I left Bali from Kuta - that den of sodden Ausies - yesterday, Lombok bound. After a land and sea trip of just over ten hours, to cross a distance that spans the width of my thumbnail on a guidebook map, I arrived on Bali's antithesis: a land of relative calm and few faces white. After the Indian-Pacific train run acroos Australia, this was a cakewalk.

After the sour taste left in my mouth by Kuta and its chums, which by and large spoiled the Bali experience for me, I am happy to report that Lombok is anything but similar. Though there are the requisite hawkers and touts haunting the streests of the main resort of Senggigi, their numbers are drastically lower than on Bali, and their manner less affrontive. I must admit that at first I was slightly put out by their existence at all, and was considering making all due haste away from Lombok to the Gilis. However, after making it through the night in my "hotel room" where I was accosted by crappy music from the "nightclub" next door, I decided to give it a go.
I rented another motorbike from the hotel dude, willing to brave the Lombok coppers (my Bali license being invalid off of that island), and headed off on a tour of the northen part of Lombok.
YOWSER... good stuff. NO PEOPLE! Especially, no tourists. Nothing but lovely little villages interspersed by larger towns which bore no similarity to their Balinese cousins.

Lombok looks deceptively small on a map of Indonesia, even when compared to the tiny Bali, and small it is. But it still presents a significant challenge to the motor-scooter-bound, as most roads are narrow, ill-paved, and winding, thereby making any journey, even what appears to be a short hop, one of uncertain length and difficulty.
I only managed to complete an outing one half the length of what I had intended, yet amazingly rewarding all the same. Early into the foray, the first rain I have seen in weeks made itself known. No matter to me... I had a jacket, no backpack to be soaked, and was armed with a smile from ear to ear. I pretty much just cruised around for about eight hours (a long time in the saddle), checking out the villages and the countryside along the way. I did pull off - way off - the main road for a spell to check out a couple of waterafalls. The singletrack paths leading into the hinterlands were slick and at places quite a bitch due to the rain, though worth the first gear shuffle.
At one waterfall, I was led on an impromptu tour by the gentleman who owns the surrounding land...

You know, the details aren't really that exciting, and I'm tired, so I'll skip the nitty-gritty.

I do want to say that I had the best meal I can recall having during the last five years or so. At a beach called Jimbaran about 15 clicks due south of Kuta, the local sampans bring in their haul to sell at the fishmarket, a byproduct of which is an area of beach further south which is teeming with warungs serving the day's catch in many slendid ways. A throng of nearly twenty restaurants occupy a stretch of sand smack dab in the middle of one of the posher resort areas of Bali. Every night, seafood afficianados decend from all parts of southern Bali to sample the wares on offer at this jardin de la mer.
Long story short, for aroung US$ 6.00 I gorged myself of freshly grilled red snapper, complemented by an assortment of sauces, sauteed greens, and an entire basket of rice. Holy Hannah!! what a meal. It took me nearly an hour to devour it all, and devour it all I did - to the amazement of the staff. Good Shit.

I'm living like a king here in Indonesia. $20 a day is getting me 3 meals, decent lodging, beer, a motor bike, and incidentals. I almost feel bad "spending so much money", but seeing as how I had to pull teeth to get by on under $35 in OZ and NZ, I can't help myself. Sooner or later though, I am going to have to pinch pennies, but I can't be bothered to at the moment.

Auughhh! my brain is fried. I can't seem to think of anything remotely interesting to say. I'm fizzling out mid sentence at every turn.

Fuck it, I'm done.

Oh - I feel a bit the idiot for posting that picture of the "cat oven" sign... I got an email today from my darling sister telling me that her cat, Worf, is about to have one of his rear legs amputated (cancer). I feel like shit. All my love and best to the putty-tat, hermana.

*************
ps - Santa's Whore just happend to rhyme with Saddle Sore... what can I say: I'm a jackass.