Lombok The Undiscovered Island

Lombok may not be as well known as Bali, but it has the other great and marvelous taste as Bali have. Deep blue seas, the unique blending of Islamic and Hindu cultures, cool waterfalls in green mountains glens, from them all you can find it all in one island.

Beaches
Seger Beach, Kuta, it is around 70 km from Mataram. And this beach is the chief venue of the Nyale festival which takes place in February or March each year. Hundreds of local gather on the beach, when night falls, fires are built and the young people sit around competing with each other in rhyming couplets. Theatrical dances, stick fighting and other kind of local cultural shows can be seen here. At dawn the next day, the first Nyale a caught, after which it is time for the Sasak teenagers to have fun. In colorful procession boys and girls sail out to sea in different boats chase one another with lots of noise and laughter.
Seger is a right reef break, with the occasional left off the peak. A good place when the swell drops, on mid tides and offshore winds this can be a great spot, with short tubes and bowly walls ready for any move you can think of.
Tanjung Aan, it is around 5 km from Kuta. The sea displays various shades of green and blue; pure white sands and a cluster of stony outcrops welcome us. One side of Tanjung Aan has fine white sand, and the other side large black grains like peppercorns.
Pantai Senggigi, it is the most popular beach. You can see the sun set, surfing, watching the sun set with the silhouette of Bali’s Gunung Agung in the distance. In the night you can find lively night life here, dozens of cafes and pubs along Jalan Raya Senggigi and Senggigi Plaza.
Traveling further north, you can find three marvelous islands ( Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air) with the beautiful beach on it.
Gili Trawangan, the largest and furthest of the three gili, Trawangan has the most complete range of accommodation, restaurants, and pubs. For who tend to prefer a bit more privacy you can visit Gili Meno or Gili Air. Gili Meno is the most serene; you can engage in water sports or simply laze in hammock on the beach, caressed by cool sea breezes, or walk in the fine white sand that surrounds the island.
Gili Air, is full of young foreign couples. You can view the underwater wonders of Gili Air without getting wet by taking a cruise in a glass bottom boat, or you can choose snorkeling. Along the shore at depths from one to six meters you can feast your eyes on blue and yellow kima (clams) of various sizes, blue coral the size of a small table, tiger fish, moon fish, and many other colorful species of tropical fish.
You can also take a Gili Air tour by cidomo, it takes only around 45 minutes to circumnavigate the dry, you can see cattle and goat grazing, and vast expanses of sea in many shades.

Traditional Villages
Find the sade Hamlet in the Rambitan area, it is the oldest Sasak village in South Lombok. Discover the uniqueness on their houses; the houses are on two levels. The three stairs symbolize the teachings of the local religion, a syncretistic blend of Islam, Hinduism and animism. The floor of the houses is made of a mixture of earth and rice stalks, which is freshened up once a month with ox dung to keep the dust down.
Another traditional Sasak village is Senaru, it around 80 km from Mataram. This village is the last stopover for those who plan to climb Rinjani Mountain from the Senaru route. This village is much more peaceful and natural, the house are different too, the roofs are thatched but without high peaks. The interiors are on only one level, with one wide space divided into sleeping area and kitchen.

Culture
Lingsar temple is the largest and oldest in Lombok, built in 1714. It symbolized harmony among the religions, it used as a place of worship both by Hindus and by the Sasak followers of Wektu Telu.
The Perang Topat or Pujawali festival in November or December is the largest festival celebrated here. This festival was first held to venerate the wali who brought Islam to Lombok, but nowadays people from all ethnic and religious groups from throughout take apart.

Natural Greenery
Although much of island is parched, Lombok is also blessed with dozens of waterfalls in the cool mountain areas. The best known waterfall is Sendang Gile, in north Lombok. Lying at 600 meters above sea level, this waterfall is said to be able to cure many ailments.
Above the Sendang Gile is another waterfrall, Tiu Kelep with natural ponds in which tourist often bathe – a welcome treat after the one hour – hike to get there.

