Shopping for provisions in Lombok

This morning we decided to take the dinghy to stock up on Lombok, which has lots more choice of goods than on the Gili Islands. We needed ‘everything’ - food, fuel etc for our trip to the remote islands in the north.

It was overcast again, but pleasant on the water, and the trip over was quick and comfortable. We’d hired a car to be dropped off at Medana Marina, where we tied up, to make life easier. No driver today - Dale drove.

As always the roads were manic. Road rules are either non-existent or irrelevant. If you want to overtake, just honk your horn, indicators optional - regardless of who is coming, if you’re on a bend, or the crest of a hill - anything goes!

As always you see things like 4 people riding on a scooter, a truck with a load of freshly cut thatch, topped with a gang of workers and much more. I didn’t manage to get many photos - mostly because I was busy passenger-seat-driving 😬.

Many of the roads are edged with stalls called Warungs. They sell everything from clothes, brooms, street food, live chickens, and goodness knows what else!

Our first stop was the traditional market at Tanjung in the north. We were optimistic about finding better produce as it was still morning. I’d planned to buy chicken and fish there too.

There were ‘ hutches’ with a wide range of live roosters (not pets!) on the edge of the market where we parked. Customers were milling around, choosing from them.

2 young lads caught my eye as they inspected the roosters, as one carried a purchase he’d already made. I thought I could see movement, and on closer look inspection I could see he had a pair of live pigeons, tied in plastic bags with just their tails and heads protruding 😥. I couldn’t help but feel a jolt!

There were a multitude of stalls with a wide range of vegetables (especially various types of chilli, garlic, micro onions etc), tropical (of course) fruit of varying type and quality as well as spices, kitchen accessories, and the chicken and seafood stalls.

We selected a few bags of fruit and veg, and a tray of eggs, but opted out of the chicken and seafood. They weren’t stored on ice, and were uncovered - just couldn’t do it! I know they were all fresh - the chickens (actually roosters) would have crowed at dawn, but I just couldn’t chance it!

The market itself was primitive which is fine, but was pretty muddy (ok it’s the wet season) and not particularly clean. I pride myself on being open minded and not judgemental when it comes to travel, but this was a bit too raw for me! That said, the sellers in the market were generally friendly, and of course the prices were good.
Our next stops were ‘stores’ as opposed to markets. The first was a small local store where the range was good, the premises clean (much easier with tiled floors than dirt) and the young Muslim girls working there were delightful. Importantly they had fridges and freezers so we were much more confident buying chicken! No doubt it was double the price of the market, but worth it!

The final major stop was an ‘upmarket modern supermarket’ at Senggigi which is a resort area. They had almost everything you could want, if you were prepared to pay for it!

Prices were certainly aimed at westerners, and well heeled ones at that. $11 for a tube of Pringles, $10 to $14 for a 150 gram bar of chocolate for example. We bought neither!

A benefit of shopping there was that they have a guy who gets out on the road and stops the traffic so you can reverse out and drive away!

Shopping done, we decided to find a beach side spot for lunch. On the way we found ‘Verve Beach Club’ - a typical beach side bar/restaurant. It was pretty quiet, with just a few groups there, sitting in the alfresco area.

A storm blew in, so everyone moved inside. We decided to take our chances outside under a larger thatched umbrella. The thatch is incredibly waterproof! Although we were getting a little spray on the breeze, the umbrella didn’t leak at all! We ordered food and it was some of the best we’ve had to date - and huge portions!
By the time we got back the weather had moved north, and of course the Dingy was heavily loaded with supplies (enough for 3 weeks) plus 74 kgs of fuel, so it was sitting low in the water.

Initially the sea was ‘bouncy’ but more fun than scary. But as we moved into the open water we dealt with 2 mt swells. I was in the middle seat, facing to the back. It took me a while to get the rhythm of the swells so I knew when to brace for the crash down the wave.

56 minutes of crashing down waves (some higher than the dinghy was long) took its toll on both my sore elbow, (from hanging on), my thigh muscles from bracing to minimise impact, and my lower back.

We were both very relieved to finally get back to Thetis! Unloading the dinghy was tricky as the sea was rough. During the process, I slipped and fell down the stairs, hard, and was lucky to not end up in the drink! I now have a very tender tailbone and no doubt a rainbow of bruises. The other casualty was 3 eggs! A pretty good result when you remember eggs don’t come in cartons, just in open trays tied together with string, and the tray was jammed into a shopping bag with fruit and veg!

Once we unloaded my legs were trembling from the strain, and I had to go have a ‘lie down’! I woke up an hour later to a thunderstorm and torrential downpour.

A couple of lightning strikes must have been very very close as there was no delay between lightning and thunder. We both jumped out of our skins. Dramatic, but perfect when we are getting short of water. We’ve been hoping for rain for weeks. All buckets are out, collecting lovely fresh water to add to our tanks. So far we’ve collected about 100 litres.Read more