First impressions tended to confirm the "tropical paradise" claim. After pulling into the harbor of Bangsal, the forty minute drive to the beach town of Senggigi along the coast was one 'wow' moment after another:
I booked our accommodation a few months ago - 3 nights only - and mostly forgot about it. So it was a nice surprise when we got here and it turned out to be not only gorgeous, but run by a lovely couple who have the friendliest staff with views to die for:
We've now extended to a week.
And Lombok is such an incredible place, I want to come back before we've even left! Being predominantly Islamic (rather than Hindu, like Bali) is an obvious difference. It is called the island of a thousand mosques - and without counting them out, I'm prepared to believe it. You can hear the call to prayer everywhere and the Muslim population is conspicuous in the clothes, especially of the headscarved women (which not all women are).
It is drier and a bit hotter here than in Bali, which doesn't tell you a lot, really. When I say hotter, I think I've sweated out my entire body water weight on a daily basis. Ewww... In practice, the landscape is super dramatic by the ocean because the beach sweeps up to the road and then to huge hills all around the west side of the island.
Where in Bali, you might see the proud Babi (pig) in the villages, here the (cutest ever) goats roam the sandy hills around Lombok.
Also, all across the coastline, are large open spaces just next to the beach, which belong to or are used by the local Lomboks (Lombokians??) to keep their animals, sit, talk, eat, wash clothes, etc.
The first few days were spent walking around trying to get an overview of the area. First to the mall and then to some back to basics bakso:
There were some long walks along the coastline:
And sunset:
Yesterday we walked miles through a village to get to the Taman Wisata Kerandangan which is a national park with nice waterfalls. There is really not much info about many of the sites in Lombok, so I found out about this park while reading a guy's blog about running while staying in the Senggigi area.
The village itself was really nice - friendly people, cute cows, baby chicks, goats... And some aggressive dogs. First, the cute kids:
Incidentally, the kids are sitting in a bemo - a small bus and one of the main local modes of transport. Here is a better shot of the inside:
There is no door on the back. You just jump on, sit on the bench seats and press a buzzer when you want to get off. There are no advertised prices. I think the deal is you pay what you think is fair and see what the driver thinks! Fun!
The other main form of local transport are horse drawn carts. Yes, seriously. They're all over the island from 5 am taking people to work, markets, school, etc.
Anyway, we get to the national park... Only to find that because it is not the rainy season, the waterfall is dry... It was still a nice (if not hot as he'll) walk through jungle. We did spot some giant toads and a water snake.
Ooh, we were also chased by dogs. Again - another alpha male hero moment for Phil who turned and faced the marauding pack, yelled "no" and breathed a little fire from his nose. And they ran from him like they had seen a demon**
The local people here have much less exposure to English speakers here compared with Bali and many of the locals who've struck up conversations with us have told us how keen they are to practise their English.
On our way out of Kerandangan village, we were joined by a high school student on bis bike, riding through the village after classes and he asked where we were going. We were heading to a nearby beach warung, and he asked "if he may accompany us to our restaurant to practise his English". Wow. A teenager. A polite teenager.
And he walked us all the way there. And offered to be our tour guide if we want to go anywhere. He was 15. Talk about motivation and drive. Anyway, we're going to be Facebook friends so he can tour guide us when he's old enough to drive. Very sweet.
Warung was lovely btw:
There are a fair few locals selling things on the beach - jewelry, paintings, DVDs, etc, but nowhere near the scale of Bali. It's low tourist season at the moment and there seems to be lots of people without work. The dryness of the dry season here means that some crops can only be grown once a year and outside of harvest time it is quiet.
Everyone I've met bemoans the low tourism and wishes for an influx of visitors. Ironically, part of the charm of Lombok is the lack of tourism, the quietness even in the busiest areas and the feeling that you haven't taken over someone else's home, but that you're just a visitor, treading lightly. Heaven.
Travel tip: when a dish is advertised as being "a whole young chicken", expect head, beak, eyes and feet. Not everyone's cup of tea. Phil wouldn't touch it. I ate it because I felt so guilty about the sacrifice of the chicken. And I had to hide the head under a napkin.
- Posted using a shooting star
** some exaggeration may have occurred
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