So it was our last day in Lombok before flying off on an afternoon flight the next day. Our itinerary for today was to visit the aboriginal village, songket weaving center and Lombok Islamic Center. We hired supir/tour guide for these activities as the places we were going was around 1 hour drive from our home stay. Our tour guide was recommended by one of the home stay staff. Fee was quite reasonable.
Sasak Village, Sade:
The first destination was the Sasak Village, Sade province. It was an hour drive from Mataram city. Souvenirs are quite expensive over here. You may request your tour guide to bring you to places where they're much cheaper if you plan to buy souvenirs for family and friends.
Once you have finished touring the area, it would be a courtesy to give some tip to the local guide. Tourist's tips are their only source of income.
Sasak tribe is a community that inhabits the island of Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara. This community is the largest tribe in the province that lies between Bali and West Nusa Tenggara. Survey population explained that the Sasak tribes who lived in Lombok approximately 3 million inhabitants.
Little is known about Sasak history except that Lombok was placed under direct rule of the Majapahit prime Minister, patih Gajah Mada. The Sasaks converted to Islam between the late 16th century to early 17th century under the influence of Sunan Giri and the Muslim Makassarese, frequently mixing basic Islamic beliefs alongside with Hindu-Buddhist beliefs, thus creating the Wektu Telu religion. Lombok was conquered by the Gelgel Balinese kingdom in the early 18th century, thus bringing a large population of Balinese to Lombok. The Balinese population of Lombok today is about 300,000, 10-15% of Lombok's population. The Balinese have also strongly influenced the Wektu Telu religion of Lombok.
Sade Village is a traditional Village on Lombok Island. This Traditional Lombok Village located on Central Lombok, Nusa Tenggara Barat. Their houses are still traditional, made from alang-alang and the wall made from combinations of clay and cow feces.. Cow feces are also used for cleaning the floor, washing and bathing.
Picture courtesy of Google:
Currency exchange at that point of time RM1 = 3,210 rph
Sasak Village, Sade:
The first destination was the Sasak Village, Sade province. It was an hour drive from Mataram city. Souvenirs are quite expensive over here. You may request your tour guide to bring you to places where they're much cheaper if you plan to buy souvenirs for family and friends.
Once you have finished touring the area, it would be a courtesy to give some tip to the local guide. Tourist's tips are their only source of income.
Sasak tribe is a community that inhabits the island of Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara. This community is the largest tribe in the province that lies between Bali and West Nusa Tenggara. Survey population explained that the Sasak tribes who lived in Lombok approximately 3 million inhabitants.
Little is known about Sasak history except that Lombok was placed under direct rule of the Majapahit prime Minister, patih Gajah Mada. The Sasaks converted to Islam between the late 16th century to early 17th century under the influence of Sunan Giri and the Muslim Makassarese, frequently mixing basic Islamic beliefs alongside with Hindu-Buddhist beliefs, thus creating the Wektu Telu religion. Lombok was conquered by the Gelgel Balinese kingdom in the early 18th century, thus bringing a large population of Balinese to Lombok. The Balinese population of Lombok today is about 300,000, 10-15% of Lombok's population. The Balinese have also strongly influenced the Wektu Telu religion of Lombok.
Sade Village is a traditional Village on Lombok Island. This Traditional Lombok Village located on Central Lombok, Nusa Tenggara Barat. Their houses are still traditional, made from alang-alang and the wall made from combinations of clay and cow feces.. Cow feces are also used for cleaning the floor, washing and bathing.
We skipped a few places because we wanted to spend the other half day that we had at the hotel for a swim and lepak je.
Our final place was the NTB Islamic Centre. Entrance is free but although woman prayer area is separated from the men, there are no curtain separating those 2.
"Lombok is an island in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. It forms part of the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the Lombok Strait separating it from Bali to the west and the Alas Strait between it and Sumbawa to the east. It is roughly circular, with a "tail" (Sekotong Peninsula) to the southwest, about 70 kilometres (43 miles) across and a total area of about 4,514 square kilometres (1,743 square miles). The provincial capital and largest city on the island is Mataram. It is somewhat similar in size and density with neighboring Bali and shares some cultural heritage, but is administratively part of Nusa Tenggara Barat along with sparsely populated Sumbawa. It is surrounded by a number of smaller islands locally called Gili.
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. A minority Balinese Hindu culture remains in Lombok. 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. Other accounts describe the first influences arriving in the first half of the sixteenth century. According to the palm leaf manuscript Babad Lombok which contains the history of Lombok describes how Sunan Prapen was sent by his father The Susuhunan Ratu of Giri on a military expedition to Lombok and Sumbawa in order to convert the population and propagate the new religion. However, the new religion took on a highly syncretistic character, frequently mixing animist and Hindu-Buddhist beliefs and practices with Islam.
A more orthodox version of Islam increased in popularity in the early twentieth century. The Indonesian government agamaization programs (acquiring of a religion) in Lombok during 1967 and 1968 led to a period of some considerable confusion in religious allegiances and practices. These agamaization programs later led to the emergence of more conformity in religious practices in Lombok. The Hindu minority religion is still practised in Lombok alongside the majority Muslim religion."
Picture courtesy of Google:
The Gilis:
FYI, there are 3 main Gilis in Lombok but the most commercialized one is Gili Trawangan. The cost will be around RM250++ and RM270++. Why the different? The RM250++ is going by normal boat while the other , you'll be taking a speedboat. If you're looking at less crowded gili, I suggest you go for Gili Air. It takes about 20 mins from the jetty. If you're staying in Mataram, you'll be boarding the boat from Bangsal.
There is another one Gili, which was suggested by our tour guide, Gili Gede. Slightly further compare to the 3 Gilis but the crowd are much lesser and the water are much clearer. However, I suggest that you add lunch into package as well because there is only one restaurant in Gili Gede but food prices are wayyyyyy more expensive
Total cost for 4 days, 3 night in Lombok:
FYI, there are 3 main Gilis in Lombok but the most commercialized one is Gili Trawangan. The cost will be around RM250++ and RM270++. Why the different? The RM250++ is going by normal boat while the other , you'll be taking a speedboat. If you're looking at less crowded gili, I suggest you go for Gili Air. It takes about 20 mins from the jetty. If you're staying in Mataram, you'll be boarding the boat from Bangsal.
There is another one Gili, which was suggested by our tour guide, Gili Gede. Slightly further compare to the 3 Gilis but the crowd are much lesser and the water are much clearer. However, I suggest that you add lunch into package as well because there is only one restaurant in Gili Gede but food prices are wayyyyyy more expensive
Air Asia flight (inc 20kg check in) - RM 450
Rumah Putih Abu-Abu - RM 225
Souvenirs - RM 46.70
Transport - RM 33
Food - RM 40
Tour Guide (half a day) - RM46.70
Tips for aboriginal guide - RM 1
Spa (roughly 4 hour session inc pedi&medi, head and shoulder massage, scalp treatment)- RM 77.90
Total expenses : RM 920.30
Rumah Putih Abu-Abu - RM 225
Souvenirs - RM 46.70
Transport - RM 33
Food - RM 40
Tour Guide (half a day) - RM46.70
Tips for aboriginal guide - RM 1
Spa (roughly 4 hour session inc pedi&medi, head and shoulder massage, scalp treatment)- RM 77.90
Total expenses : RM 920.30
Currency exchange at that point of time RM1 = 3,210 rph
