Well what a change of scenery, after arriving in Port Bangsal we jumped into a taxi (costing IDR 150,000 (NZ$ 16)) and drove the 24 kms to Mataram.
Our time this week has been split into two separate areas, Mataram and Telebatu.
We stayed at the Dewi Sri Guest House for 5 days, and they were fantastic as they allowing us to split these days so we could explore the scenery of the interior of Lombok. Of course during these travels we continued to taste Indonesia cuisine: including, Nasi Kuning (Rice, Chicken, Noodles, etc), Bakso (Noodle Soup with pork Balls), Nasi Rendang, Nasi Goring, Banana Pancakes and Chicken Burgers (all costing between IDR 10,000-25,000 (NZ$ 1.05-2.60)). We also took the opportunity to visit the largest mosque on Lombok, out of 1,000 on the island.
….. but the main rationale for coming to Mataram was caused by a problem with Helena’s visa. Despite applying 2 weeks before leaving New Zealand, it took the Indonesian Immigration Department 30 days to process her visa (Alan got his in 4 day).. This meant Helena acquired a 30 day Visa on Arrival at Denpasar Airport, and to extend a visit was required to complete 2 forms, handover photocopies (evidence of onward ticket, etc), pay IDR 500,000 (NZ$ 53) and have her photo/fingerprints taken. this was completed in less than 1 hour, and her passport was taken off of her (there is no faster service as it all needs to go to Jakarta for processing).
Whilst the passport extension was being progressed we decided to leave Mataram for a few days and take a scooter into the interior of the island, staying at the amazing Alam Bungalows, Tetebatu, where we had our own Balinese room on stilts, overlooking the tiered rice fields. The 85 km ide was interesting, with at least 18 kms navigating on dirt roads and paddy fields. ’On the way we called into see the Benang Stokel and Benang Kelambu waterfalls. The cost of this was IDR 90,000 (NZ$ 9.10) each, and it was great to see the water cascading down. During our stay in Tetebatu we also visited the Durian Indir and Burrunggui waterfalls (costing IDR 20,000 (NZ$ 2)) each, Paddy fields and went walking around the Black Monkey Jungle to try and spot the wild animals – but our search was fruitless.
All too soon our time in Tetebatu was over and we decided to leave early and circumvent Mount Rinjani (which is the 2nd highest peak in Indonesia at 3,726 metres) – Alan decided not to climb this due to the high cost and reviews about rubbish on the mountain. The scooter ride was 175 kilometres but the scenery was breathtaking – plus we called into to see Sindang Gila Waterfall (costing IDR 20,000 (NZ$ 2)) each – and we arrived back in Mataram, collecting Helena’s passport with an extension for a further month. More information about the duration will be written about in a future blog.
We now continue our travels east as we head towards one of our bucket list items of seeing Komodo Dragons.
