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Half the fun is
getting there. Four hours by slow ferry or a mere 20-minute
flight by inter-island plane, the largely non-commercialised
island of Lombok is the first in Indonesia’s exotic southeast
island chain. Lombok is only slightly smaller, but occupies
the same time zone, shares a similar climate, and even
has an east-to-west volcanic range as its ‘sister island’
of Bali.
The whole island is dominated by Mt. Rinjani, an active
volcano rising over 3,700 meters above sea level and the
third highest mountain in Indonesia. Wrapped in clouds
by the afternoon, in the morning views of the massive
volcano are unimpeded. Fertile alluvial plains with picturesque,
finely crafted rice terraces slope gradually down to the
sea.
Although wildlife and bird life proliferate, they are
species apart from the islands to the west. Separating
Bali and Lombok is a four-kilometre-deep trench that for
millennia halted the natural migration of plants and animals.
This trough marks the legendary Wallace Line, the divide
between Asia and Australasia, the storied realm of Wallacea.
Lombok’s population of nearly three million is a mixture
of Islamic Sasak, Hindu Balinese and Chinese and Arab
merchants. In the 14th century, Lombok was settled by
Hindu-Javanese under the auspices of the powerful Majapahit
Empire. The Sasak - the island’s native people - reveal
their Hindu roots by the adoption of a caste system and
special vocabulary used when addressing commoners and
noblemen, yet they also possess their own unique traditions
and age-old rituals.
In the 17th century, the Sasaks allowed the Balinese to
settle in western Lombok where to this day their culture
thrives – revealing serene temples and palaces, Balinese
food and customs, gamelan orchestras and dances, and where
Balinese religious festivals such as Galungan and Kuningan
are celebrated with full gusto.
In Lombok’s small villages, islanders congregate at busy
roadside markets, two-wheeled horse carts (cidomo) transport
goods, and women carry almost any imaginable object on
their heads: vassals, mats, coconuts and even huge terracotta
water vases. In fishing communities red- and blue-striped
outriggers line shores pounded by heavy surf. In the hilly
regions are thick bamboo groves, rocky rivers, grey Asian
monkeys and swaying fields of mountain rice.
Although Lombok’s pace is decidedly laid back, its tourism
infrastructure is fully developed. From the port of Padangbai
in East Bali, the island is serviced by government-run
passenger ferries bearing long-distance express buses;
domestic airline services fly from Jakarta, Bali and Surabaya;
and Silk Air, an international carrier, flies directly
from Singapore.
Accommodation on the island’s idyllic coasts and offshore
resort-islands is of outstandingly good value, covering
the range from luxurious hotels to rustic homestays.
Of Lombok’s three large, closely linked towns - Ampenan,
Mataram and Cakranegara - historic Ampenan is the most
colourful for sightseers. The island’s west coast beaches
are readily accessible from these urban centres, as are
the island’s principle historical and cultural sights.
Narmada, the former raja’s summer palace, 10 kilometres
east of Cakranegara, is a large complex encompassing a
mixture of Balinese, Islamic and Sasak architecture. At
Suranadi Temple, in the hills four kilometres north of
Narmada, you may see the gardens and the rebuilt baths
of kings carved in Balinese style with crystal clear water
bubbling up from natural springs.
Lingsar is a sacred eel pool and large Balinese temple
complex - the holiest on the island - and a place of pilgrimage
for four faiths. This worn and faded temple and its pretty
courtyard, believed to have been built in 1714, feels
more like an Indian temple than any similar structure
on Bali.
Senggigi, the island’s main resort area, is eight kilometres
north of Ampenan. Here, you will find first-class hotels,
fine restaurants and cafés, shopping complexes, bookshops,
tour and travel agencies, post and telecommunications
offices, dive centres, motorbike and car rental agents,
and antique and art shops galore.
Let’s not forget shopping. Sasak pottery is a high art-form
possessing an aesthetic beauty and simplicity unparalleled
in Indonesia. Giant terracotta vases and water pots, seen
carried on bicycles down country lanes, are made at Banyumulek
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and around the
Kediri area in West Lombok where visitors may view the
whole process of building, shaping and firing the pots.
