We have returned to the tropics, and everything is so green!
Lembar is the main port of Lombok, an island within Indonesia. But don’t be too impressed, as Indonesia is an archipelago with over SEVENTEEN THOUSAND ISLANDS! Sheesh. Where the USA build interstates for commerce and travel, Indonesia must use ferries.
Our bus drove to the nearby town of Mataram. As with many small island towns in this part of the world, once you get out of the farm lands it’s near constant cinder block construction built right on the road. But there is sudden lovely religious buildings.
We stopped at Mayura Park, a former royal garden. The highlight is a viewing area “island” surrounded by a pool. Oddly, the island has a big sign on it, just in case you forget where you are.
The bridge is protected by a pair of temple guardians.
We were surprised by a pair of guinea fowl.
Behind the pool were a series of Hindu temples. Interesting architecture.
General point about the buildings. In the tropics there is a lot of humidity. All the time. In the rainy season of course, but even the “dry” season is swamped in humidity. There is a constant battle against mildew on buildings. One of the reliable signs of how important a site is whether anyone puts in the effort to clean and keep mildew off of it. Not many do.
We then visited the West Nusa Tenggara (the province of Indonesia we are in) Museum. It was not amazing, but I viewed it as a study of what people without a lot of funding consider important in their history. Think of that as I show this “hobby horse”:
The descriptive text said, and I am not making this up:
“Jaran Kamput… used to comfort the circumcised boys. [They] are seated… and people carry them in a parade around [the] village.”
Yep.
They also liked their swords. There were regular swords in the main room, but in a more protected side room were the fancy stuff (behind reflective glass, to my photographic regret). I liked how they always included the sheaths.
Driving back to the ship, I was struck by the number of temples. Past the fields were a continuous hodge-podge of colorful domes. Excuse the on-the-move phone pics.
Bonus snacks – our bus guide handed out snack boxes, which included “snake skin fruit“. It comes from a type of palm tree. Visually it reminded me of a chestnut, with an annoying outer skin. However, the flesh has a citrus taste. I’d eat more.
