Bule* in Lombok

Exploring the north

Following our week in the Gilis, we made the quick 10-minute ferry hop over to Lombok (yes, we sat out of the sun for fear of burns), and met a driver to head up the slopes of Mt. Rinjani to Senaru.

Rinjani is the second tallest mountain in Indonesia, clocking in at 3,726 meters (or 12,224 feet). Senaru is the main town on the northern side of the mountain, and most common jumping off point for people making the extremely difficult climb to the top.

We opted not to hike and instead enjoyed what the lower parts of the mountain had to offer. Among other things, this included amazing sunrise and sunset views, and a cooler climate than the rest of Indonesia.

We split our time in Senaru between two different hotels, both because we wanted some variety in our stay and because one was a third of the price of the other - we are doing this on a budget after all :)

Our first stay was the more swanky of the two, and is definitely the most deluxe accommodations available that side of Rinjani. In the photos above you can see that hotel had beautiful pools, and views both up Rinjani’s slopes and running down to the ocean in the distance. We decided to take advantage of the nice digs and spent two days lounging by the pool reading and planning out more of this trip. At night we had the chance to gaze up at the Milky Way! It was Jenna’s first time seeing it, and a truly special way to end the day.

The next stop was Rinjani Lighthouse, a short 900 meter hike up the main road. Certainly less posh, but super charming. Our room felt like one big, chic, open air treehouse. The staff at the hotel were also very gracious, going out of their way to make us feel welcome. Especially Nawa, who did everything from hook up the scooter rental to make latte art for “Jana” with her name in the foam. Nawa also refused to choose sides and cheered us both on in an epic Uno battle over three days.

During our time in Senaru, we learned a lot about that corner of Indonesia and traditional culture of the Sasak people who live here. To kick things off, we signed up for a combined culture and nature tour of the surrounding area, from a group of all female guides whose goal is to provide greater independence and employment opportunities for women in an area where those are often lacking.

Our 24-year-old guide, Siska, took us on a fascinating journey. One of the funnier learnings we got here was an important Indonesian word: bule. *Bule is the catchall term applied to white people. From what we’ve gathered, there definitely can be a negative connotation to the word, similar to gaijin in Japanese. But it’s also just the default phrase for talking about white people - for example, many small children waved at us from the side of the road with a cheerful “hello, bule!!”

Besides improving our Indonesian, we saw life in the traditional Senaru village, where people continue to live in multi-generational family houses built from woven bamboo and grasses. Among the many interesting tidbits Siska dropped, we learned about how wedding cultures and traditions work there. For example, couples have modified the proposal process from the “traditional kidnapping of the bride-to-be,” (her description) to a more modern flavor of agreed upon “running away together for a few days,” coordinated via Whatsapp. Also, the husband is expected to provide anywhere from 3 to 12 cows as food for the wedding feast. Women who are from tribal royalty expect more cows, which sometimes hurts their prospects in the dating scene.

After our discussion of marriage customs, we hiked down to the local Tiu Kelep Waterfall for a dip and a powerful shower. From the waterfalls, we made our way into the rice terrace farms, and spotted a black monkey in the trees, which we were told is good luck. Along the way Siska showed us different plants used for everything from curing colds, to dyeing fabrics, to blowing bubbles, to just snacking on the trail. We stopped for lunch overlooking the terraces, and then continued walking across the embankments. Which, it turns out, is not as easy task! Matthew slipped off at one point and ended up knee deep in mud, which greatly amused a local family tending their field. You could say we all give back to the community in different ways.

From there, we attempted traditional weaving (very hard, especially for those of us with longer legs like Jenna’s below), and saw the first mosque built in this part of Lombok. One of its continuing uses to this day is for local people who come to seek divine guidance on which lottery ticket numbers to buy - reportedly the results are good. We also sampled some local, home-brewed, tangy rice wine. Matthew thought it resembled kombucha in taste.

For our next two days we decided we needed to borrow some wheels of our own and picked up a scooter rental from our hotel. Mind you, neither of us have ever driven a scooter before, so Matthew took some practice laps before Jenna got on the back. The roads were quite tame compared to the more populated areas, making it a great introduction for us. We rode about an hour away to Sembalun village with the goal of hiking Pergasingan Hill, but after climbing part of the way up we realized it was too hot and we were short on water. Plus, Jenna felt like she got plenty of workout by half a mile in. Can you blame her with this view?

On our last day, we signed up for a class on Sasak cuisine and traditions at Saifana Organic farm. In their outdoor kitchen, we donned sarongs and prepared a customary meal just like the locals with ever-informative Nia and Rinda. As is typically the case for Sasak cooking, the food was all vegan, and cooking was done over wood fires. A recurring theme across many dishes was to begin by using a mortar and pestle to mash heaping spoonfuls of garlic, shallots, and chili peppers together into a paste. All ingredients were from scratch, including the coconut milk we made by shaving coconut and mixing with water, which went into our banana plant curry. The flavors in everything were bright, interesting, and in many cases so different from what we’re accustomed. This was definitely one of our favorite meals of the trip.

That’s all for now! Our next letter will be about our time in Bali.