LOMBOK

 

Lombok is an island in West Nusa Tenggara province (Nusa Tenggara Barat or NTB) in Indonesia. It is located immediately east of Bali and separated by a deep trench that divides the Asian continental shelf from the Australian shelf surrounded by the small islands called Gili. It belongs to the Lesser Sunda Islands and has a total area about 4,514km².

With its area is similar to its neighbour Bali and also because of the Balinese conquest over the indigenous Sasak people, a large part of Lombok has marked Balinese historic and cultural heritage, especially around the city of Mataram, which is the capital and also the largest city. Lombok is often marketed as “an unspoiled Bali,” or “Bali’s sister island.”

 

The island's indigenous Sasak people are predominantly Muslim. However before the arrival of Islam Lombok experienced a long period of Hindu and Buddhist influence that reached the island through Java. Islam may have first been brought to Lombok by traders arriving from Sumbawa in the 17th century who then established a following in eastern Lombok.

Today Lombok is also home to a minority of Hindu Balinese. The island's inhabitants are 85% Sasak whose origins are thought to have migrated from Java in the first millennium BC. Other residents include an estimated 10–15% Balinese, with the small remainder being Tionghoa-peranakan, Javanese, Sumbawanese and Arab Indonesians.

 

The island is fertile, has sufficient rainfall in most areas for agriculture, (planting especially tobacco, rice fields and peanuts) and possesses a variety of climate zones. Consequently, food in abundant quantity and variety is available inexpensively at local farmer's markets, though locals still suffer from hunger due to drought and subsistence farming.

Blessed with epic waves it is a welcoming place not only for surfers but also for people who are looking for much more. With divine beaches, the majestic Mt Rinjani, Indonesia's second-highest volcano and spectacular marine life to discover, the island of Lombok has no lack of attractions both in and out of the water. Lombok has retained a more natural, uncrowded and undeveloped environment, which attract travelers who come to enjoy its relaxed pace and the opportunity to explore the island's unspoiled, spectacular natural beauty.