Lombok trip

In the middle of our Bali holiday a few years back, we took a two day trip to the neighbouring Lombok island. The journey by ferry lasted 3 hours and it took us directly across the Wallace Line marking the deepest parts of the ocean, which created a water barrier preventing the migration of fauna in ancient times when the sea levels were lower. The existence of this line is said to explain the marked difference in fauna between Southeast Asia and Australasia.

The Lombok-Bali ferry

Nothing much to do on the long ferry trip except to pose for photos

While still at sea before we reached the Lombok ferry terminal, several of these tiny boats came close to the ferry and the occupants boarded the ferry to sell all sorts of food items to passengers. At that point, I wished we could get on to one of these boats, just for the experience.

The ferry we were on couldn't dock at the terminal since an earlier ferry already there was experiencing some engine trouble. We were told that we had to wait till they could get that ferry running before we could disembark our ferry, and we had no idea how many hours that was going to take. However Yazeed's Lombok friend who was waiting for us at the ferry terminal came to our rescue in one of these winged boats.

And my simple wish to ride on one of these boats came true that day

Lunch on our first day was with Yazeed's Lombok friends at this restaurant at the edge of a paddy field. The restaurant's floating huts sit on a fish filled canal which irrigates the paddy field.

Lombok is not as well known here in Malaysia but is still every bit as beautiful as Bali. It used to be quite popular with foreign tourists in the past, however ever since the Bali bombings, tourism in this island seemed to have be worse affected compared to Bali itself.

We stayed at the beach in Sengigi which is where most of the bigger hotels of the island are located.

Sengigi had the most beautiful sunset I'd ever seen.

As you walk along Sengigi beach at any time of the day, various peddlers will approach you to get you to buy their wares. As souvenirs for friends and family back home, we ended up buying lots of something which Lombok is well known for...

Lombok pearls

The cultivated pearls from Lombok come in all shapes, sizes and colour and are really cheap. You could get a full necklace for less than RM40, with the irregularly shaped ones, and the freshwater ones being much cheaper than the symmetrical, saltwater pearls.

Lombok is also famous for its wooden carvings. A lot of the decorative items we've seen at home deco shops in KL are actually made in Lombok. We came across several familiar items at this shop near Sengigi...

..for example those wooden masks on the wall on the left. But of course they're a lot cheaper in Lombok. The owner of this shop told us that they have several Malaysian shop owners who buy wooden carvings and furnitures in bulk from this shop in Lombok to have them sold later in Malaysia.

Lombok's songket is another great souvenir to get from the island. This full songket has been hanging at our living room ever since we first moved into the apartment. The songket from Lombok are much more colourful and cheaper than the ones you get here.

Even made one into a samping for my baju Raya in 2006.

Lumbung styled roofs are a specific to Lombok

The Northwestern coast of Lombok boasts of several pristine beaches and rugged cliffs, all still unspoiled by any form of development.

However it's a pity to see the tourism infrastructure being left to rot on this beautiful island. Ever since the first Bali bombing where the tourist numbers here have dwindled, the businesses that depend on these foreign travelers suffered the most.

Several of the hotels on the popular beach have closed down. Few shops could still sustain their businesses and many of the restaurants and pubs catering mainly to tourists either were already out of business or were very close to it.

We were the only customers at this beautiful restaurant in Sengigi later that evening. I wonder if it's still in business today.

When we were there, most of the tourists we encountered in Lombok were there on their way to the Gili Islands just off the coast of Lombok. Click here for our photos from the Gili trip. I've just updated that old 2006 post with a few extra photos.

On the speedboat to Gili Trawangan

Lombok itself had lost most of its charm as a tourist attraction, which is a real pity since the island boasts of quite a number of attractions. Hopefully with time, enough promotion and with proper planning by the authorities there, Lombok can become a major tourist attraction like it's western neighbour.

Yazeed used to make regular work related trips to Lombok in the past. Check out some of his photos taken during one of his trips there.

For more info on Lombok from a tourist's perspective, check out this link:

Trailing the Treasure Island of Lombok