Cowbright: A Visit to Sasak Village

First the wonderful news - we made it home safely last night! A long and tiring trip, but no problems and it feels soooo good to be home! I still have photos from the last couple of days in Lombok, so I will share them over the next few days as I finish out the blog.

welcome to Sasak Village

While Ronnie was climbing Mt Rinjani, I was holding down the fort at Kebun Villas but unfortunately it rained most of our stay in Lombok. However, the day before we left the sun came out and I was able to take off with 2 employees of the villa. Since I was the only tourist, they were happy to customize the time for me. The tour was supposed to last 8 hours and include 2 different beaches and a visit to a traditional Sasak village. With rain threatening, I opted to blow off the beaches and head straight to the village. However, the driver did allow me to stop at some local markets and let me snap a few shots there as well (I'll post separately).

lumbung stores rice and other food

child exits bath house

A few kilometers north of Kuta is Sasak Village. A guide met me and gave me the typical run through. Though tourists are clearly a source of additional income, the people still live pretty much the same way as their ancestors have in this same village for the past 250 years. The Sade people pretty much just marry their cousins, as it costs too much to take a wife outside the village. Inside you can get a wife for a few goats whereas to marry outside the village would "cost" a few water buffalo. Way too expensive for most villagers, so most everyone tends to marry inside the village.

rice farmer breaks for lunch and corn husk smoke

The men in the village are rice farmers and work the surrounding fields for 12 hours a day, stopping at noon to eat, rest and smoke cigarettes which they make out of tobacco they grow which is rolled in corn husks. The old ladies in the village sleep and help with the babies when they're not chewing betle nut. The younger women were doing chores, taking care of children and weaving or making jewelry. These crafts supplement their income and help them survive.

sales are slow on this day

There is only enough room for 115 families to live inside the village. The rest must live outside (but near) the village. There are 3 types of structures within the village. The lumbung (top) stores rice and other food items. It is off the groud and designed in such a way to keep varmints out. Weddings and funerals and other ceremonies are held inside a larger structure called a beruga. It is built on 6 pillars (Muslim). Lastly, the bale tani are the living quarters which are passed from generation to generation. Even though it was dark inside, the flash on my camera shows one side of the 2nd level kitchen.

regular family meals are cooked here

hand fertilizing in the rice field

sun drying rice

Like most Asians, religion is a big part of their lives and the Sades practice Wektu Telu, a mix of Islam and Hinduism with some Buddhism and local belief thrown in. There is a mosque within the village. Amazingly, there are 1,000 mosques on the island of Lombok!

makings for a betle nut high

I noticed the woman on right sitting inside a dark doorway and then realized she was not alone. The guide explained to me the women were chewing betle nut. I have since read that betel nut is a psychoactive drug used regularly by 10% of the world's population (Southeast Asia, South Pacific Islands, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc). It's used for stress reduction, feelings of well being and heightened awareness. As you might imagine, there are all kinds of well documented health risks associated with it, but my guide said they use it because it is "good for the teeth" and the young woman who went with me also added that it prevents body odor. Hmm.

betle buddy

red juice stains the teeth

The people do not have any refrigeration and their diet consists mainly of rice and fruits and vegetables that they grow. They go to the market once a week using public transportation (angkots).

mother works, child sleeps, grandmother makes string from cotton nut (hand below)

These houses are 250 years old. They "clean" the floor by rubbing them with fresh cow dung. My guide used the term "cow s---", not realizing it was a slang term. It was hard to keep a straight face as I listened to him discuss this benefits of this special "cleaning product." Yes, he did mention it smells bad "for about the first 15 or 30 minutes." I'm still not sure out how cow "s---" could clean anything. :)

wrapping betle leaves

shy but she loves her jewelry

Even if my walk through Sasak Village was the product of a money making endeavor, I still felt I got to see a glimpse of how the people actually live (minus the commercial aspect of it). I was also a little more comfortable knowing that the villagers are used to having strangers walk through their village with a camera. If it bothered them, it didn't seem like it.