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LOMBOK ISLAND OVERVIEW

The island of Lombok is located east of Bali. Tourism is not quite as developed yet as Bali and it is that reason which makes lombok the prefect gateaway. Escape to pictureque mountaionside landscapes to white sand beaches on the Gilli island . A place to relax unwind from the daily life back home. Lombok also have the third largest volcano in all of Indonesia , mount Rinjani which extends 3726 meters high with a crater lake called Segara Anak.

The main season here are wet season which start from November to May and dry season start from May - October. The best time to come is in the month of may when the weather is just prefect with bright and green scenery.

The local inhabitants of Lombok are called Sasaks. They speak Indonesian as well as their local sasak language. The other main ethnicity's include Balinese, Chinese, Arabian, Javanese. Lombok three main distric with three capital cities : Mataram in the west, Praya in central and Selong is east lombok. The mayority of commerce is the capital city of Mataram in west Lombok.

The mayority of population on Lombok are muslim. Every friday around 12. 30 noon, muslim go to the mosque just like Christian go to Church on sunday. Therefore, in that day most businesses and government office are closed half day and then re- open again after praying ( not including Senggigi ). If you are planing a travelling around the island and visiting small villages is more respectable to wear slack or knee lenght shorts, a shirt with sleeves or a sarong . If you happened to be here during ramadhan which is the muslim month of fasting from sunrice to sunset, please do not eat, drink or smoke out in the open public during the month long fast. Eventhough the people don't seem bothered in the common tourist like ,Senggigi and the Gili island, it is better to respect the people and not to eat or smoke openly.

MATARAM, CAKRANEGARA AND AMPENAN

Impresive public building

Mataram

The administrative capital of the Province Nusa Tenggara Barat (NTB). Public buildings, banks, post office, general hospitals and shopping malls are found here. A part of West Nusatengarra (NTB) province, Mataram is the capital and main city of Lombok. It includes the port town of Ampenan, the towns of Mataram and Cakranegara.

As a center of government administration, Mataram has many large, impressive public buildings and substantial houses. The city also has transportation and shopping facilities. The main square is used for art exhibitions, theater, dance, and wayang kulit (puppet theater) performances. In other parts of Mataram, there are a variety of old-style markets and neighborhoods featuring traditional craftwork like basketware and gold- and silver-threaded sarongs, or wraparound garments. The port of Ampenan was once Lombok's main port, but it now relies mostly on fishing vessels. Cakranegara has significant Balinese and Chinese populations, the Chinese having been brought by the Dutch to provide cheap labor.

Cakranegara

The main commercial centre of Lombok, has a thriving Chinese and Balinese Community. Most of the shops and restaurants are run and owned by Chinese.

Ampenan

Once was the main port of Lombok. Old buildings with mix population of Chinese, Arabs, and Melayu. You can find many local restaurants with great Chinese and Sasak foods. Although officially 3 separate towns, Ampenan, Mataram and Cakranegara actually run together, so it's difficult to tell where one stop and the next starts. There are banks, travel agents, mall, interesting shops, traditional markets and few things to see, but the town is not a major attraction.

THE HISTORY OF LOMBOK

The beautiful scenery at Kuta Lombok

Lombok Accordingly is a popular second destination for traveler bound for other areas or Indonesia.There is a motto in vogue among tourism officials and operator in Lombok: Bali can be seen in Lombok, but Lombok cannot be seen in Bali. The point implied is that there are many aspect of Bali that Lombok also offers, but nothing of Lombok that can be seen in Bali.There is much of Bali, Indeed, in lombok. Nevertheless, Lombok is definitely a place which carries its own distinct identity.

At the end of the 17th century, much Balinese comes to Lombok Island and then stay in the surrounding of mataram. Some did spread out in other to small towns in western part of Lombok in a way of the ethnic groups owned self-typical language and writing.In the ancient time, the people of sasak living in the central and eastern lombok have written the drafts on lontar leafs which are still well kept up to this day. The eldest are still able to read well to contexts. Leaf drafts collection, steel pens with sharpened point and brass in bottles may still be seen in the west nusa tenggara national museum I mataram, including other prehistorically discoveries.

Available is also bronze Nakara by age of 2,000 years produced with high technical printing method. Such nakara decorated in geometrical from with stars are found in Seran, the district of seteluk, in Sumbawa regency.

In relative In history and it is geographical location, the culture of west nusa tenggara were much influence from outside, especially from Bali, Java (Majapahit), Goa remarkable on the fashion design of the armor and helmet normally worn by the soldier of Bima kingdom from the ancient items.

There are foreign influence also, experienced from the ceramic items of the era of Ming dynasty from the 16th century with albeit their rarity, yet are still exciting here and have influence on the culture art. It is also visible on the artistically value of the holy and other magical.The culture influences of sumbawa and bima are represented through the style of traditional houses, the way of dressing the traditional ceremony and the belief of denomination by the people in lombok and in many other island in nusa tenggar barat.

