My trip to tropical Lombok Island (West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia) last week was the first trip I organized myself along with 3 friends. We booked our own airline tickets and hotel rooms, planned our own tours, and decided places to eat and transports to use ourselves.
None of us are experienced tourists, moreover experienced backpackers; in fact this is the first trip we finance ourselves (priorly trips that we, especially I, made were always financed and organized by third parties for work-related matters). Yet I can say that I (I'd rather have my 3 friends talk about their feelings about the experience themselves) feel quite satisfied with the Lombok vacation. The only thing that is equally disagreeable to us is the fact that we could have no more than seven days there, which is indeed a too brief visit for such memorable place as Lombok.
Lombok is one of three West Nusa Tenggara's main islands. The two others are Sumbawa Island (renowned for its horses) and Komodo Island (the only place in the world home to those rare Komodo dragons). It is located just next to Bali, "the Island of Gods" which has become Indonesia's tourism icon.
While Bali is even more popular than Indonesia to outsiders (so they said), Lombok is not yet well-known among the international public. The island, however, has been dubbed the "next Bali" for its similar beautiful beach panoramas spread almost across its coasts and other potential tourist spots.
Lombok is even dubbed as being more beautiful than Bali, which has become so crowded and uncomfortable thanks to its international popularity.
Each four of us (I and my friends) have visited Bali; and after the Lombok vacation we share the same conclusion that Lombok is somehow more memorable than Bali. It makes us want to come again and again, unlike Bali does us.
The keywords are two: tranquil beauty and delicious cuisines.
Our Lombok tours were divided into three main areas: Senggigi beach in Lombok western coast, Gili Meno Island in offshore northwest of Lombok, and Kuta beach in southern Lombok (this is not that Kuta beach in Bali, though share the same name).
We spent our first couple of nights in Senggigi beach resort area, second couple of nights in Gili Meno, fifth night in Kuta Lombok beach, and sixth in Senggigi again.
Senggigi is situated 10 km north of Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara's capital, in which Selaparang Airport stands and a new bigger international airport is under construction (scheduled for completion in 2010). It is Lombok's main tourist center, consisting of a large number of hotels and bungalows of all budgets more than those can be found anywhere else in Lombok. It also has restaurants and small cafes lining the main street, Jl. Senggigi Raya (Jl. or Jln. is Indonesian acronym for Jalan, meaning street). They serve mostly seafood, though chicken- and beef-based cuisines are also available. The foods have in average good taste (I don't know if foreigners feel the same about this, though).
We found a budget hotel here, called Elen Hotel, in which we rent two air-conditioned rooms priced Rp 100,000 (approximately US$10) per room per night; quite cheap isn't it? But, well, of course it is hardly comfortable compared with those star-rated hotels; though still quite agreeable. You'll have free pancake for breakfast with that price, which tastes poorly I must say.
When we returned to Senggigi at our last night in Lombok, we decided to stay in another budget hotel, the Puri Senggigi Hotel, which is even cheaper (Rp 75,000 per room per night) but surprisingly more comfortable than Elen Hotel. Unfortunately, while Elen is situated in central Senggigi, thus has good access to restaurants and cafes of all budgets, Puri Senggigi is situated rather far from central Senggigi, and we had not many choice of places to eat but only a few restaurants nearby.
We did not spend much time in the beach while in Senggigi; it is not so beautiful anyway, with only series of plain light grey sandy beaches can be commonly found in Java Island's coastal areas (I live in Java Island, btw, Indonesia's most populous island and wherein the capital city of Jakarta is located). But we did see good sunset there and took some beautiful photos. I've heard that Senggigi beach has good waves for surf beginners. I see the waves, but I can't decide whether it is true because I don't surf at all. But the beach is pretty wavy, I must say. And they rent surf boards in Senggigi, as well as some small motorcycles (we call it "motor bebek", specially designed for small Asians), which are likely favorite to foreign tourists from Europe.
Senggigi, however, is a good point from which we can visit other nearby tourist spots, such as those located in Mataram. So, after arriving in Senggigi on Thursday night, on Friday we had a tour to Mataram, wherein we visited an ancient Hindu temple complex called Narmada (a resting place of an ancient Hindu king in the past consisting also of the king's bathing pools); Ina Mulia pearl jewerly shop which sells a range of jewelry (necklaces, rings, earrings, etc) embellished with real pearls of several different colors; and a local restaurant (which serves the famous traditional Ayam Taliwang -- chicken served with hot chili sauce).
We also visited the Batu Bolong Hindu temple, which is situated on a low cliff next to Senggigi beach. The temple directly faces the ocean.
We rented a car and the driver for 8 hours (priced Rp 350,000 -- about US$35, including gasoline) for the tour. Sounds too expensive but we saw no other option.
On day 3 we crossed to Gili Meno, one of the famous three gilis (gili = local for island), through Bangsal Harbor, 18 km north of Senggigi. Tour companies offered us shuttle service which they say has "reasonable price", but we found that actually it is cheaper to go to the harbor with taxi (I recommend local Lombok Taxi of the Blue Bird taxi group, or that of Express taxi group) than cross to the Gilis with public boat.
