timestravelerstales: Hello, Lombok!

It was one of my bucket lists to visit the beaches of Lombok and the Gilis too. Gili is the Lombok's language for island. Lombok is one of the most visited destinations in Indonesia beside Bali. This is actually an island accross Bali, which has been recently famous worldwide. As a proud Indonesian, I will be ashamed if I don't explore this island. So, last January I went there with my three mates. I did visit Lombok back then in 2011. But it was only a short visit. I understand that the main problem to explore this place is the transportation access. Therefore, we decided to join a tour for three days.

We joined a trip from Dezone Tour Organizer. The tour provides the most complete destinations in a reasonable price, that's why we chose that. We visited 6 gilis (islands), 3 beaches, and we also went to Sasak Village, the traditional village in Lombok.

I am finally convinced that once you go to Lombok, you will always want to come back. It is because Lombok has many wonderful beaches and islands. All the beaches are white sandy beaches with the calm waves. I was very willing to swim in all those beaches if I had much time. My favorite island is Gili Nanggu. It is very clean and not too crowded. Unlike Gili Trawangan which is too packed, noisy, smelly, and unclean. Sorry, I don't really like an over populated place :D The snorkeling was quite a let down though. The underwater was not quite visible. The guide said it was indeed not the best month to snorkel due to the west wind. If you want to snorkel or dive around Lombok, avoid December and January.

Overall I really enjoyed the trip to Lombok and yay I am getting tanned. I always love tanned skin :D My impression about Lombok is the infrastructures are still behind Bali. But I am sure someday Lombok will match Bali or even better. And I was happy to find the food there are mostly halal, because it is muslim dominated area, unlike in Bali.

So, yeaaahh till I see you again, Lombok! ;)