17° Lombok

We have set ourselves a lot. A scooter tour, with the aim of visiting a waterfall and the Monkey Forest. 7:30 a.m. breakfast, 8 a.m. departure. We drove through the absolutely overwhelming city hustle and bustle of Mataram. So we crossed several very busy intersections, overtaking old horse carriages and passing by many different market stalls. The craziest stall had goldfish hanging in a plastic bag. At the traffic lights and in the villages, the locals and especially children are happy about us white (& brave-crazy) scooter riders. Every few meters we are waved at and sometimes even cheered. Just before our destination, Tetebatu, we stopped at a supermarket and bought rain gear on a whim. We should not regret that, because 3 minutes before arrival it started to rain monsoon-like. We drove to the Monkey Forest and a local waved us excitedly to his terrace. He made us coffee and tea and we watched the road as a lake formed. After an hour the fun was over. The ducks enjoy their new paddling pool and I couldn't resist stepping into it myself. Due to the unpredictable weather, we suddenly had a very urgent need to get home. We decide to walk only a few meters into the Monkey Forest and unexpectedly the whole gang of monkeys comes towards us. Because of the heavy rain, we also think it is not a good idea to go to the waterfall anymore, so we go back the same way after 60km of driving. Back in our village, we treat ourselves to a dinner on the beach, overlooking Mount Agung / Bali.