To Senggigi on Lombok

Day 2 — To Lombok on Batavia Air

Jakarta is in the tropics, so the temperature hardly changes through the year, averaging about 30 °C. The year is divided into a dry season and a rainy season, and March is supposedly near the end of the rainy season. Maybe because of that, it was too humid to sleep well. On top of that, the air conditioning didn't work well, even though the remote said it was set to 18 °C.

I didn't sleep much, but bathing (mandi) in the morning was refreshing. Cheap lodgings in Indonesia usually have no bathtub. Some apparently don't even have a shower, but last night's place had a cold shower. If there's no shower, you scoop water from a tank next to the toilet with a dipper and pour it over yourself. Whether shower or tank, pouring water over yourself is called mandi, and Indonesians apparently mandi several times a day. Having tried it, I understood: mandi feels wonderful. In the heat your body inevitably gets sticky, but after a mandi you stay fresh for a while ♪ We left the hostel and went out to find a money changer and someone who would rent us a car. Again, drivers of taxis and bajaj (three-wheelers) kept calling out to us. There were lots of stray cats and stray chickens in town.

Wandering around Jalan Jaksa. The roads were overflowing with motorbikes. The red vehicle in the middle of the photo is a bajaj. We never used one on this trip, but it's a kind of semi-taxi, apparently a little cheaper than a taxi.

On the way, liver skewers were on sale for about 10 yen, so we tried some, but they weren't to our taste. There was a neat little diner, so we went in and ordered the mie ayam set. 145 yen including soup and a drink: cheap. Mie ayam looks like ramen without the soup. In the mouth, the chicken flavour comes through nicely; very tasty. Reasonably priced too, so nothing to complain about. We tried several rental car companies, but none would rent to us. Thinking we would have to rent at the airport after all, we went looking for a money changer instead. We had only changed about 2,000 yen at the airport, so even a slightly better rate would help.

As we walked, a sudden squall! We fled into a nearby clothes shop. In the shoe section we came across the strange sight of mannequins displaying only their lower halves, upside down. The rain didn't stop. We saw a boy nearby with an umbrella calling out to passers-by, and thinking he was selling umbrellas, we called him over, gave him money, took an umbrella and set off together. Then the boy followed us, getting soaked by the rain. It seemed he hadn't sold it but was only lending it. He followed us getting drenched, and we felt very guilty. We gave the umbrella back at the bank and said goodbye. The rate at the airport was a little better than at the bank, so we had no more business in the centre. In the rain we put on raincoats and went back to the bus terminal. What we noticed: we got less wet than with the umbrella.

Having found the rate was better at the airport, we first changed money in the international arrivals lobby and then set about arranging a rental car. The negotiations were extremely difficult. First, the rental period was long, about two weeks, and we wouldn't only be driving on Java, where Jakarta is. When we said we would take the ferry to Sumatra, the rental company staff started making a fuss as if that was out of the question. On top of that, they quoted about 6,000 yen a day. We explained in detail where we would drive and kept negotiating for a long time, and in the end they gave way and we reached an agreement. Promising to call their mobile when we came back to Jakarta from Lombok, we parted from them, looking forward to a great adventure in the car. At this point we had no way of knowing about all the trouble this rental car would bring. We moved to the domestic terminal by shuttle bus. It felt like a slightly simpler version of the international terminal, and of course it was packed with locals.

We went to A&W for lunch. There wasn't a single McDonald's at the airport, but there were A&Ws everywhere. It brought back memories of eating at one in Canada. It was surprising that the set menus included rice. McDonald's in Japan has nothing like a rice menu. They must really love rice.

The domestic departure lounge had an atmospheric design, and the walkways just had roofs, a very open feel. There was a courtyard too, and lots of people sitting on the ground, which felt very Indonesian. After this, the announcement for the Batavia Air flight we were to take just wouldn't come. In the end: delayed 30 minutes, then another 30 minutes, then another hour... It ended up two hours late. While we waited, bread was handed out, as if to placate us. Boxed meals were handed out too, but apparently for passengers on another flight. How long must they have been kept waiting? Strangely, none of the people in the waiting room seemed irritated; it was as if this was normal.

From the waiting room we went to the plane by bus. This bus seems to have once been in service in Japan.

Aboard Batavia Air at last! But it was incredibly hot and humid! Was the air conditioning broken? After take-off it got a little cooler, but delays and dodgy air conditioning: is this Batavia quality? Via Surabaya, we landed at the airport at Mataram on Lombok. It was dark so we couldn't really tell, but it was a very basic airport, and on leaving the plane the passengers just walked briskly off in one direction. From Mataram we took a taxi to Raja's Bungalows in Senggigi, which we had booked in advance. Another tiring day of nothing but travel.

To the next day