For a long time Lombok stayed in the shade of its ‘older sister’ Bali, which focused the eyes and minds of all the visitors to Indonesia.
But now the l’ittle girl’ grown up into the mature tourist resort able to tempt the travellers by herself.

Gili Meno beach, Lombok

Both islands are of similar size, and share the similar tradition even the volcanoes are pretty the same, the small difference is in several species on Lombok which have their origins in Australian continent. Unlike Buddist Bali, the main religion in Lombok is the traditional Islam, which is visible in the presence of mosques in the island’s landscape, and the absence of pork on the restaurant’s plates.

The indigenous people of Lombok are Sasaks, which culture a tourist can experience by witnessing the local ceremony, dances and the traditional balaganjur walking orchestra of percussion instruments, which sound is aimed to scary evil spirits.
If you have a chance, take look at the process of making traditional pottery without use of a wheel, or textiles made on a traditional weavers loom.

The island is known as a base for travellers going to dive in nearby Gili Isles famous for its coral reefs with species like green turtles,reef sharks or parrot fish.
Along the coastline of Lombok there are much more spots perfect for diving or snorkeling, sun bathing and surfing, especially near villages of Kuta and Gerupuk.
The beaches are relatively undeveloped and offer peaceful, quiet place for summer vacation, opposite to often crowded resorts of Bali.
The most popular ( and developed) resort here Senggigi beach is located north of Mataram, the Lombok’s capital.
Nature lovers can visit Taman Nasional Gunung Rinjani, which features inactive volcano Gunung Rinjani, where the experienced trekkers can go near the top which is at 3 726 m above sea level.

Much lover, easy to be reached by everybody are 40 m high Sendanggile Waterfalls , and Tiu Kelep offering the possibility to swim in the waterfall’s pool.

Mataram features the airport with several daily flights to Bali, which is directly connected with many of European and American airports.
Between Bali and :Lombok there are also several ferry shuttles with tickets sold directly on shore.The ferry boat trip is pleasant but takes about a whole day.

[ photo courtesy of Fadil Basymeleh]