Our 7 Month Travel Blog

It was time for us to head to Lombok after a few weeks in Bali.

Overall Bali was really interesting, especially when we got out of the busier areas and discovered the real culture and scenery. Ubud was our favourite main town, the cultural centre of Bali, but we found Canggu and Seminyak too crowded for our liking.

It’s a shame how over touristed some places in Bali are, as the outskirts and the scenery is incredible when you get there, but the pollution and traffic in the towns is a real problem and the infrastructure isn’t set up for the volume of people trying to get around. Speaking to the locals, many are saddened by what Bali has become, however they do value the income that the high level of tourism has provided.

At the end of our Bali stay we travelled from our accommodation in Seminyak to Padangbai harbour to get the ferry to Lombok. The harbour was very chaotic, with loads of people trying to sell you tours, taxis, clothes and carry your bags. Health and safety also hasn’t made its way to Bali ferry companies! And this particular harbour is a notorious site for scammers.

The crossing from Bali to Lombok took around 2hrs. The Lombok Strait is known for its intense waves and the journey definitely lived up to its choppy and slightly disconcerting reputation!

When we arrived in Lombok it had a completely different feel to Bali. Although it’s quite close in distance, the culture was very different. It was a lot quieter and people have said it feels more like what Bali was 20 years ago.

Where in Bali most people are Hindu, in Lombok the majority are Muslim. As we went from the port to our accommodation, we passed lots of mosques and it felt a lot more authentic.

The scenery in Lombok was amazing and felt very untouched.

The highlight of our time in Lombok was the full day trip we did where we spent a day with our driver/guide Asier.

We started early, getting picked up at 5am to go to Bukit Merese, which is a viewpoint overlooking the sea of South Lombok and Tanjung Aan Beach.

We hiked up a short distance to see the sunrise.

We had a 360° view around the whole bay.

After the sunrise, there was a short walk back down to the car, led by our guide and we picked up a stray dog along the way!

From here we visited several traditional Sasak villages. The first was Sade village, near Kuta, South Lombok.

Houses in the village are made of bamboo, thatch with buffalo dung floors.

This is a living village where around 700 Sasak people live. We saw people going about their daily lives and at certain times of day they perform drum rituals and folk dances.

They’ve also constructed an incredible lookout.

On our way to the next stop, our guide suggested stopping at a local market which was really interesting to see. It’s rare for tourists to go so everyone was interested to see us and we definitely became a bit of a spectacle!

Asier wanted to buy us some fruit to try and we thought bananas were a pretty safe bet!

After the market we then went to Sakara weaving village. The village is known for its vibrant handwoven songket and ikat textiles, created by women in the village.

We then had a go at spinning cotton ourselves to create the yarn. It was a lot harder than it looked!

We also got to try weaving! They use traditional techniques which are passed down through generations. The girls in the village learn from a young age and it’s said that they can’t get married until they master the art of weaving.

We also stoped at another village known for its pottery and ceramic making, and Bethany made a small vase.

The final stop on the trip was the Islamic Centre in Mataram, which is the biggest mosque in Lombok.

This was a really colourful and impressive structure over 4 floors in the centre of the city.

We were given gowns to cover up before entering.

We passed by the giant gong which calls people to prayer before going up the steps to the centre of the mosque.

The main room of the mosque opened up into a giant area with lines of space for people to pray.

Next stop was a trip to the Gili islands!