Indonesia: The Eastern Islands

Traveller Mark Crowdy starts his Indonesian journey in Bali and takes a ferry from the Port of Padangbai to Lombok (sometimes called the new Bali) and the Eastern Islands. Lombok has a drier climate than Bali and its population is predominantly Moslem as opposed Bali's Hindu majority. Tourism is developing fast here but the animist culture still survives, especially amongst the local Sasak tribe. Mark attends a stick fight or Peresehan, a traditional form of combat. Local spirit magicians known as Dukans put spells on the sticks to protect the fighters from injury. Indonesia has some 400 volcanoes and Mark spends a day making a steep climb up Mount Rinjani to the rim of the crater lake just below the summit, where people of all religions come to pray and meditate. Mark takes a boat ride to the island of Komodo to see the famous Komodo dragon, the world's largest lizard. Its razor sharp teeth can tear apart the hindquarter of a deer in seconds. It was feared that the dragons were facing extinction but money earned from tourists watching the grizzly spectacle has been used to ensure their survival. From Komodo Mark takes a peaceful boat ride to Flores, one of Indonesia's largest islands. He sees the dramatic sight of the sulphuric lakes of Kelimut, which locals believe the souls of the dead go into the brilliant coloured lakes: the young to the green, the old to the blue and the criminals to the black.