Lombok

ALL WE NEED IS A SANTA CLAUS

We are the only white faces on the fast boat to bangsal, no biggy as there are only 4 passengers. The trip takes all of 10 minutes then we have to scramble over the bow onto a ladder and drop into the surf. Our friends Robyn Lyn and Dave have set us up with a driver. Azwar is there to meet us and we’ve arranged for a days sight seeing which has to wait a day as tomorrow is a holiday where we assume our Muslim brothers and sisters will lay around all day and celebrate the end of the fast by well..... not fasting anymore.

On the way to the resort we pass a lot of damaged houses, legacy of last year’s earthquake. Aswar tells us how he and his family, mum, wife and 4 kids were sitting down to dinner when the quake happened. We can only imagine the rising sense of panic as the power failed, the earth shook and the tsunami warning siren sounded, bundling everyone into the car, making for the high ground. He tells us how the police told everyone there would be no tsunami by around 9pm, Aswar kept his family there, along with their neighbours until 1am when they returned home to find the front of the house collapsed. 600 people sadly died in the 2018 earthquake.

A cab into town for urgent supplies (Beer) and a beachside meal at the Coco-Loco beach bar and restaurant. The manager kindly gives us a lift back to the hotel. Celebrations are starting, the mosques are at full volume, incredibly haunting as the prayers drift across the palms and out to sea. We pass a couple of large processions on the way home, all light, fireworks, singing, drums, kids laughing, dressed as shepherds, we’re gestured to join in the procession, marching up and down the road, the spirit of joy and bonhomie is palpable.... all it needs is a Santa Claus. Is that all that’s between us? A few months and a chubby geezer in a red suit made up by Disney? The singing and fireworks go on all night but we’re undisturbed, when I get up for a pee in the wee wee hours! I notice they’re still going, just a little louder than the insect noise in our huge outdoor bathroom.

The morning is staggeringly beautiful. A tropical garden, all frangipane trees and multi coloured bougainvillea, the air full of scent, a wide perfectly cut lawn leads us down to the infinity pool looking over the ocean which the newly risen sun is turning to silver, it laps a perfect, deserted crescent of beach, sheltered by over hanging palm trees. It’s blissfully warm, swallows are already skimming the pools’ surface, everything is closed today, we have beer and white wine in the fridge in the room, nothing, absolutely nothing to do.......you know the other day? When I mentioned we were homesick?

Today we set out for a drive around the southern end of the island. It’s still holiday time and the roads are busy as we make our way to the stunning main mosque. The biggest on the island it’s a huge construction particularly in what is a low rise island. It still shows quake damage but it’s a magnificent structure, the huge central dome and towering minarets glowing an emerald green in the morning sun. On to the obligatory handicrafts stop. Fucking weaving!!...

We resist the encouragement to dress as royals and have photos taken in front of the lumbung. Watching the back breaking process of material production and the glimpse of traditional indonesian life is really interesting however and the saris, shirts, sheets etc are truly beautiful.

The bit of the trip we’d looked forward to is the trip along the southern foot of the island. Our pal Dave from Australia says there are beaches here that are the most beautiful he’s seen in his life..... we’ve seen Australian beaches that defy description so we’re keen to see them. He has a point, they are picture perfect, the ocean is the most wonderful blue merging from the lightest duck egg to saphire and back in bands as the sun reflects from the powder white sand. Each is an almost perfect thumb nail curve, edged by cliff faces and almost luminous emerald green hills, jungle or rice terraces. The sea is wonderfully warm and gentle rollers pile onto the shore. There’s no doubt I could spend weeks on any one of them.

A gecko lives behind our shower gel bottle in the bathroom. Like most bathrooms here it’s half open to the elements. The shower area is all stone flooring and green plants surrounded by beautiful tiling, above you just the sky. A half ceiling covers the loo and hand basin. Halfway down the wall of the shower a nook holds hair wash, conditioned and gel, our gecko sits behind the bottles, scrabbling behind whichever of the three you are not using, he’s very lovely, a light brown colour almost perfectly matching the wall.

Last night we made our way back to town for dinner, a lovely mix of thai chicken and cashews and sea food steamed in a banana leaf with coconut milk all eaten a couple of yards from the surf with lanterns strung in the surrounding trees, looking for all the world like a fantasy grotto. Again, the owner gives us a lift back and we sit out on the terrace with a glass of wine listening to the night sounds and Van Morrison.

Today is our last in Lombok......for now!.......... I can’t believe we won’t come back. Before brekky we sit with a coffee and watch one of the girls from the spa as she uses a long thin rod to shake frangipane flowers from the trees to place in bowls, their scent is heady and fills the air. She laughs to herself as a shower of yellow-golden flowers falls around her in the sparkling sun, she tucks one of the fragrant four headed blooms behind her ear and gathers the others in a small bowl. Much as we try to gather memories for this blog, all to keep us warm when we’re a world away, against a UK February.