Loving Life in Lombok with my Mie Goreng hair

Santai- my veranda on my hut by the beach!
My outdoor shower
Dinner is served by lanterns
Sunset on Lombok
Waterfalls
Visitors to see the bulea woman
My pet gecko!
Children at the store, one teenage girl is screaming and hiding and being shy like I am a celebrity or something!
View from our lunch spot

What can I say?! Life is good here, nice country, beautiful scenery and great people! I am so glad I came here, I almost didn't but this is truly my favorite island so far! I have seen some amazing beaches and views, don't know if the pictures will do this justice!
I decided one day I wanted to go off the beaten path and see an area in the centre of the island called Tetebatu. Well for me it was a culture shock of 8/10! I went for a walk thru the village and felt like I was a celebrity. I was the only 'bulea' (white person) in town and the children all screamed 'HELLO' at me and everyone waved and honked at me. I can't even begin to describe how it felt to feel so different and to have so much attention!
Eddy, a worker at my 'hotel' came and rescued an 8" gecko out of my room and then sat down to chat with me as I was the only guest there. Tourism is really lacking in Indonesia still since the bombings in 2006. He proceed to tell me he was first married at 15 to an 11 yr old, then at 17 to a 13 yr old girl who decided she loved him cause he put Black Magic in her cigarette but she cried too much and now he is 34 and married with a baby to a 15 yr old! Apparently here divorce is very easy, you say 'I divorce you' four times and it's done! If you are rich you can have up to 5 wives and if you want a new one you just divorce one of them......odd cause I read they frown upon divorce in Indonesia so it must the different religions which I haven't totally figured out but there is Muslim, Hindu and Christian.
Then Eddy asked me if I would like to come and meet his family so I figured why not not much else going on, so off we went on his motorbike. We got to his little one room home and instantly about a dozen women and children were at the door. They all had to come in and see the bulea. Eddy translated for me as he was the only one who knew english and he told me they love my white teeth, my pointy nose and my hair looks like Mie Goreng!! I laughed out loud cause that was just what I had for lunch, it's an Indonesian dish consisting of a fried egg and vegis and curly brown noodles like ichiban soup! I know my hair has gone wild here with the humidity so that was just a hilarious observation they had made! They were very nice and insisted I had some boiling hot coffee in a juice cup and I was trying to be polite and drink it but it was so hot I had to lick my fingers to grab the glass to drink it......as they looked oddly at me! Another odd thing was when they introduced me to their baby boy, Eddy told me to take my finger and stroke the bottom of my foot and then the babies forehead.....it was meant to bring him good fortune apparently. Hope it works, they all live in poverty but seem so happy there but at the same time one of the ladies was disgusted with me because she wanted to see my lipstick and I told them I had none so she left in a huff shortly after and wouldn't even wave goodbye!
The next day I took a motorcycle tour to the Monkey Forest and we got very lucky and saw about a dozen black monkeys swinging in the trees above, they reminded me of chimpanzees. Then off hiking to Jaktu waterfalls and splashed around and actually saw 2 other buleas! Then San my guide said he'd take me for a really nice lunch in a nearby town, well we ended up at a soup kitchen place where they scooped the food onto plates with their hands and served it to you with a spoon and fork (I can see Mom cringing now....) The meat was tough like beef jerky and in huge hunks so I was trying to be polite and hack it away with my spoon and made my way thru most of it.....again I was the only female and white person there so everyone was watching me! OK time to get out of town! Had San drive me to Sengigi, 4 hours on the back of a bike in a day is too much!
I found a quaint rustic place now to stay at, Santai, that I just love. It has an outdoor bathroom and my shower is a huge urn full of water and you just pull a plug out of the bottom to make it work. It also has a little quiet relaxing veranda with pillows and a hammock. The eating area is a large beruga with pillows and long table for everyone to eat together.

Have met some awesome people here from all over the world who have been great friends and hosts and love to share information, party, eat and just hang out and talk. I am thankful for them all as they have made my trip so much more amazing!

A few more days in Lombok then off to Ubud, Bali. Then next Sunday things are looking good to go to Thailand. I have received information from many sources including my tour company and it looks very safe if not safer than before! Yay!

Til next post!
Ali / Gay