Lombok - The undeveloped Bali?

Our ferry trip wasn’t the most glamorous journey to Lombok. Our group were told (warned), “Treat it like an adventure” and informed that the toilets might be the 'most exciting part’.

It took 5 hours, either sitting on a small wooden seat taking in the aroma of petrol and durian, or standing up at the front of the boat in the blazing sun. It did, however, give us time to properly meet our G Adventures Lombok travel family which included people from the USA, Switzerland, Luxembourg, UK, Canada and of course our local tour guide, Panji.

It was full on; we visited a traditional Sasak Village, built of bamboo with mud flooring. These villages are dying out, slowly being replaced by concrete construction. Villagers rotate houses based on need, not contractual value, and most people were related. Nothing seemed locked and we were accompanied around the village by a humorous man who'd taught himself English so he could be the link person for tourists and government matters. Whilst slightly commercialised to help maintain some income; we were touched by the commitment to their way of life, even the regular coating of floors with cow dung, something sacred in their Hindu religion.

We then headed to Kuta, a small coastal resort on the cusp of becoming a big tourist area. Our hotel was perfectly positioned, just a few steps back from a cove of white sand between small limestone cliffs. Development was obvious, simple buildings sat next to newer, more sophisticated affairs, and plots lay empty ready for something new. That something turned out to be a future anticipated influx of tourists due to the newly built GP Motor circuit nearby (https://invest-islands.com/motogp-lombok-2021-mandalika-circuit-in-indonesia/). Part of an island plan to drive up visitors and they even have the ambition to get F1 to the island in future.

That evening we all ventured out along poorly lit strips of the road with no pavement and plenty of Mopeds to dodge, we enjoyed a local meal of beef rendang (a dark, black-looking curry). Other popular dishes are chicken satay and nasi goreng.

The next day, whilst others relaxed, we, with a few others, opted to explore more. We visited a nearby fish market, snorkelled healthy reefs and visited, by a fast fishing boat, “Honeymoon” and “Pink” beaches. Pink beach had a subtle hue of pink caused by dead red coral that had washed to shore and broken into billions of grains of sand.

We also managed to land on a small island of sand revealed due to low tide where red and blue starfish were plentiful in the clear waters.

We enjoyed a simple, fresh fish BBQ washed down with a 10p black Lombok Coffee already diluted with powdered rice to make it go further.

It was a great day, all the better for tasty Indonesian food, local beer and an extended evening of a game of “UNO” with our fellow travellers, Tanis, Chrystal and `Hilary.

The next day a prompt start heralded a busy and crazy day. First was a visit to a village where we walked flights of stacked rice terraces, joined locals planting their next harvest, and wandered village paths clearly off the usual tourist track. Lunch was served at the village guide’s house, which provided a welcome rest. That, along with plenty of opportunities to see the island from our small coach, was just the morning; we saw 10’s of colourful mosques (each village had at least one) and field upon field full of tobacco.

It was all so wonderfully authentic. For example, on the rice terrace walk, we saw young children freely frolicking naked in the muddy paddy fields- scattering in laughter when they caught sight of our group. Yet our mobile phone signal remained strong and cool coke was still available near every stop. Squat toilets weren’t so great though.

Island infrastructure was surprisingly good but deteriorated in the small village and farming areas; at one point, our driver stopped, held a large bamboo pole in the air and lifted an electrical cable over our small coach to help us proceed. The infrastructure provided a few challenges for our next visit to some local waterfalls. We were bundled onto the backs of small open lorries and sped some 5 km onwards. It felt authentic and adventurous; locals laughed at us, but again it brought us close to the island’s authentic self. We saw a whole village preparing for a wedding, school children practising marching for their forthcoming independence celebrations and loudly interacting with those practising their English (or making rude English hand signals as was the case with some giggling children on the roadside).

The Benang Stokel and Benang Kelambu waterfalls waterfalls were a challenging trek. Interesting, but in our opinion not spectacular. Martin and others in the group took an opportunity for a swim in the cool water pool made for its occasional visitor. Tired, Jacqui took a scooter ride which scared the life out of her as her driver vigorously navigated the ultra-steep rough trail. Refusing to ride a bike back, a slow, hilly walk backwards began, aided by cool coca cola. We returned by lorry and coach to the resort and were so exhausted we ordered a pizza to eat in our room.

The next day we proceed to the nearby Gili Isles after an early breakfast. Lombok, we were told, was like Bali thirty years ago, so we wondered what Bali would be like when we visited in a few days

Finally, climate-wise, Lombok was similar to a lot of Asia; consistently hot and sticky with warm seas.

M&J