Sorry for the Group Email

After two nights in Sengigi, we set out to explore. The gentlest of negotiations with our hotel produced a Suziki Jimny for US$12 a day. The most cursory of inspections revealed a worn nearside front tyre, although it wasn’t until it was virtually dark that we made the exasperating discovery that the brake lights didn’t work.

We strayed from the main roads, and found ourselves driving along barely-paved single-track highways, exchanging nods and waves with scooter riders and admiring the view. The interior of Lombok is covered with craggy green hills and deep valleys, and small, bamboo villages through which tourists rarely venture.

We eventually found ourselves at the southwest tip of the island at Bangko Bangko, a world-famous surf spot that lies some 10km after the paved road ends. Our car barely made it. Not was our Jimny ludicrously underpowered for a vehicle with all the aerodynamics of a bungalow, it was also, despite its encouragingly-rugged appearance, two-wheel drive. We scrambled up steep inclines, scattering plant-pickers and small, terrified children as we bounced towards the ocean. Our wheels span while the back of our car swayed from side to side and, with just the briefest of thoughts as to how we would get back down, we were there.

Not for long, of course, because we wanted to reach Kuta, Lombok, before it got dark. That’s the thing about beautiful spots – there’s not always enough time to stop properly.

By the time we had jolted our way back to the main road, we were still 60km from Kuta and night was falling. Now, I’m not sure if you’ve ever driven a poorly-handling, stranger’s car with worn tyres and no brakelights on an Asian road populated twenty-to-one with scooters, but what followed was the most stressful two hours of driving I’ve ever done. Fully fifteen per cent of the scooters we saw had no brakelights, which meant every now and then a small shadow would loom in front of us and we’d jump on the brakes and swerve into the oncoming traffic. Scooter riders in Asia are experts – what looks like chaos is actually a careful riot of instinct and skill, as overloaded mopeds make their way around lumbering cars and trucks. Most scooters rode at what seemed like 30km/h, which meant we spent much of our time in the middle of the road, occasionally cursing and swerving back towards the kerb as a lorry approached, horn blaring and lights flashing.

We reached Kuta at 9pm, solemnly promising ourselves that driving at night was not something we’d make a habit of.

Dave can’t believe he managed to drive in Asia without killing anyone. That I know of, anyway. Click here for the Flickr set.