Gorgeous fabrics are also woven on this island, evidenced
by the exquisitely embroidered kebaya (traditional blouses),
headscarves and sarongs worn by Sasak women. Although
Sukarare is the main weaving centre, the villages of Sengkol,
Puyung, Punjuruk and Ketap also produce hand-woven fabrics
using traditional backstrap looms, spinning wheels and
bobbin winders.
Off Lombok’s northwest coast are the three tiny resort-islands
of Gili Air, Gili Meno and Gili Trawangan. Exuding an
air of seclusion, there are no dogs, no banks and few
motorcycles on these enchanting islands.
Coconut trees cover the interiors and a walk around each
isle is leisurely and unhurried. With abundant sunshine,
white-sand beaches, fine swimming, and superlative underwater
scenery, ‘the Gilis’ offer peace and contentment. There
are frequent boat connections to each of the islands from
Senggigi and Bangsal Harbour at Pemenang on Lombok’s west
coast.
The trip to Lombok’s south coast on a new two-lane highway
is a journey back through time, passing traditional hill-top
Sasak villages of thatched houses which are surrounded
by fields of sweet potato, corn, tobacco and cassava.
Life is primitive in this isolated, sparsely populated,
dry and scrubby region – a land of cacti, slowmoving bullocks,
stooped women in sombre black clothing, men tilling fields
by hand hoe, and black palm-fibre rice barns that resemble
mop-haired beehives.
The road eventually winds its way down to Kuta, a green,
tree-blanketed oasis along an arcing, unblemished beach
at the base of barren hills. Unlike its celebrated namesake
on Bali, to every side of Lombok’s Kuta are blinding blue
skies, an expansive blue-green ocean, peculiar rock formations,
inexhaustible forests of palms, clusters of high-roofed
houses draped in elephant grass, and stairways of tobacco
and peanut plantations.
Each of the area’s beaches - Mawun, Selong Balanak and
Ekas - rivals the next in utter solitude and raw beauty.
Except for a few bamboo huts, fishermen mending nets,
or a wayward herd of mud-caked water buffalo, the beaches
are totally empty, waiting for a ‘Robinson Crusoe’ to
splash ashore.
Bali-based convention extension managers are able to arrange
three- and fiveday tour packages, car and motorbike rental,
as well as sea and air tickets to Lombok. With an increasing
demand for sporting vacations, Lombok, with her spectacular
mountains, fast-flowing rivers, and extensive marine environments
proves to be a natural haven.
Famed for its great beauty and eerie isolation, Mt. Rinjani
towers over all parts of the island. The destination for
most climbers, however, is not the summit itself but the
spectacular emerald-green lake inside the calderas - nearly
four kilometres across - an otherworldly home to boiling
hot springs, cascading falls, steep slopes covered in
dense forests, rare waterfowl, but not a single inhabitant.
For trekkers, the two-day ascent is an extreme physical
and spiritual adventure unmatched by few other destinations
in eastern Indonesia.
Rinjani treks are run in accordance to the Rinjani Trek
Ecotourism Program. In 2004, this community-based cooperative,
supported by New Zealand’s International Aid and Development
Agency, gained international recognition by being awarded
the prestigious World Legacy Award for environmental responsibility
and respect for cultural heritage. Trekking here, you
can be assured that revenue from tourism activities and
entry fees is used for conservation, training, management
and assisting the national park with maintenance of the
area.
Golfing holidays to either of Lombok’s two international-standard
golf courses can also be organised. Rinjani Country Club,
at 500-metres above sea level, is bestowed with an abundance
of water traps, bunkers and ravines – ideal to test any
player’s skills. The other course, Kosaido Country Club,
overlooks the sea and includes a signature hole laid out
along a white sand beach. These strikingly different greens
make the perfect compliment to the Bali golfing experience.
Hotels & Resorts in this area:
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