The Thousand Islands (Jakarta)

It’s called Thousand Islands, but actually the actual number of islands is only around 110, and all are still in the area of North Jakarta. Even the closest island can be reached in just 25 minutes from Marina Ancol.
With the total width of 107.489 hectares, Thousand Islands are still a part of national sea garden. In order to ensure preservation programs, only 45 islands can be used as recreational and tourism spots.There are more than 9 resorts spread out among these islands, and many things can be done around here, from diving, going on banana boat, snorkeling, and fishing, to learning about mangrove trees and sea turtle conservation, watching wild life creatures, and visiting Netherlands left over archeological site. You can also pick an exclusive vacation in the resort or blend in through the life of the islands community through home stay.
Rambut Island
This island is inhibited with vary kinds of birds, especially water birds. It’s best known as shelter towards migrating birds.
In order to explore this island, you have to go on a steep road. Just walk along on this road to enjoy the panoramic views from these conservation areas. As you get in deeper into the forest the trees will envelope you. Their branches can even sprawl out into the middle of the road. To get better view, try to get to the top of the old lighthouse made in 1942 located in the middle of the island. From 25 meters up of this tower, the vast ocean view spans 360 meters. Meanwhile, from the plethora of green trees around the tower there are hundreds of birds buzzing about.
Pramuka Island and Karya Island
Pramuka Island is one of the inhabited islands, with 16 hectares this area has around two thousand residents and is a good conservation place for the hawksbill turtle, one of the six kinds of sea turtle that reside in and are protected by Indonesia.
Many things you can be done around here, from releasing the baby turtles in Karya Island, snorkeling, you can go around for visiting the part from Pramuka Island which used for fish cultivation place and a model of milkfish cultivation. The product was boneless milkfish, for your knowledge this bone was manually taken one by one by the workers. You can see also the big fish around here just likes Napoleon, Baracuda, Platax, Kuwe, and Julung-Julung in the floating net by the sea.
Untung Jawa Island
Untung Jawa Island is the most visited by the tourist, its self supported by native residents, this areas has recently become a mass tourist project to middle class and lower class societies.
Mawaris music (traditional Betawi music) was played by some boys using tambourines as we came in to dock. Usually tourists come just to enjoy seafood and coconuts sold by the locals, since the island is not far from Marina Ancol, Jet Ski groups wandering around the island constantly crowd Untung Jawa. Beside that the Mangrove forest here is interesting to see, stretching 200 meters is a wooden bridge with several stopping points to view mangrove life including crabs, eels and birds.
Resort Island
You can choose an exclusive tour just choose the islands with resorts. The majority of these islands are located north with clean sea compared to those toward the south. These islands offer various activities of water sports. Beside that, every resort has its own characteristic that differs then from the others.
Putri Island has underwater aquarium 24 meters long with a vast array of sea creatures such as sea turtles, commercial fish, sharks, sea horses and ray fishes. You can have scuba dive in here beside that if you cant dive you still enjoy the beauty of the sea without getting wet.
Pantara Island was previously known as Antuk Island, you can pick a resort on the east part or west part, so you can enjoy both sunrise and sunset. They are also music room facing the open sea.
Sepa Island, the beach in this resort can be called one of the best around, perfect for the beginner divers. They are also have a conservation program about the hawksbill turtle from Pramuka Island.
Matahari Island, as well as docks stretching out to the open sea that have chairs perfect for lazing about.
Bira Island, it has a 9-holes golf course, biking activity. Just feel free to get your leisure time in here.
Kotok Island, is a resort that keeps preserves nature so well that we can still see a big sea plants while walking along the island. Some monitor lizards are often seen on shore.
Bidadari Island, has Martello castle built with 2 floors in 1876 left by the Netherlands.
Ayer Island, can be reached in 25 minutes from Marina Ancol.