I think we have been here a week. It is impossible to keep track of the time. I always love coming back here, seeing many old friends from past visits and meeting new people, both locals and travelers, who I know I will remain in touch with for years. My favorite moments are the ones just lounging in front of the bungalows reading and listening to the local music they play over the computer, (or listening to the waves when the electric on the island goes out) and chatting to the handful of beach sellers that carry their woven blankets, sarongs, or akar bahar medicinal bracelets to sell to locals and the few tourists here during low season.
The pace is slow. The locals are always cheerfully happy and welcoming to everyone despite the long hours and months without a day off they often work. Maybe it is the sea air, the fact that they are outside all day, or that they have less to worry about by living with less in the first place.
Today I bought some woven blankets that locals use in rainy season on the floors to keep out the damp air, or to wrap themselves in when they have malaria or fevers because the cotton is dyed using herbs and fruit skin that has been boiled for its color. They believe that it helps to bring down the fever. Hopefully I won’t test this theory out with malaria any time soon! But they are beautiful handmade textiles and I could not resist buying a few. There are shops selling t-shirts and a few souvenirs, but for me the coolest treasures are the ones that were always here being sold to locals along the beach and in the tiny village inside the island. People here believe in herbal medicines from the surrounding jungle, and in the power of certain deep-sea plants. They still weave textiles and make hammocks, carve coconut and palm wood and shells. The natural environment provides most of what they need, and those are the things I always tend to love most.
Here are some photos of my favorite finds while on the islands. Woven blankets still made using traditional methods and natural plant dyes, a hammock made by one of the local fishermen, and some cool bracelets from material found on the island (or in the sea) like coconut, akar bahar, shells, lava stone from Lombok and freshwater pearls. Feels good to support the local economy with a few small purchases, and people really appreciate it. I like putting my money directly into the hands of the people making stuff, or as close to that as I can get anyway. I have no doubt that these things will mean way more to me than a Bintang Beer t-shirt.
