2023 Alaska, Asia, Australia, Arabian Peninsula Trip
Day 65/105 - Lembar, Lombok, Indonesia - one last temple
Indonesia is a country of contrasts. We visited three ports on Java, all somewhat economically challenged. Then we visited Bali where money obviously flowed more freely due to tourism. Today, we're on Lombok which seemed a little in the middle. As I mentioned before, Indonesia is almost exclusively Muslim with the percentage ranging between 80% and 90% depending on the guide quoting the number. Bali, however, is 80% Hindu. Bali is known as the island of 1,000 temples because you can't throw a stone anywhere without hitting a Hindu temple. Lombok is the land of 1,000 mosques. No matter where we were and when we looked, we could always see at least one mosque, typically six or eight. In reality, with Lombok's 3.8M residents and 80% or better of them being Muslim, if there were only 1,000 mosques, each would have better than 3,000 worshipers.
Lombok is mountainous and also has volcanoes. Indonesia is within the so-called Ring of Fire - the area in the Pacific that is littered with volcanoes.
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| Fish farming |
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| Our arrival entertainment |
Our tour today was the optional tour, Highlights of Mataram. It included four stops - Lingsar Temple, a local craft market, a local pearl store, and the State Museum of West Nusa Tenggara Barat.
Mataram is the capital city of this province. All the stops on the tour were around Mataram, a 30-45 minute ride from the port in Lembar. Horse carriages are still a popular form of travel here. I couldn't get great photos, but you get the idea.
Lingsar Temple
I know, yet another temple. We were seriously templed-out yesterday. This one was different. Built in 1714, Lingsar's name has origins in the original language of the local Sasak people meaning clear revelation from God. There are naturally spring-fed ponds here that are said to contain sacred waters.
The thing that makes Lingar different from other temples is that this temple simultaneously supports multiple religions. There is a dedicated Hindu temple within Linsar as well as a dedicated Muslim temple. The third temple in the complex is used by Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, and more, making this one of the world's most unique temples. The one religion not mentioned was Judaism. I don't think that is an exclusion, but simply a recognition that Judaism is not practiced much in this part of the world.
We were able to see the Hindu portion but our schedule didn't allow time to also see the Muslim portion.
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| The entrance to the temple complex |
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| Sacred spring-fed pools |
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| A wall partially blocked entry into the Hindu side as a means to stop evil spirits from entering |
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| The backside of the wall |
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| Entry into the Hindu temple |
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| The door was stunning |
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| Like other Hindu temples, it is spartan inside |
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| Stairway down to the multi-faith center |
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| Entry into the pool area with the sacred eel |
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| We didn't see any eel |
There were bunches of vendors peddling their wares on the walk in and out of the temple. They weren't as pushy as the ones in the market in port yesterday.
When we got on the bus, this little guy was just below our window.
I was able to get it to climb onto my hand. I walked to the front of the bus and it flew out the door and away. A minute later, one that looked just like it hovered outside our window for a moment and then flew away. Perhaps it came by to say, "Thanks".
Like everywhere in Asia, scooters are prevalent here. It is amazing how they completely ignore traffic rules and conventions and nobody seems to die. Parents with small children ride just like single adults.
Sesela Art Market
This stop was kind of a bust. There was local wood art and fabrics, but not much else. We saw a local fighting dance as we entered.
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| Wood and straw artists were making items |
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| This guy wanted a photo with Arlona |
Kelly Pearl Shop
This was another bust - a stop to shop for pearls. Pearls are cultivated on Lombok but no information on that process was provided. It was just a store to shop for pearls. If you didn’t want to buy pearls, it was a waste of 45 minutes.
As we drove to the next stop, we saw a couple interesting things. Our guide said they could sell cardboard to recyclers and make a few bucks.
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| This woman looked like she had 50 pounds of cardboard on her head |
Scooters and motorcycles run on gas. What if you run out and aren’t near a gas station? Many homes have a cage like this with 1L bottles of gas for purchase. They sell it and make some cash with an interesting side hustle.
Museum Negari Nusa Tenggara Barat
We visited this museum and I photographed some of the more interesting items on display.
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| These looked like fun kid's horses - they're not... |
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| Masks used in traditional mask dances |
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| More of those horses - look at the kid in the photo - looks like he's having a great time - he's not... |
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| So after you get snipped, you get carried around town on a wooden horse |
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| At least they put a pad on the seat - yikes |
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| A scale model of the Borobudur Temple - what we would have seen if we had been allowed to climb it - still not happy about that |
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| They also provided tasty snacks - and...this is the first photo from Arlona's new phone - yay! |
We headed back to our ship.
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| There is a lot of agriculture here |
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| They grow lots of corn and rice |
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| New, small housing |
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| A statue honoring farming |
We arrived back at our ship at 2:15. Our onboard time was 1:30. Let’s talk about that. Our tour started at 8:30 and was 5.5 hours. That adds up to 2:00 – already beyond the 1:30 all-aboard time. It’s not a big deal because of course the ship waits for the excursions to finish, but it is another example of Viking’s questionable communication on this cruise. Almost all the excursions today used that kind of math.
Last night, we were all asked to fill out special Indonesian Customs declaration forms – the fourth ones of this trip. For the second day in a row, nobody asked for them. I realize that is the country, not Viking, but still, can’t we get better communication so we don’t waste time filling out forms that nobody asks for? This happened on our world cruise too, so perhaps it is more of a country thing. We have another set filled out for tomorrow and I fully expect to toss them in the trash upon our return to the ship for the third day in a row.
We met Trish & Sue in the Explorers' Bar and then headed to dinner in the World Café for another Taste of Indonesia - our second Taste of Indonesia in the World Café in six days. I get it that this is a new cruise as of a couple of days ago and we're still in Indonesia with a bunch of new passengers, but it still is the second of these meals in six days.
Before dinner, we did catch a nice sunset.
Once the sun popped out from behind the clouds, you could watch it sink quickly into the ocean - it was amazingly quick.
Tomorrow, we will be anchored off of another Indonesian island (there are around 17,000 or 18,000 of them) called Rinca. Rinca (pronounced "rin-cha") is just east of Komodo Island. Together, both islands, the island of Padar, and numerous smaller islands make up Komodo National Park, home to around 5,700 Komodo dragons - the largest lizard in the world. I'm hoping that tomorrow's photos will be great!
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