From Lembata to Mataram

Monday 12th September

Today I started my journey back west from Lembata island to Bali.

Up at 2:15am, on the bus at 2:45am from Lamalera back to Lewoleba. I decided to travel back with the other guys partly for moral support as the journey here was fairly arduous, and partly to be sure of getting to the Monday market. The journey was actually ok and we arrived in town about 7am, and the others went off to the ferry.

I checked in and went to look for the market. Well, there was some Lost in Translation and I found myself directed to the small fruit market 3kms away. Still, I got to see rural parts of the Island, and at the market I bought lots of donuts and fruit and the locals were friendly. Eventually I found out that the Monday market I was looking for no longer exists!


Tuesday 13th September

The hotel here (in Lewoleba, on Lembata island) gave me banana fritters and coffee for breakfast and I ate 4 of my donuts. Walked down to the jetty and caught the 8am ferry from Lewoleba to Larantuka (on Flores), eating another 5 donuts along the way.

It is a 10-hour bus trip to my next stop, and since I only got here at midday I decided to stay here for the night. Found nice room by the jetty. Walked along the main road out of town accompanied by the near-constant calls of 'Hey Mister'; it gets tiresome responding each time, or ignoring it. Some of the guys gesture that they want cigarettes or my (cheap) sunglasses. But the walk was ok and I found the ice cream 'van'.


Wednesday 14th September

I was sat on today's only direct bus to Ende at 6:45am this morning. But, understandably, the bus doesn't leave until it is full. So we left at 10am. Annoying, but there you go.

The smoking and the music on the bus wasn't too bad. I had grabbed a seat not next to a speaker, and when Bryan Adams inevitably came on, I put my earplugs in. In among the Indonesian pop and rock came Queen's "I want to break free", and Abba's "Chicken Tikka". I was happy when the bus dropped me off outside this nice cheap hotel, in Ende, at 8:30pm.


Thursday 15th September

At 8am I walked out of Ende town a few kms to the small village of Wolowana, where the streets were lined with people selling fish and fruit and veggies, and donuts of which I bought 4. I was lost for a bit but then walked across a bridge and down a country lane, past some small rice fields, nice houses with palm trees, past some cows, with hills in the background. I came to Nanga Nesa which is a black sand beach with good views of the bay.

I walked along the beach for a while and then onto the road watching the mad waves crash on to the beach and on to rocks. The road was then a bit hilly and it was very hot but eventually I was looking down on my destination, the small coastal village of Wolotopo.

A bit more walking and then I came to Wolotopo. I met 3 excitable kids on their break outside their school and they followed me for a while. Then I met 3 teachers and they ushered the kids back towards school. I asked the teachers where I could buy some water and there was no shortage of little volunteers to show me where the shop was (probably because it was nearly the end of the breaktime!). So i followed 12 kids up the path to in to the village. The shop had no water, and we headed back to the school.

I sat in the shade and chatted in broken Indonesian/English to a couple of guys, the older of whom was breaking up small rocks into small rocks using a lump hammer; he had very strong arms, and wouldn't accept my offer of some of the water I still had left.

Back up the path, I found myself pretty much in people's backyard's and was thinking I should turn back, when a guy opened his gate and ushered me through his yard, past his family and onto the right path; very friendly. I had a good view of the village and the Catholic church from the path that runs along, about half way up. On the way back down there was a kid in a tree cutting down durian, and the school kids were playing football.

I headed out of the village and back along the coast road and all the way back to the hotel, via fried noodles for lunch. It seemed to take ages to get back and I was very hot and sweaty, but glad that I had seen Wolotopo and met the friendly locals.

This afternoon I walked down to Ende town and to the harbour. It is not much to look at, and the fish market had (not surprisingly) finished by the time I got there. But there was a cute little kid having a bath in a bucket. Many of the shops were shut and I liked their different pastel-coloured doors. I walked back to the hotel, still hot and sweaty.

