revenge photograph of one of the Buleh Snappers! Do you know this man? He was taking clandestine photographs of honkies on the ferry, but Emma caught him in the act, and played him at his own game – LoL!!

WANTED: for photographing Bulehs without permission

Upon arrival to Lombok we grabbed a connecting bus which drove us to Senggigi. The vehicle wasn’t the glitzy coach which the brochure had promised, and the air conditioning was attained by leaving the doors wide open for the entire duration of the journey – Ho Hum. Upon arrival we checked into Hotel Elen, which certainly wasn’t Hotel Eden, that’s for darn sure. The hotel is run entirely by men, who spend their time repetitiously clearing up the exterior communal areas, whilst almost totally neglecting to clean the interior bathrooms and such like.

Hotel Elen

Emma was of the view that the bathrooms needed a damn good scrub, and that she wasn’t going into ours minus flip flops. I had to agree. Our mothers would have been appalled. However, the sheets and beds were clean, the place was as cheap as chips and the staff were generally friendly. On the downside, the mosque next door had a really awful PA system which made their call to prayer sound like a litter of cats being drowned slowly first thing in the morning, and every time the call began the hotels resident talking bird started imitating a cat screeching too – what a wake up call!!

We lost a day organising return flights and booking the boat trip. We had hoped to go for five nights, but the cruise date we had in mind was fully booked, so we were obliged to scale down our plans to three nights on the high seas. In the evening we went to explore our new surroundings. It was shoulder season, so the number of tourists and travellers around were limited.

As a consequence, when walking down the main street, we were repetitiously asked if we needed transport/tours/accommodation and after a few days, when our faces were known, we were offered drugs instead. We declined all such offers I might add, just in case you’re wondering. “Hey! Mr Tattoo! You need transport?” was a frequent approach of enquiry!!

Emma takes a dip!

The weather was bizarre as the sun would shine in the mornings, and then in the early afternoon the dry heat would intensify, and I would start pouring with sweat. Invariably it would then pour heavily with rain for an hour or so, and then the sunshine would return!! Emma has planned our routes well hence far, and we have variously ducked and dived around SE Asia slightly ahead of the rainy seasons. As a consequence, we were to limit our stay to a few days on Lombok, and then move on across Indonesia, so as to escape the rain.

The main hub in Senggigi has a variety of karaoke bars which are quite expensive, and there is also a resort from which affluent middle aged tourists emerge in the evening, for the nightlife. However, there are also a lot of young surfer dudes around who want to catch the waves, and up from the main drag we discovered a restaurant named the Honky Tonks Blues and Bar, which is themed with posters and merchandise of The Rolling Stones, and has a good house band named Tom Stone.

Tom Stone alternate their vocalist on a Friday and Saturday, and cover the blues and old school R&B. Invariably they perform hits by the likes of the Rolling Stones, BB King, John Lee Hooker and throw in a couple of Pink Floyd numbers for good measure. Upon spotting yours truly on the Friday evening they came and had a chat with us in their interval, ascertained I liked punk rock, and next performed an ace cover of The Ramones ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’. We liked the place sufficiently to return there two nights running!!

By day we explored the beaches and enjoyed the sunsets, whilst eating in the restaurants of an evening. We met some nice local youngsters who were studying English, and gladly chatted to them with their English teacher.

Fin and his two young students, it was a privilege to meet them!

We located a couple of nice places to eat and as always, sank an ale or two along the way.

A great Mexican meal at Angels restaurant.

Then we were ready for our boat cruise to Komodo!!

Trent */x

The Early Bird!

A great Mexican meal at Angels restaurant.

WANTED: for photographing Bulehs without permission

Captain Trent on board!

Hotel Elen

Fin and his two young students, it was a privilege to meet them!

Emma takes a dip!