4 EXCITING DAYS IN LOMBOK
Hi, everyone. It is me again,
Tisha. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!May the Year of Horse will bring peace and happiness
to everyone in the whole world. During the December school holidays last year,
my family and I visited Lombok and Bali. It is my first trip to Lombok, but for
Bali, it is my second trip.
Firstly, I would like to talk about Lombok.
Lombok is an island next to Bali. It is located on the east of Bali. It is
famous for is fantastic sandy beaches and crystal clear blue water.
We stayed
in Bumi Aditya Hotel in Senggigi which is the main tourism centre on Lombok
and, apart from the Gili islands, the most developed tourism area on Lombok.
THE SADE SASAK TRADITIONAL VILLAGE
After we had arrived at Lombok,
our driver cum tour guide, Dana, took us to the Sade Sasak Traditional Village.
It is a traditional village which is a famous tourist attraction and has
authentic clusters or thatched Lumbung, or rice barns, and traditional homes
made of thatch and bamboo, with hardened cow and buffalo dung floors.
The Sasak
people here are very friendly. We walk through the village with a local
resident who acted as our guide. We met this very friendly grandmother who sells traditional sasak hand-woven cloth and also local souvenirs.
There are many old folks still living in this very primitive village. This is another granny that was all too happy to take a photo with me.
We even went into one of their houses. It is very,
very, very small.I wonder how they live in such small houses.
My mummy bought this beautiful traditional hand-woven table cloth from this Sasak lady in the village.
SUKARAR HAND-WEAVING VILLAGE
The next place that we visited is the famous Sukarara hand-weaving
village. Here, I was taught how to weave the cloth. It was a good experience
for me.
THE FAMOUS THREE GILIS
On the second day, my family and I went to The Gili Islands. They are
the three perfect amazing coral islands namelyGiliTrawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air.
The three Gili
islands are located off the north-west coast of Lombok. The word “Gili” means
“small islands”, and so these islands are known as the “Gilis”. The “Gilis” are
Lombok’s most popular islands and are consistently rated as top South East Asia
island destinations by travellers and travel publications.
These islands are surrounded by crystal clear blue sparkling water
and fringed with white soft sands and swaying green palm trees.
In order to visit the three “Gili” islands, we hired a speedboat. It was a
very exciting journey.
The first island that we visited and the farthest one of all is Gili Trawangan.
The sea is really blue and sparkling crystal clear until you can see the sea bed.
There were many tourist there. There are no cars and
motorcycles on the island. On the island, tourists can either walk, ride bikes,
snorkeling, go horse riding, or kayaking on Gili Trawangan. There are also many
local shops and restaurants selling souvenirs and local and western food
respectively.
The next island that we visited is Gili Meno. It is in the middle of the
three Gilis and the quietest island.
Gili Meno is a perfect place for those who want to get away from the
hustle and bustle. There are a lot of corals on the beach. Gili Meno is quiet
and there are not many shops, restaurants and hotels with chalets on the beach like in this picture. There were very few
tourists here.
Next, we went to Gili Air. Gili Air is
the nearest island to Lombok. It is not as crowded as Gili Trawangan. There are
many restaurants and hotels.
We went to one of the hotels. It is called Sunrise
Hotel. We met Sarah who is in-charged of the hotel’s restaurant that is on the
beach. Sarah is from Switzerland. She is a very friendly and helpful person. Her
husband is a chef in the restaurant.
This beach restaurant caught our eyes
because it was decorated with beautiful and colourful Chinese lanterns. This
eye-catching decor was Sarah’s idea. The tables and chairs are made from old used boats and they are very heavy.
We saw this restaurant as we were reaching
the island. We had Italian pizza made by Sarah’s husband and it was
FANTASTICO!!!!!! Anyone who visits Gili Air must come and try this wonderful delicious
pizza and other western cuisine at Sunrise Hotel in Gili Air. Sarah can be contacted at info@sunrisegiliair.com
BEAUTIFUL TANJUNG AAN
Our next destination on the third day is Tanjung Aan, Pantai Kuta, South
of Lombok.
We had to drive through the hills and coconut plantations to come
to this beautiful emerald bay. It is a spectacular beach with calm blue waters,
perfect for swimming and spending a day lazing on the white fine sand but it
was too hot for us to laze. The sun was scorching hot until it burned the sand
and your skin.
We took a traditional boat to the end of the bay which was
rocky. I saw many colourful
shells and corals.
There were many tunnels on the
rocky hard walls. Our guide took us into one of the tunnels.
It was SUPER DUPER
AMAZING to see the sea water flowing into the tunnel and out into the sea.
We
also met a group of friendly Lombok students who were resting under a huge rock structure
which looks like an umbrella.They were so eager to speak to us.
We had a wonderful four day holiday in
Lombok. After that, we flew to Bali for another 6 amazing days. My Bali escapade will be written in my next blog.
HAPPY READING!!!!!