In old Lombok bible, the name of Lombok mirah and Lombok adi are mentioned. On few number of leafs it is written selaparang and selapawis. To the society of Lombok the King of Selaparang is known, the king prior to the arrival of the Balinese people. According to Dr. R. Goris, the name sasak is derived from the two-word sah, which means to go and saka, which means ancestors. Sasak, then, means the people who went to the place of thee ancestors. Goris believes that the Sasak are in fact Javanese, because their script is named jejawen.

In around the 15th and 16 centuries, Islam, brought by the Islamic proselytizers from Java, begun its rise. During that period of development it seen safe to assume that the cultures of Lombok and java where closely related. particularly around the time of the decline of majapahit and the advent of Islam. In 1575, a Javanese named sang Bima, defeated the small kingdom of bima, which embraced the Hindu religion. But at around the middle of the 17th century Islam made its entry. It was brought by people from the minangkabau through Goa. A marriage between the king of bima and princess of Goa, there opened new stage in the cultural relation between the two states. Lombok fell to Dutch’s hand in 1895.

The natural environment

West Nusa Teggara lies in between the eastern most part of Bali and and the western islands of East Nusa Tenggara. West nusa Tenggara consists of two big island, such as Lombok and Sumbawa Island. It has six regencies and one administrative town, and lies between latitudes 115 E119Edegrees east. It covers an area of 20,153 square kilometers. The provincial is capital in Mata ram. The population number is about 3.7 million, the majority of which are sasaks.

The central parts of the island consist of the mountain covered with forests. The northern and southern beaches are covered with arid grasslands suitable for cattle and horse breeding. The natural condition is influenced by the monsoon climate. From October to March, the winds are accompanied by rainfall. From April up to September, the dry season prevails. Temperature average between 26-30 Celsius along the seashore, and between 25 to 25 degrees on the slopes of the mountains.

Lombok and Sumbawa were in the part known as the rice barns of the region. In areas close to the forests, however, people prefer to collect forest products such as timbar and rattan. Another source of income is tipping unfermented palm juice to make palm sugar. In several areas, the people live from farming, fishing, hunting, and collecting salt or making various utensils from leaves or rattan. Due to the influence of the old tradition people still carry out private ceremonies to mark the important stages in the human life cycle, such as birth, adulthood and death.

Lombok, is interesting not only because it marks the beginning of the transition between Indonesia’s Asia and Australian fauna and flora zone- separated by what is known as the Wallace line, but even more because of its alluring cultural make-up, in which various elements are blended. Communication with other provinces as well as within west nusa tenggara itself, no longer pose any problem. West lombok offers a wide range of sights, experiences and attractions, such as the traditions and arts of the Bayan tribe, the Narmada park, Pura Meru, the Hindu temples of Mayura, Lingsar, Mount Pengsong, Percitan, Melanting, Suranadi, Bolong Stone, and Mount Rinjani with the Segara Anakan crater lake. In central Lombok we can still observe the old sasak traditions and their ancient sites, Nyale Beach, Batujai dam, handicrafts, the traditional houses in textiles of sukarare traditional house in the districts of rambitan, and Aik Bukak. East Lombok is known for its fishermen’s village, such as Tanjung luar, the Kutaraja home industries, the bathing pool of Aik kalak, Timbanun, Tete Batu on the Mountain slope of rinjani.

Place of interest in Sumbawa are, among others, sultan’s palace, Aik Bening and Punik, Liang Petang, the recreation park of Semongkat, the porcelain ware of senteluk. And the grave of datu seran. We can also see the stone tools of Uma Pungka, the Manhirs of Lenangguar, and the stone cave (night cave) of Liang petang in the village of Batu Tering. Dompu has hot water spring in Hu’u (known as place of surf). Bima boasts a number of attractions, such as lawatu beach, Ambalawi, the cave of Wera, the palace of Sultan Bima the Bima sakti Kris of Dara, and Lebok Taliwang.there are also the U’a Pua ceremony, and horses races.

Lombok has been called the “Sleeping BeautyEof the region. A westerns visitor to Lombok once described it as Esweet young maiden villagesElooking at the world from the corners of the sparkling eyes. In some respect, Lombok does appear like Bali. This is caused by the fact that at the end of the 17th century, many Balinese, each possessing its own culture and ethnic heritage.

The ancestors of the Sasak in central and eastern Lombok wrote handwritten lontar leaf manuscripts produced by engraving characters and figures with a sharpened iron tool on the dried leaves. They contain much valuable information on the people’s past, and can still be seen in the Provincial Museum in Mata ram. Also found were bronze Nekara kettledrums, about 2.000 years old, made with high skill. They are ornamented with geometric patterns. Many such kettledrums were found in seram, in the senteluk district of Sumbawa. The culture of west nusa tenggara was strongly influenced by outside elements, especially from bali, Java (majapahit) and Goa, as can be see, for instance, in the ornamental design on the war attire and helmed, normally worn by soldiers of Bima kingdom.

Foreign element of ornamental design reached the area, among other, through Chinese ceramic from Ming Dynasty period. The cultural influence of Sumbawa and bima is reflected in the traditional house, costumes, traditional ceremonies and beliefs. In Old Lombok texts, the name Lombok mirah band Lombok Aji are mentioned. On some lontar manuscripts, the name Selaparang apparently was ruled by a king, long before the arrival of the Balinese.

These article was taken from many sources.