Lombok Island

LOMBOK

Lombok’s scenery and landscape, the people, culture and religion, are all markedly different from that of its neighbour, Bali. There is less rainfall and lower humidity on the smaller island, the beaches are clean and largely udeveloped, and the inland forests are mainly intact. It may be only a 20-minute flight away, twp hours on a fast boat or a few hour’s ride by slow car ferry, but it’s another world.

Lombok is roughly 70km (43miles) from north to south and the same distance across. Its great volcano, Gunung Rinjani, is the second highest in Indonesia and dominates the nothern half of the island. Most people live on the east-west plain across the middle, on the fertile lands below the mountain range. The far sputh is arid, with low, scrub-covered hills and eroded valleys, similiar to some parts of Australia.

From study of their plants an animals, the 19th-century naturalist Alfred Wallace divided the Indonesian islands into a western group, regarded as part of Southest Asia; and an eastern group, which belonged geographically to Australia/Oceania. He then drew the line between the two through the deep Lombok Strait, separating Balli and Lombok. The division is not so obvious but the basic principle of the ‘Wallace Line’ as a transitional zone, is accepted.

For many years, the island of Lombok was the domain of the Sasaks, a people who had come from the Asian mainland by way of Java and Bali. They were animists who revered the spirits they believed to be in the living things and the inanimate objects around them. As Islam spread through the islands (apart from Bali) some people in Lombok adopted it in a version of their own, Wektu Telu, which retained many influences of animism. Today, the majority of people are more or less orthodox Muslims. As you travel about Lombok, you will notice many exotic country mosques with their domes and arabesque arcades, aq well as the growing numbers of young women who wear robes and Islamic headscarves.

The first succession of Balinese invasions started in the 18th century. For a while, most of Lombok was governed from Karangasem Bali. Later, the Balinese province in Lombok became independent, and event attempted to capture Karangasem. The beliefs of the animist-Hindu Balinese and the animist-Muslim Sasaks were not always conflict and there was much intermarriage. Today, the Balinese minority mainly lives in west Lombok and is influential in commerceand tourism.

At the end of the 19th century, the Dutch took advantage of the confilct raging between the Sasaks side and then taking complete control. After the Japanese occupied Lombok during World War II, the Dutch briefly returned, only to depart again when Indonesia gained independence.

Where to Go in Lombok

The main attractions on Lombok are its laid-back pace, the beautiful, clean beaches, and the natural, unspoilt beauty. Visitors to Lombok are rewarded with the pleasures of the island’s relaxed, rustic ways-the sight of water buffaloes and their calves; hens and chicks dashing across your path; and sudden views of the blue sea dotted with sails. Most visitors stay in the hotels around Sengigi beach, or the offshore Gili Islands, but the far south also has good beaches and snorkelling.

There are a few notable temples, palaces and other historic sites, and there is a rich culture that needs to be sought out, rather than being obvious display. The co-existence of Sasak traditions and Balinese-Hindu practises means there are always ceremonies going on – ask at ypur hotel.

Some villages are renowned for their traditional craftsbasketry, weaving, pottery or carving. For an insight into village life, hire a car or motorbike, or take day trips to the villages and around the enchatting countryside. It’s worth inquiring about timing of local market days, held in the mornings ince or twice a week in many towns and villages. Outside of the towns, are roads are free of traffic, and a prime source of motor power is still the Cidimo, or pony-drawn carts.

Ampenan, Mataram and Cakranegara

Flights arrive at Selaparang Airports, on the nothern outskirts of Lombok’s capital, Mataram. The slow ferries from Balli dock at Lembar Harbour, 10km (6miles)to the south.

Not so long ago, the old port of Ampenan, the administrative centre of Mataram, and the commercial district of Cakranegara were completely separate. Now they have joined up in Urban sprawl, home to a quarter of a million people. A long, broad avenue links them all continues to Sweta, the island’s transports hub.

The port area of Ampenan is crumbling and mostly disused, but the narrow streets of the old town are livelier. Many of the people here are descended from Arab traders noticeable in the well-attended mosques and the cries of the muezzins in their minarates calling the faithful to prayer. The Museum Nusa Tenggara Barat (tue-sun 7am-2pm;charge), south of the centre in jalan Banjar Tilar Negara, gives an overview of the island’s culture, as well as its unique and volatile ecology.

