Date                Tuesday 3 November 2015

On arrival at Teluk Kombal we were advised to find Mohammed who would fix things for us.  As it happens we did not find him but we did find Ali, his brother who organised a car and driver for a day out the following day.  Our experience in Indonesia, so far, has been that when someone says something will happen it does and on time.  This at 0900 we went ashore and were met by a very smart air conditioned Toyota SUV, a driver and Ali who said that he would like to accompany us so that he could practice his English; he proved an excellent guide.

The first stop on the tourist trail was to view monkeys who very obligingly disported themselves in a pull off from the road.  Possibly they have come across tourists before?

Multi-tasking

The leader of the pack, in contemplation

Travelling though villages and towns was in itself quite fascinating.  Next stop was an ancient temple site where Hindu and Muslims both had places for prayer and meditation.

The fine entrance to the Hindu Temple

Washing in this sacred water was supposed to rejuvenate you.  “Of course it did dear”

Other stops on our travels took in a pottery where we were encouraged to make an ornament each.  Elizabeth made a gecko and I produced what we think is a hamster.  It reminded us of a sucession of items that used to come back from playgoup.  I still treasure “The robin” by Alice.

Beautiful traditional weaving with of course the opportunity to purchase the finished item

School run Indonesian style.  The bike in front has two small children hanging on

We encountered a long wedding procession with everyone dressed in their finery

Ladies ride side saddle

We visited a market to stock up on fruit and vegge

Horse drawn ‘taxis’ are still very much in use for local travel

The day as finished off with a meal at a beach front restaurant before our drive deposited us after dark back at the dinghy.  He even carried the shopping.  The fee for the day was embarrassingly small.