Friday 16th September

In Ende. It is often difficult to get accurate information about departure times for buses; I can get 3 different answers from 3 different locals. So I got to the bus station by 6:20am this morning. The bus left Ende at 8am. We got a flat tyre at 8:15am, but they soon replaced it with a bold one.

So of course I was going back the way I came last week so I enjoyed the scenery again, and it was good not trying to take pictures, just relaxing and dozing, because there was no loud music. We arrived in Ruteng at 5:30pm and most people got off the bus, but as arranged, they took me a bit further, to meet my next vehicle, which was not a bus, but a 8-seater Toyota. The guy waiting asked for more money than I had been told when I left Ende, so I stood my ground, even though I had no other transport options. He backed down and I was squeezed in the back with a family of 5.

Eventually we left Ruteng in the dark. There was a video screen in the car and we watched some American Wrestling for a bit before they reverted to the same collection of songs that I have heard in every vehicle I have been in in Indonesia; they must all just have copies of the one CD.

We stopped for a break which was fair enough and then arrived near Labuanbajo around 11pm. They dropped passengers off at their homes and eventually they dropped me at the homestay at 11:30pm and didn't ask for extra cash! I was very happy that there was a bed available at the homestay, albeit the smallest room in Indonesia.

Saturday 17th September

I was woken up at about 6am by music blaring from an old local guy's phone on the communal balcony outside my room. He seemed to be enjoying listening to 'I'm a Barbie Girl' full blast. At the ferry terminal ticket guys were selling tickets all the way through to Mataram which was my destination. Getting there under my own steam would be tricky (I know, having come that way) and so I let myself be persuaded. But then they asked for 300,000 rupiah. I told them it had only cost me 200,000 to get here and that they were trying to rip me off. They said "ok. Sorry. 200,000 rupiah". But they are only sorry after you complain. The ferry left at 9, an hour later than scheduled.

There were some friendly tourists on the ferry and I realised that I hadn't spoken to any tourists for almost a week. It was noisy on the main deck but very quiet on the upper deck, so I stood up there for a while in the shade, looking out to sea and listening to my football podcasts.

We arrived in Sape at 5pm and we were herded onto oven-hot buses that must have been sat in the sun all afternoon; it was ok once we started moving and the breeze came through. We arrived in Bima at 6:30pm and were allocated to "Executive" buses for the rest of the trip. The bus was comfortable with reclining seats. I was sat next to a friendly older local guy called Risky. We broke down after an hour, for an hour. The bus made it's way across Sumbawa island and I managed to get some sleep, and we stopped for food at 4am. Rice of course!

The same as most travelers, I have just sat on the bus across Sumbawa, as a means of getting from Flores to Lombok. It is difficult to explore Sumbawa without your own wheels, but it does look like a nice place. It also looks extremely dry, some of the small rice terraces were barren. I thought that was typcial for the dry season, but on the (English-speaking) news they said that this part of Indonesia is in drought.

Sunday 18th September

Arrived at Poto Tano around 6am. The passenger ferries are regular and the trip is only 1.5 hours. Chatted to ex-pat Geordie guy who was a ten-pound-pom who moved to Adelaide with his family in 1973. I enjoyed listening to his experiences, things I have heard before about how the housing they were given did not match up to promises made. And of course he had many positive things to say too about how his lifestyle improved and how he was successful there and has now retired to Lombok.

Arrived in Labuhan Lombok around 8:30am and the bus continued here to Mataram at 11am. I could have continued to Senggigi but I have things to do here and I just need to stop moving, after 50 hours of travel!

I walked to the immigration office, on a reckie for tomorrow. I bought a new hat since I left mine on the bus the other day. Sun hats are not cool but they serve their one and only purpose. Went to the bank and managed to complete my transaction without waking up the security guard. Mataram is actually ok.

I had hoped to watch the footy on one of the TVs in Macca's or KFC but the locals were watching the Moto GP. Then I was too tired to care so came back to the hotel.