THE LOMBOK AND GILI CONNECTION

If you have even a little time to spare on your Bali holiday, Lombok is not to be missed.

Kuta Lombok is the main attraction. If you leave Bali in the morning you will be dining in Kuta Lombok by evening. And if all you spent in this rustic beach town was two days, it would be two days you will never forget. Set among dry craggy volcanic hills Kuta Lombok is a strange oddly empty tourist town populated by a few broken down hotels, a couple of OK places to stay, one giant five star Novotel, a small group of motorcycle boys and a very charming group of sarong, tshirt, necklace and pencil sellers.

The roads are empty most of the day. Horse and buggy ply the roads transporting local folks with their purchases from the morning market. Modified pick-up trucks form the bemo brigade and water buffalo round out the scene basking in the mud holes or quietly munching on roadside grasses attended by hand-rolled cigarette smoking cowboys under home-made hats.

The coastal drives are world class leading to deserted beaches of untold beauty. The surfing is superb altho Gerupuk Bay has been decimated by crowds of Lombok surf but remains cultish in status. The other breaks are myriad and generally far from Kuta and not easily reached.

The island of Lombok is Muslim with a small mix of balinese Hindus leftover from Bali’s occupation of that island in the 1800’s. Financially Lombok is a very poor island as can be witnessed by taking a trip down some of the backstreets of Kuta or the backroads surrounding the area. Most dwellings are still made of bamboo and few even have flooring other than dirt. Friendly and good natured, the Sasak people suffer from bad press regarding roadside robbery, pilfering from hotel rooms and of course Islamic radicalism.

Unfortunately the tales are true altho if you tallied the numbers of robberies and murders Bali wears the crown. But the sun shines brighter on the island of the gods and the thereby obscures the true colour.
therefore it is wise to be wise and streetwise when visiting Lombok.