Lombok, Indonesia

Lombok, Indonesia was a new stop for us. They obviously were very glad to see us as the Mayor presented a trophy to the Captain! (Guess they have heard about the new way to encourage Americans to contribute to your business)
Lombok is home to Indonesias second highest volcano, Mt Rinjani. Industry consists of agriculture (rice, tobacco, seaweed) and tourism. Although I don’t know how tourism can be a real thing here. The poverty was significant, even by Indonesian standards. The small village we visited was so sad. We saw women and girls weave as they have for hundreds of years. Growing and selling rice is about all there is to do to make a living. The government only allows the residents to sell their rice to their own country so they can fix the price. It is essentially how they earn their government subsidy.
I’m not sure why we stopped here. It was not a good day. Between the heat and the poverty and the trash, it was actually depressing. But again, it made us again even more grateful for our blessings in our (hopefully lot for much longer) screwed up country.
I believe the crew knew we may be a bit hot and tired when we returned and they greeted us with a cool drink and a dancing welcome.Read more