Introduction

Introduction to Lombok

Lombok is fastly becoming one of the popular places of Indonesia. The half a milion people which visit Lombok every year is only a very small amount compared with Bali, byt their number will certainly increase, since hotels have been built over the recent years. All good places along the beach, even those which can only be reached by jeep, are already bought by contractors from Jakarta. Compa (...)

Global tourism award	Gunung Rinjani reserve

Mount Rinjani National Park on the west Nusa Tenggara Island of Lombok has become recognized and hailed worldwide as spectacular and most magnificent travel area, since Rinjani Trek was named as one of the four outstanding tourism destination at the prestigious World Legacy Awards in Washington DC on 8th June 2004. Rinjani won the Destination Stewardship Award, selected as the tourism destination (...)

West Lombok	Senggigi, the Gili's and the peninsula

With the three 'big cities', the airport and the biggest concentration of hotels, West-Lombok is the best place to stay for the visitor. Here are the popular Gili Islands, as well as the most important Balinese temples, the center of the Wetu Telu and Gunung Rinjani. Our first route takes you north, from Ampenan to the beach of Senggigi, the Gili's, the Wetu Telu center Bayan and surrounding, and (...)

Central Lombok	Pottery, fabrics and seaworms

Central-Lombok is the tourist heart of the Island. The area concludes the traditional villages which are visited in most daytrips - and which are not far from the 'big three' cities - and the southern coast: the beach of Kuta, where the festivities around the seaworms (nyale) takes place and Tanjung Aan, with beautifull beaches for surfing. Many travel agencies organise daytrips to these ea (...)

East Lombok	Mountain villages and empty plains

With exception of the art center around Kotoraja, the eastern part of Lombok is still a white spot on the tourist maps. The area is not very adapted to visitors from abroad. Besides a center of art there are several more interesting places: the area around Selong and the coastal area between Labuhan Lombok and Kali Putih. Attractions are, besides the very nice view on Gunung Rinjani, the quiet bea (...)

Three cities	Ampenan, Mataram and Cakranegara

The center of population of Lombok is a city area in the west of the island, consisting of three neighboring cities: the old seaport Ampenan transforms into the governmental center of Mataram, which transforms into the trade city of Cakranegara. Just east of Cakranegara id Sweta, with the biggest market of Lombok and the busstation of the island. The total population of the three cities is more th (...)

Dance and music	Traditional contemporary art

Visitor of Lombok should not expect to see the lively dance and music from Bali or Jawa. In the few left traditional villages the performing arts are seen as an important addition to the community, but in modern, strictly islamic villages it's not encouraged. Lombok seems to be culturally poor in comparison with the other islands of Nusa Tenggara. For such a small island, the variety of dances, mu (...)

Lombok by jeep	Bumby ride in Kijang or hardtop

Most roads on Lombok are paved and in many places the unpaved roads are being improved all the time. Still there are three areas in along the southern coast - with the best view over the sea - where the roads are too bad for a normal car or bemo. Here you will defenately need a four-wheel-drive jeep - locally named 'hardtop', or at least a Kijang (kind of small van) which is still in good c (...)

Gunung Rinjani	Heavenly vulcano ascend

While I climbed the steep slope in the early morning fog, I rubbed over my bleeding nose. When I was climbing, I looked to the ground, but I didn't notice that Salim, my guide, had already stopped. He walked in front of me and carried the food on a bamboo stick. The side of bamboo can be really sharp; circumcisions on Lombok are still often performed with a bamboo knife; now I know why. It wa (...)

Temples	Balinese culture on Lombok

Playing in on the popularity of neighboring Bali as a popular tourist place, the Department of Tourism of Lombok once used 'You can see Bali on Lombok, but you can't see Lombok on Bali'. The slogan isn't used anymore, and that's good, because it's better to se only Bali on Bali. That doesn't mean that there is no connection, there are about 100,000 Balinese living on Lombok, of which 95 per cent i (...)

Wetu Telu	Mixture of islam and adat

Islam Wetu Telu is a religion in which islamic influences have been mixed with older elements of animism and ancester worship. The number of Wetu Telu-followers on Lombok is hard to number: the religion is not officially recognised in the sensus. Estimations say that there are about 30,000 Wetu Telu supporters. The relations between the Wetu Telu-followers and the more orthodox Sasak-muslems (...)