We set off this morning towards the volcano that dominates the island,passing innumerable rice fields,traditional sassak bamboo villages and normal brick villages. We crawled through a busy market with cocks in pens,hand harvested tobacco and all the usual fruits/veg. All around we could see rice being harvested by hand and being put out to dry on tarpaulins and concrete floors. What was noticeable were all the mosques in various states of construction,all painted bright colours and dominating the skyline. We also saw horse drawn tuktuks which slowed our journey somewhat. Eventually we started climbing up until we reached the village we were going to explore. We walked up and along the terraces,stopping to see the various types of rice and their harvest. Chillies are also a crop here,often for export but all the rice is for their own consumption. The farmers here are self sufficient with little spare cash,all the young males travel to malaysia to work on the palm oil plantations and send money home. This has allowed the people to build brick homes. We were treated to a delicious home meal where all the ingredients were from the village,their local satay sauce of peanut and coconut was gorgeous and is prepared daily. The cost of our tour and lunch helps the village send their girls to secondary school and other village projects. The trip back down the mountain was in our favourite kind of transport,a battered old truck with bench seating.
Our coach then took us further down the mountain along the volcano evacuation route until we met the tsunami evacuation signs pointing the way we had just come! We even passed the island's multiplex cinema in a vast mall,not at all what we expected to see and soon we were following the coast to our hotel for the night . A lovely big and deep pool was most welcome. A lovely sunset and sundowner bintang tin from the minibar perked us up for dinner. It seemed naughty but we had pizzas on the beach opposite. A real wood fired oven owned by an italian,said to be the best on the island. We wouldn't disagree.