Hi Folks,
Well the first leg of our trip has come to an end. Cam, Pauly and I have just spent 10 days on the island of Lombok and Paul and I returned to Bali then flew out to Singapore where we are now, and then onto Europe tonight. Cams stayed on in Lombok and looking to head over to Sumbawa to hunt down some more waves.
Lombok was awesome staying in a village on an amazing white sand beach on the south coast. We got ourselves some motorbikes with surfboard racks to access some of the outlying breaks and to explore the countryside. The roads over there are more like farm tracks and local traffic usually consists of herds of goats, cows, water buffalo and plenty of dogs and chickens who seem to have little regard for any road rules making for a few close calls - a good horn is essential. We have surfed evry day in crystal clear warm tropical waters over coral reefs with a large whale (humpback I think) in the lineup one day too - awesome. The waves were pretty small but fun for the first week but on our last few days it fired and we had an awesome last session at a break called outside Ekas with a grunty 4-6ft clean, barrelling left hander all to ourselves.
Another highlight was travelling up into the hills to watch a traditional Lombok stick fighting competition. We turned up in this field where hundreds of local villagers had gathered for the event. They formed a big circle with a local band cranking out some traditional music on the bongos, gong and flute. We were invited to sit at the centre of the circle for the prime viewing and watched as the fighters belted the snot out of each other with large bamboo sticks protected only by a small biffalo hide shield. The winner was the first to draw blood on his opponent which usually meant a split scalp or some serious welts on their bare backs. Both fighters got a nice white singlet for their efforts - a worthy reward. They tried to get us to partake in the fighting but I assured them I already had a good supply of singlets at home. We have been feasting solidly on freash seafood, banana pancakes and bintangs for which you pay a pittance over here so plans to lose the spare tyre while in Indonesia prior to Europe have not panned out.
Singapore has been very cool, beautiful city a mix of cultures and lots of foreigners it doesn't feel like Asia that much. We are staying with Groufsky (old school mate) and his fiance Sasha, They have a primo pad near the centre of the city so we will go looking for camera gear today. The weather is a bit rough, lots of rain and wind, hasn't rained for 3 months apparently.
Things are looking good for our travels ahead, Barnesey's aunty and uncle hooking us up with a house boat to stay on a canal in central Amsterdam yeah! We also made friends with a Portugese surfer in Lombok who has offered to sort us out once we get to Lisbon and show us round the local surf spots so will be good to have his local knowledge.
Here are a few pics from Indo,
Reg + Paul.
posted by Paul @ 5:38 PM
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