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AUTORIJDEN
"In addition to exploring the area, we still have a task to wait for, to buy slippers! Because after a boat trip, car ride, restaurant, arrival at hotel and scooter ride with bare feet it is really time to get some footwear. After a beautiful road along the coastline with untouched beaches we arrive in the capital Mataram. A few times we stop to find a shop and people stop constantly asking where to go. A girl is even so kind to guide us to a store. With 80 cents slippers around the feet we went to visit a mosque and then searched for a well-known temple."
Autohuur
Renting a Car in Indonesia or renting a two-wheeler can be easy on Lombok, but driving on Lombok much more complex. In Indonesia you drive on the left side of the track. With a car that means that the steering wheel is on the right and there is no automatic gear. You have to check everything in advance: brakes, headlights, horn, the proper operation of the wipers, the indicators, the air conditioning, the presence of oil and fluid from brakes, the presence of a spare tire in good condition (the latter can be very useful on the often bumpy roads of Lombok), and the presence of mirrors (an accessory that is considered useless by most drivers) but essential for your safety. In addition, a foreigner is often blamed (and often not) and the cost is a big bite out of your holiday budget. In short: reflect before you start!
If you still have bad luck with a hopefully (small) accident, then it might get annoying. Especially the locals, who smiles at each other, know that Indonesians who drive a car have not all got their driving license. You are the rich tourist in their eyes.
An expression to memorize before you begin: "hati hati", meaning "attention, danger". You will (rarely) see a sign indicating a possible danger. There are few signposts on the roads of Lombok (and very few traffic lights). Almost no traffic lights and there are no speed controls.
Before you go on an excursion, you have to prepare the route well by counting the number of crossroads and pay attention to the names of the villages. If possible, take a road map. Indonesians in the villages are often surprised by the road maps and most of them can not find their hometown on the map. |
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You have to pay attention when a dog or chicken crosses the road (chickens are precious in Lombok), or a child walking on foot, or a bicycle in front of your car, or a cart pulled by a small horse, or a fully loaded truck. Not to mention goats, cows, buffaloes and sometimes small horses that suddenly embark on the lane. Drive slowly and stay focused.
An Indonesian will overtake you right or left of your rental car, which according to him seems the most practical at that time. Look carefully in your mirror before you turn left.
At crossroads in the countryside or in villages, car and truck drivers use their emergency lights before they cross the intersection. They do this because there are no traffic lights (except in Mataram). Turn on the hazard lights just before you approach a crossroads in the countryside.
At night, vehicles (two or four wheels) do not all have working headlights. A rear-view mirror is almost never used on Lombok. Young Indonesians use it as a mirror to check their appearance, even while driving. In short: on Lombok a mirror is just ... decoration.
The Indonesian (and especially the young Indonesian) worships his mobile phone. But the Indonesian does not stop at the side of the road to read or answer an SMS or app. He does this while he's driving.
There is very little public lighting in the villages and it is almost absent on roads outside the village. So be careful in the night and drive again at moderate speed so as not to be surprised by: a late chicken, a drunken tourist, a stray dog, a winded tree branch by a gust of wind five minutes ago, etc.
Once an Indonesian is on his way, he absolutely ridicules everything that happens behind him. He is moving forward.
If this scares you all, please understand:
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I have gathered here all situations that lead to difficulties, even if most of them are part of daily life.
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Renting a car can also be done with a driver, who is paid during the day (if possible a little English), and this price is not exorbitantly high on Lombok.
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Before driving in Lombok (or Indonesia), many will have the urge to rent a two-wheeler, scooter or moped. It's fun, it's hot, it changes the car!
My Indonesian friends have regularly told me that if I accidentally drive a dog or chicken on the road, the compensation must be negotiated immediately and paid in cash. But if I hit a villager
accidentally , whether I'm wrong or not, I have to go straight to the next police station to warn the authorities and ... I have to let go of the popular ransom before they help the wounded.
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