A Whole Different World - Lembongan Island, Bali Province, Indonesia
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Sat 2 Oct 2010 00:14
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08:40.566S 115:26.131E
We left the solemn Muslims behind on Lombok Island and
entered the over-the-top, ornate, colorful, exuberant Hindu Bali
Province on September 14th. It didn't take more than a few steps off the
beach of Lembongan Island, a tiny island 15 miles from the southeast coast
of Bali, before we realized we were in a whole different world. Gone
were most (not all) of the mosques, the head scarves, the scarcity of
alcohol and the understated architecture. In their place we found temples,
lots of temples, overflowing with stone carvings of gods and other
religious figures, each with their own story and mostly mismatched
heads and bodies (elephant heads on human torsos, dog heads on lion bodies,
etc.). As we walked down the street of the small town in the early
evening, there were ladies dressed in colorful lace blouses and sarongs
delivering offerings of tiny woven palm baskets filled with bits
of food, burning incense, and flowers arranged just so, to the
carved stone shrines lining the streets like mailboxes. The offering
baskets were carefully stacked in a larger basket each lady balanced on her
head-scarf-less head. The offerings placed in the shrines keep
the good sprits happy while those carelessly placed on the ground where
they are squashed by pedestrian's feet placate the less desirable
spirits. This scene was our introduction to Balinese culture and its
unique version of the Hindu religion.
Wait a minute though... first things first. Before we
fell down the rabbit hole into the world of temples, shrines, offerings and
basket balancing ladies, we first had to sail (motorsail really) fifty miles
across the infamous Lombok Strait that runs between Lombok and Bali
islands. Known for its mostly south-setting hefty current, it was a breeze
for us to cross from northeast to southwest in only seven hours with a
good two knots of current with us most of the way. There was just a hint
of wind, mostly in front of us, which seemed to nicely suit the two or three
hundred double outrigger sailing canoes going in the opposite
direction on their way back to Lombok after a long night of fishing in the
strait. Yup, two or three hundred. We spotted the first of them
around 7:30 in the morning after clearing the Gili Islands and reaching
deep water. At first we thought we might be hallucinating when the newly
lit horizon suddenly sprouted zillions of dots. Some
motored and some floated by using a multi-colored
sail filled with holes and patches hoisted proudly. All glided past
with a wave and if not a smile, then at least a pleasant
enough _expression_. The sailing canoe procession went on for at
least an hour while we steered around them and wondered what harbor on
Lombok was big enough to house them all. It was good we didn't
do this passage at night. Dodging 300 little sailing canoes in the
dark wouldn't necessarily have been a lot of fun. Adrenaline pumping
high adventure maybe, but not a lot of fun.
After plowing through some funky current eddies, whirlpools
and a few offshore flotillas of trash, we dodged a reef and entered Lebongan
Island's main boating bay. We were expecting some tourist boat traffic,
but as we've done consistently throughout Indonesia, we underestimated the sheer
number of people and boats. Because Lembongan Island is so close to Bali
and offers a more tranquil setting than the typical overrun south Bali beaches,
tourists pack themselves on giant high speed ferries and huge charter catamarans
for a day trip to Lembongan. The good news is we arrived in the area
around 2 pm and the tourist boats headed back to Bali no later than 4. We
picked up a mooring probably installed for use by one of the charter boats and
stayed only one night in the bouncing bay. At first we thought the rolling
and bouncing was being caused by the boat traffic - speedboats with parasailors
soaring above whizzed by while kids towed on a giant banana float sped past in
the opposite direction. However, after the place cleared out and all the
day trippers went back to Bali, we continued to bounce and roll.
Ahhh...for want of a flat, calm anchorage. Sue arranged for someone from a
local dive shop to pick us up in their boat so we wouldn't have
to mess with the long dinghy ride through rough water and more reefs in
order to see the town and have dinner - which is how we found ourselves in the
new-to-us Balinese Hindu world watching basket balancing ladies deliver evening
offerings to mailbox shrines.
Pictures 1 and 2 - A few of the zillions of double outrigger
sailing canoe fishing boats we passed in the Lombok Strait.
Picture 3 - The Lembongan Island beach. Not all of these
boats are used for tourists, many are employed in the cultivation of
seaweed. As the boat boy on the dive boat told us, "There are two
professions on Lembongan, the tourist profession and seaweed." Seaweed is
grown in the shallows, harvested, dried and sent on to Bali and beyond where it
is used as an additive in ice cream (as a stabilizer, we think) and
cosmetics. The large baskets laying on the beach in this picture are used
to tote seaweed.
Picture 4 - One of the mailbox shrines complete with
ceremonial parasol, black and white plaid sarong (signifies the
interdependence of good and bad spirits) and lots of offerings.
Picture 5 - A carved sandstone temple gate.
Next stop, south Bali. I'm already having trouble
whittling down the number of pictures to include with that entry. Bali is
nothing if not picturesque in every way possible.
Anne
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