Shit ants and stray dogs

We’re now in Lombok, Indonesia – a five hour ferry ride from Bali. After 2 weeks in Southeast Asia (admittedly not a very long time), here’s what’s going on, good and bad:

-if you don’t want to walk, just stand still; it will only be 30 seconds before someone asks if you want a taxi. If you keep walking, it will only be 10 seconds…

-If you don’t have sunglasses, you’ll be hassled to buy some. If you do have sunglasses, you’ll be hassled to buy more. Everyone sells sunglasses. A normal pair is around $2. RayBans or Oakleys are $3-5. Ooooh, can you say “genuine?”

-Do you like geckos? (I do.) Every bar has 50+ and every bathroom a few…If you hate geckos, don’t touch the paintings and mirrors in your room. Also, don’t look up.

-If you have $5, you can pretty much buy anything (or at least rent it for a while…Really, anything)

-Ants, ants and more ants. They’re often all over the toilet (in dirtier places). The really tiny ones I call shit ants. Sometimes they’re in my toast.

-Air con is rarely necessary, although hard to avoid (thus far) if you want a clean place. You’re really paying for the nicely sealed room that accompanies the air conditioner. There will still be geckos.

-1, 2, 3 sweat!

-Malaria is a significant problem in Lombok. The only tablets the “drug stores” sell are Chloroquinine tabs. Chloroquinine tabs are largely ineffective in Southeast Asia, and have been for the past decade or more according to the World Health Organization. You can’t ask for specific medicines…they don’t know. You just say what’s wrong and then the kid who was selling sunglasses during the day “prescribes” you the correct antibiotics. I’m not even joking a little.

-No such thing as “last call” or closing time. If you’re buying drinks, then someone will be there to serve them. Most Indonesian bars have this written somewhere: “I drink, I get drunk, I fall down, no problem.”

-Snorkeling is amazing. Even if you are only 3 feet deep the ocean comes alive with colorful fish. 10 feet and it’s even better. Don’t worry, apparently there are no sharks.

-The locals always say “No sharks here!” So why do I always see boats bringing in dead sharks? That rickety canoe with the lawnmower engine attached to the back must have dragged them all the way from Australia.

-All grocery stores or quickie marts ask “open?” when you buy a beer. Awesome!

-Singapore is like Vancouver, but very sticky, and with slightly less Asians and better transportation.

-On the streets, every price you hear is actually double. Even at half that you’re still paying too much.

-upwards of 50 people each day will ask you if you would like to go to the Gili Islands. None of the islands have ANY rooms available at any price in August. Where are all these people sleeping? It’s $25 USD to sleep on a raised piece of plywood on the beach at this time (no joke…)

-Finally, everyone in Indonesia ‘owns’ a dog. Unfortunately, ‘owns’ means they don’t feed it or house it or look after it, but just let it roam the streets. Fortunately, the entrance to every town has a massive sign from the Indonesian surgeon general that says “Warning! Rabies!”, followed by advice (written in Indonesian, of course), on how to avoid it. So immediately you are filled with comfort and joy while staggering from bar to bar and hop-scotch-ing over countless stray dogs sleeping on the sidewalks and roads (hahaha as if there were really a sidewalk!).

Hopefully someone still checks this blog! I'll try to update more often. Sorry no pics, the internet is too slow here!