This morning we began our voyage from Bali to the Great Barrier Reef in grand style, cruising into the harbor at Badas on the north coast of Sumbawa, two islands east of Bali. This small port lies at the foot of the vast stub of Gunung Tambora, the great volcano that exploded with unimaginable violence in 1815, filling the world’s skies with ash and bringing on the “year without a summer.” It seemed an appropriately superlative opening to our explorations through this greatest of archipelagos.
Secure to the dock at Badas, we left the ship immediately after breakfast and climbed into small buses that carried us up into the dry hills of the island to the village of Pamulung. As soon as we arrived we were struck by an aspect of Indonesia that all travelers in the region remark upon: the friendly, open, welcoming nature of the Indonesian people. Strolling through the streets of the little town we were greeted by fathers and sons, grandmothers and granddaughters, and more, all smiling, inviting us to photograph their beautiful, expressive faces, and to look into their homes and share a few words of friendship. In a small courtyard we stopped for a demonstration of the tradition method of making rice flour, pounded by hand in large wooden pestels, and had our first chance to see and purchase the beautiful textiles for which these islands are very deservedly famous.
After another short ride on the buses we stopped again for the highlights of the morning, a wedding ceremony demonstration and water buffalo races. Our guides explained the intricacies of the traditional wedding, while a beautiful young couple and their attendants demonstrated the ceremony for us and invited more photography. Then it was time for the buffalo races, which are really more of a competition of buffalo driving skill. Each rider in turn mounts a thin stick platform attached to the yoke of a pair of buffalo, races down a long muddy pool and tries to knock down a figurine placed in the mud at one end. It was quite a spectacle, particularly when one of our staff, Adam Cropp, joined in and skillfully rode his team all the way down the course—barely missing the target that would have won him the competition.
We made two more stops on our way back to the ship, at a 1940’s Dutch administrator’s home—which had been made into a museum displaying many beautiful articles of Indonesian culture from the past century—and a beautiful wooden sultan’s palace from the late 1800’s.
Next it was time for lunch as the National Geographic Explorer set sail for Komodo, our destination for tomorrow. We spent a busy but relaxing afternoon enjoying presentations from the photo team and Lawrence Blair, our Global Perspectives Guest Speaker, who gave a stirring talk introducing us to his home, the remarkable nation of Indonesia.
