Lombok, Indonesia

Indonesia
The Gilis

Everyone knows that Bali is Hindu is while Lombok and the rest of Indonesia is Muslim, but be aware that Christmas vacation falls during Ramadan, the month of sundown to sunup fasting that Islam observes.When we couldn't get anybody to take our dinner order, the one harried waiter (a transplanted Balinese Hindu)explained that all the Muslim waiters were eating since the sun had just set. Since the local mosque is right in the center of the Senggigi strip almost right across from the restaurant where we were eating, I should have put two and two together. Anyway, since I was woken up by the mosque's tape recorded, minor-key howling to prayers at 4:00 a.m. (after the Banyan's band had packed up), you might want to take this into consideration when booking accommodations.

By the way, Indonesia's power supply is 220 volts using the round and wide-spread plugs used in continental Europe. Those accustomed to something different will save themselves a little scouting if they take adapters for their camcorders, etc. along.

	Chances are you'll want to make a little pilgrimage up to the Gilis when you go to Lombok. A guy on Senggigi Beach approached us and wanted to take us in his boat for US$35, but instead we had a guy from Bali named Bootoo drive us up and then arrange for a boat to take us across. The 45-minute or so up to the part of Bangsal, where most of the boats leave to take you across, is gorgeous. I ended up going to or through Bangsal about 7 times in 14 days.
The road follows the scalloped shoreline all the way, giving you breathtaking view after breathtaking view each time you come to the top of a head land. An enjoyable way to make the trip is by motorcycle, which rent for about 30,000 rupiah a day. My daughter Kelly is now 6, so she was old enough to go with me, the first time. It was very hot and there were cows grazing on this point.
	The beaches, as you can see, are deserted and gorgeous. I couldn't help but wonder why in the world the main tourism development wasn't located on shore directly across from the islands in the first place, rather than 45 minutes to the south. Perhaps to give much needed work to the budding Lombok transportation industry?
The Gilis, namely Gili Air, Gili Meno, and Gili Trawangan, look like this when they come into view. One of the reasons I decided to go to Lombok was that I had heard that the snorkeling around the Gilis was great. Well, I couldn't find it. Sparse, largely dead coral and a few garden variety fish made me think "Gili" for Indonesian for "Don't bother." As a day trip just to lie on a different beach it's OK, but don't expect too much.
	If you continue on past Bangsal, the road gets less interesting, since the land flattens out the road strays away from the coastline. You do come to an interesting little market town, though, which offered some great photo opportunities, as well as some great fresh fruit. We went for the rumbutan (upper left), which look like hairy strawberries, and for the salaq (lower left), with their crackly outer shell and tart, dense meat.
The patches of red that you see for sale here are hot peppers. Our man Bootoo told us that they gave their name to the island, since hot peppers are called "lombok" in Indonesian.
	When you come back to Senggigi, there are two routes you can take. If you want to come back down the coast to see those gorgeous beaches from a different angle, I can't blame you. However, if you go inland at Bangsal where you see the sign for Mataram, you'll go over Pusuk Pass. Here you'll great great views back toward the Gilis, but you'll also see literally hundreds of monkeys. You can buy a bag of peanuts at the little stand at the top of the pass, and have fun feeding them. They sure can jump!
One of the first things you'll notice on your arrival in Lombok is that the horse cart is a very common mode of transportation on the island. In case you'd like to take a ride on one don't worry; you'll find plenty of them waiting to ferry you back to your hotel after a hearty dinner of gado-gado or whatever at Senggigi. They are no competitive match for the licensed and unlicensed taxi drivers, though, who pull up and yell "Transport? Transport?" at every pedestrian tourist.
	Here's a picture I snapped through the windshield of our Toyota Kijang when Bootoo was driving us home from the Gilis. It doesn't have any particular significance, but it does give you an idea of what the populated areas of Lombok are like. I don't want to give the impression that Lombok is nothing more than a string of Blue Lagoon beaches, although it can be if that's what you limit yourself to.
On Christmas Day we rented the same Kijang and drove ourselves down to the southern coast of Lombok, to Kuta I've included some shots from that little day trip on the next page.