- Left – 8.00am
- 18th May 2015
- Miles rode – 222 (355km)
I was woken from my beautiful bamboo hut at 4.30am by the ‘call to prayer’ but for the first time since arriving in Indonesia it was a lovely voice, no high pitched screaming, it was pleasant to listen to. As I slowly awoke to the lovely sound I could hear the sea in the distance, but then the dogs and cockerels were awake too and wanted the world to know!
Lombok is a small island and isn’t busy at all, the way of life feels so much slower than Sumatra, Java or Bali. People aren’t rushing around on motorbikes but being slowly and gracefully taken around with a horse & cart.
I arrived at the port just in time to get onto the ferry. The sea was calm and very blue. As we approached Sumbawa it looked amazing, no buildings, only mountains and jungle with small islands dotted everywhere. I headed along the only road going east and for the next 5 hours which wound its way around every cove and inlet as it hugged the northern coast. I passed a few very small towns and villages but for the majority of the time it was nature, me and the odd car or motorbike.
I had only seen one hotel all day and as 5pm approached I thought I may have to dust the tent off. I arrived in a village and asked a few people if there was a hotel, I was shown the way to the only hotel, when I say hotel it looked more like a farm and I was led to the best stable, the door creaked as I was shown inside. The mattress didn’t fit the bed as it flopped over the end, the curtain was obviously made for a different window as it only covered the bottom 2/3rds and as for the bathroom, no shower, no sink, hole in the floor for a toilet and it was so very dirty! Yuk… And an ant colony was using the floor as a ‘super highway’ en route to some food I assume!
I didn’t want to hang around there so a quick wash and off to see the town by night. Nothing happening and it was all but closed by 8pm so back to my awful room and an early night.
