Lombok Day Trip - Rice Fields
Jackamy
Paul & Derry Harper
Thu 28 Oct 2010 03:47
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Thursday 28th October
We'd always planned on visiting Lombok and
hiring a guide for the day on route to Bali but we were faced with an offer
we couldn't refuse on Gilli Aer. Word got around that we were headed to Lombok
and suddenly a gentlemen named Harry appeared offering his services as a guide.
Paul and Gavin (Sol Maria) spent about an hour sorting out a deal and eventually
agreed a price and arranged to meet Harry at 08:00 on the beach the
following day. We all loved this idea as it meant we could spend one more
night on the island.
So, the next morning we meet bright and
early to catch a boat over to Bangsal on Lombok.
 Getting in the
boat
 Pete and Jeremy in first
class...........Economy
 There wasn't much going on in
Bangsal apart from it being the port and public transport hub, so we didn't
waste any time in getting going with our two drivers, ours was called Wayan.
They use horse and carts on Lombok too, they go hand in hand with the motor
vehicles, it's quite fascinating.
 A main road - stuck behind the
carts.................Cart station
Lombok has a population of just
over three million. Almost 90% of the people are Sasak, about 10% are Balinese,
and there are small numbers of Chinese, Javanese, Bugis and Arabs. Originally
hill people, the Sasaks are now spread all over Lombok and are generally much
poorer than the Balinese minority. Virtually all Sasaks are muslims, but many
retain much orthodox Wektu Telu beliefs and ancient animist
rituals.
I imagine that a huge percentage
of the population is employed in the rice industry as there are rice fields
everywhere you look, every spare plot of land is put to use. Seeing all these
people at work just from the side of the road was incredible and seeing the
different stages of the growing process was really interesting. Something I
think we'd all like to know more about as it is fascinating. We've realised that
most of us had never really thought about the production of rice and found it
amazing that when it grows it looks just like wheat.
 
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