The three famous gilis are Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air. The first is the most crowded and the third is the least. They are both called "party islands" because of their offering of night lives in the middle of the sea. I and my friends are not fans of parties, and because what we seek is tranquility, we chose to visit Gili Meno, which is apparently named the "Honeymoon Island" and similarly a choice to many tourist couples if not families.
Gili Meno has undoubtedly the most beautiful nature compared with other Lombok's beach tourist spots. It has that white and soft sandy beach, and stunning clear seawater with gradient blues through which you can catch the sight of coral reefs here, there and everywhere. The waves are mild; it is not for surfing but is a popular spot for diving and snorkeling; which are also offered by Gili Trawangan and Gili Air. This interesting offering of marine life sightseeing is one of the things differing Lombok from its neighbor Bali.
Uniquely, the small Gili Meno Island has a saltwater lake, a basin perhaps trapped thousands years ago, which is surrounded by mangrove wood.
Though I must say that the marine life is still quite as nothing compared with that in Sulawesi's Togean Islands (read my note on it in last year's archive); it is a more comfortable resort area because it has more various cozy bungalows to stay in and more beachfront low-budget restaurants to eat at, in addition to its being easier to reach (only about 30 minutes speed boad ride compared with two hour to get to Kadidiri resort Island in Togean from Central Sulawesi's Tojo Una-Una harbor). It is also well covered by cell phone signals and even has internet cafes; things that you cannot absolutely access in Togean.
The defect is the annoying local beach boys, which make a group of girls like us an easy target of flirtation. This is the part that I hate most about the island.
We stayed in Kontiki Meno bungalows there, with each bungalow priced Rp 200,000 (about US$20) per night. We got discount for being local tourists, by the way. Foreign tourists only get discount when they stay longer like one or two months.
Warning; one of the beach boys said that room rate rocketed during peak seasons such as July and August. He said the hotel owners could triple fold the rate; nuts!
On day 5, we crossed back to Bangsal Harbor, from which we took a ride on a public minivan called engkel (read: ankle) to Mataram priced Rp 10,000 ($1) per person. From Mataram we went straightly to Kuta beach in southern Lombok by taxi, paying Rp 132,000 (about $13).
Don't be fooled by tour companies. They would say that there is no other way to get to Kuta besides using shuttle service they offer. And that could cost more than twice the public minivan plus taxi ride. We opted not to use public transports all the way to Kuta because we would have needed to change to several different vehicles before reaching, which is not efficient for newcomers like us.
Kuta beach is surfers' haven. They said it has good big waves favorite to surfers. But, most hotels and bungalows in this area are situated near the beach that doesn't have those good waves. Ones have to go a few good kilometers to East to get to the part where the waves are just what the surfers need. Need not to worry; local people have motorcycle rentals from which you can rent a motorcycle for quite long.
The beach is also pretty beautiful, with its dark greenish blue seawater and large black rocks scattering in some parts of the coast. You cannot however expect better underwater life from that in the three Gilis.
In Kuta, we stayed in a bungalow at Segare Anak Hotel priced Rp 175,000 per night (plus 1 extra bed); our neighbors were all foreign surfers of all ages. We didn't surf, however, only enjoyed the beauty of the beach by having good walk along part of its coast in the afternoon and in morning the next day.
We had the delicious "pelecing ayam" (another chicken with chili sauce) for our dinner.
On day 6, we returned to Senggigi because it is nearer to Selaparang airport (only about 15 minutes taxi ride compared with more than an hour from Kuta), from which we have to depart to Jakarta the next day.
While passing through Mataram, we stopped by at a pearl jewelry center in Pagutan, where a range of small shops offer various kinds of jewelry made of original local pearls; and then at a traditional snack shop, where we bought seaweed sweets.
At night in Puri Senggigi Hotel we ordered McDonald through its delivery service, thinking it would have cost less than having our dinner at nearby costly restaurants. Unfortunately, it appears to be not so different in price because they seemingly only have one McDonald restaurant across Lombok; situated in Mataram. We were double-charged for our calling to the delivery service number (by cell phone operator and McDonald itself); and still had to pay delivery fee (which wouldn't happen had you ordered it in Jakarta).
Very early on day 7, we flew back to Jakarta.
This is the summary of our seven-day vacation in Lombok:
• Day 1 night: arrival at Lombok's Selaparang Airport, staying in Senggigi.
• Day 2: having a tour to Mataram; visiting ancient Narmada Hindu temple, pearl jewelry shop, and Batu Bolong temple; plus a lunch at a restaurant offering tradition ayam taliwang.
• Day 3: Crossing to Gili Meno.
• Day 4: All day in tranquil and beautiful Gili Meno.
• Day 5: Crossing back to main Lombok Island, to Kuta beach.
• Day 6: Back to Senggigi, stopping by at Mataram to buy souvenirs and snacks
• Day 7: Departure to Jakarta.
When we had the trip last week, there was only a night flight to Mataram and morning flight to get back to Jakarta; so in fact we unfortunately had only 5 full days in Lombok.
Tips:
July to December is peak season, so everything from airline ticket fares to room rates are skyrocketing; better consider taking leave in first semester of a year to spend some time to Lombok.
Direct flight to Lombok is available from Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Jakarta, Surabaya, Bali; and from Singapore and Australia (not sure which airport, though).
