Catching up

I said I'd be offline for a bit, but I didn't say why.
 Mid 1995, I went to Indonesia to spend a year studying in Central Java. For a year, I lived in a boarding house (two different ones actually) like a local, speaking Indonesian, eating rice three times a day, using a bak mandi instead of a shower and a gayung (water bailer) in lieu of toilet paper. Just over a week ago, I flew to Lombok to meet up with two old friends - one of one of my old boarding house buddies (first time in 14 years), and another friend from that time who lives on the island of Lombok, which is the next island east of Bali. 

In 1996, we were all good, studious, rather innnocent girls who could chat easily and argue passionately about anything. And find the best food around and eat ourselves stupid. In 2012, we are all three divorced, the other two each have a child each, but apart from that, not much has changed. We slipped into the old patterns so easily, it was like the years between had never happened.

Elly, Tito and Utty

Elly is Sasak - ethnically from Lombok. Her family owns a set of small cabins in the foothills of gunung Rinjani, the second highest volcano in Indonesia. We drove three hours through windy mountain roads to reach the village of Sembalun and their home away from home.

Lembah Rinjani

 Utty and I were not at all keen to climb Rinjani - it's a good couple of days to climb up and back and involves camping. It's spectacular up there, with caldera (crater lakes) filled with fish, but I'm happy to leave the leg work to the mountain goats. We spent a night up at the cabins enjoying the cool and catching up.

Elly and Utty at Lembah Rinjani

Does this make you think of an Indonesian Sound of Music?!

Utty and Tito

We also hit Kuta beach - Kuta Lombok, very different from Kuta Bali! Not a tourist to be seen - except for me with my fish belly lily white skin.

After the mountains, we had two days at the Sheraton Senggigi - my contribution to the holiday. I have wanted to stay there forever, because of the swimming pool. And I thought the boys would enjoy the water slide. I went down it more than a few times myself! You can see the ocean off Senggigi beach and the vague outline of Bali just beyond the horizon.

Laura and Tito by the waterslide

 The last couple of days were spent at Elly's uncle's restaurant-come-fish-farm. A maze of fish ponds are fed by a natural spring, and huts are built over them in which you can eat your fresh-fish lunch.

Fish feeding frenzy

A gecko visits our room

Here I am looking rather the worse for the heat and humidity and I did eat myself nearly into a coma here. I had to lie down and rest to recover! But can you blame me? There was honey cooked fish, green chilli cooked fish, calamari, eggroll, spicy vegetables, rice (of course)..

It was a spectacular holiday and so unspeakably wonderful to be catching up with old friends and finding that while time changes some friendships, others endure across languages, cultures and years... More later, this weary traveller is ready to rest!