Mataram is the provincial capital of Nusa Tenggara Barat and has the array of government institutions, as well as treelined residential streets with many opulent houses. Monkeys wait by the roadside for handouts as you approach the temple at the top of Gunung Pengsong, 6km (4miles) south.

Cakranegara (or just Cakra – pronounced ‘Chakra’) grew up around the palace of the Balinese Rajas. Today it is the commercial centre of Lombok. All that remains today of the royal compounds is the 1744 Mayura Water Palace, the former meeting hall and court of justice standing in the middle of a lake and reached by causeway guarded by old cannons. This was scence of a short-lived Balinese victory over Dutch troops in 1894. The result was reversed only weeks later and the Dutch went on to take over the whole island.

Across the street, Pura Meru, the biggest temple in Lombok, was built in 1720. It has three meru-topped shrines dedicated to Brahma, shiva and Vhisnu. The huge wooden drums in the outer courtyard are sounded, calling the Hindu community to festivals and ceremonies. Just to the east, Sweta buzzes with bemos, buses, and pony-powered cidomos. The biggest market in Lombok is also here.

Near the Capital

The hillside gardens and lake at Narmada, about 10km (6miles) east of Cakranegara, were laid out for a 19th-century king, to remind him of Gunung Rinjani and its crater lake when he became too infirm to make the journey to the real mountain. The resemblance is harder to see now that an extra pool and rectangular swimming pool have been added.

The north of Narmada at Lingsar, stands an ecumenical temple, Pura Lingsar, intended to bring together people of different religions. The upper compound is reserved for Hindus. The pool in the Wektu Telu temple is the home a big, old holy eels, which can be fed with offerings of boiled eggs sold by vendors at the gate. In another enclosure, the stones, wpund in white cloth with a yellow sash, come from Gunung Rinjani and are said to represent ancestral spirits. Chinese Taoists have put mirrors there to repel the malevolent spirits.

At Surandi, in the gardens just east of Lingsar, eggs are on the menu again for the residents of a pond in the temple of the Holy Eels. Nearby you can swimm in a spring-fed pool, or have lunch at the old Dutch-built Suranadi Hotel.

Sengigi Beach and the Gili Island

Heading north along the coast from Ampenan, look for Pura Segara, a sea temple on the shore near the colourful Chinese cemetry. Close by, villagers gather to haul the fishing boats up the beach and help sort the catch.

Pura Batu Bolong straddles an archway on a rock just before Sengigi. This ancient Hindu shrine just out to sea, and makes a great lookout point for watching the sunset over the Lombok strait.

The prime place to stay is around Sengigi Beach, just north of Batubolong. The beach shelves steeply in places, and the coral reef or rocks can be just below the surface, so it would be advisable that you wear rubber shoes, rather than walk about bare- footed. North of sengigi, the road passes some of the loveliest coastline in the Indonesian archipelago. At times it climbs to the cliff tops, and the swoops down into breathtaking bays. Tiny fishing villages hide among the palm trees, and the sea is flecked with bright sails.

Instead of the coast road, tours from Sengigi and traffic from Mataram sometimes take the inland route via the Pusuk Pass, a winding road through the mountains. The two roads meet at Pemenang, where a side road leads to the small harbour at Bangsal, which is the starting point for trips to the three Gili islands (gili mean island) just offshore. Gili air is nearest, about 3km (2miles) away. Next is Gili Meno, then Gili Trawangan, the furthest away at 8km (5miles) and also the biggest, despite only being 2.5 (1 ½ miles) long.

With white sand beaches and coral reefs, the Gilis are favourites of divers, travellers and partygoers. Gili Meno is the quietest of the three, while Gili Trawangan is distinguished as the party island. Here, life is laid-back, with numerous little beachside cafes and bamboo beach bungalows, but no cars, motorbikes or dogs to disturb the peace, although Trawangan now has a wider range of facilities. There are also plenty of dive centres here.

The boats that ply from Bangsal to the island wait for a full load of 15 to 20 people. In July and August that won’t take a long, nut out of season you can face a delay unless you pay for the empty places or charter a whole boat (fares are low and fixed); be sure to buy tickets from the main building on the beach and avoid the touts or the other makeshift ticket offices, which are operating a scam. Some of the larger hotels on the Gili Islands provide speedboat transfers for guests.