Indonesia, Day 6 Lombok and locals

Thursday May 26^th

I woke up early this morning and walked out to see the beach in the daylight. It is very nice and again deserted, but it was only 7:00am. I went to the restaurant for the included breakfast and sat at a table right by the beach. After eating I went to the reception and arranged for a transfer and a boat ticket for tomorrow. One last adventure before I resume tour groups.

Then I went for a long walk along the beach. Headed to the left first but that didn't go far. Then to the right and walked along the horseshoe shaped beach and around a point to the next beach, which is actually nicer. I spent a long time walking to the end where I found another turtle hatchery. The weather is very warm and I kept going into the water to cool off and then continuing. Again there are very few tourists as this is the low season. Along the way I saw fishermen hauling their boats out of the water, a large group of locals picnicking and school children playing in the water. Many of the women were Muslims wearing the head scarves. One of them was all excited seeing me and wanted me to talk her picture, then she thanked me for doing it! (Actually Bali is 95% Hindu and Lombok is 85% Muslim). When I doubled back I decided to sit and watch the locals. It was fun watching the children especially. A large group of them came and sat all around me. A couple of their teachers came and talked to me and then called them all off. But they were back again shortly and we had to do it again.

Mid afternoon, I went back to the hotel, checked mail and then went to the local town to use the ATM. From there I was able to take a short cut that led back to the hatchery so I could hang out on the good beach for the rest of the day and then walk back again. I sat on the beach, read a bit, swam a few times and talked to a lot of the local men who are trying to sell souvenirs. They are having a hard time because there are so few tourists and no one seems to be buying anything. They are very nice people and respect a no or no thank you and don't pester you. Another man came and sat with me to practise his English. So, it was a great day hanging out, relaxing and talking to locals. I felt much more relaxed today.

I'm not sure what happened in Bali, except that it is way too busy with traffic and pollution in the main area and the beaches aren't quite what I expected. It all put me in a bit of a funk. Maybe I've been on the road too long, or maybe my disease of FOMO is near fatal. I am running out of time and am trying to fit in as much as I can. If you haven't figured it out yet, I like to be on the move and see and do as much as possible. Sometimes I find it very difficult to sit and relax. I think I did Bali an injustice but, I'm glad I moved here. And relax I did.

Sat on the beach watching and waiting for the sunset, but after looking very promising it petered out and disappeared behind a bank of clouds. So, I walked back to the hotel and showered. Then I went for dinner at a local restaurant on the beach (because my hotel restaurant was empty). I had crab and corn soup and a grilled fish with a 650ml beer. After that I went for a walk through town for a bit before heading to the internet cafe to update the blog. Then back for reading and sleeping.