I like Lombok than Bali because Lombok has less tourists. We went to Bali in early April, which is basically not a high-peak time, and the island was still flooded with tourists! That was not the case in Lombok, which still has unexplored beaches in its southern coastline.
We spent two nights at Ana's place in Selong Belanak, about two-hour car ride from Selaparang airport, Ampenan. But the view is worth the ride...
You can not see it clearly but the small spots on the sea are fishermen's boats. Everything is so beautiful here and I love the infinity pool. The cloud on the background of the last photo somehow reminds me of the Firefox logo:)
The next day, we went to Sade traditional village.
Sade has 150 houses and 700 residents. They mostly marry their cousins because there is a fine when one decides to marry people from another village. The fine is two or three buffaloes, which are given to the women. Buffaloes must have been very expensive then!
It is interesting to see that although they preserve their traditional way of life, some modern appliances has found a way in.
A woman put the rice under the sun. Our guide said that only women are allowed to go into the lumbung (rice barn) because local beliefs said that men would get sick if they went into the barn.
They plant their own cotton and make their own clothes. How cool are these people!
The guide said that the floor of this house was made from rice husk and clay. They clean it with buffalo dung (yikes!) to repel mosquito. The houses teach guests manners because low roofs require people to bow upon entering:). Each house usually has two floors. The first is occupied by parents (on the right side) and the boys (on the left side, here is hidden by the cupboard), while the second is inhabited by the daughters (on the right side) and the kitchen.
And that is the kitchen. I did not take photos of the daughter's bedroom because it was very dark up there and my camera batteries died.
Then we went to Kuta beach of Lombok. And what a wonderful beach it is! The only downside is the persevere souvenir vendors. We avoided them by pretending to take photos seriously while walking away and saying 'no, thank you' in a polite way.
The next stop was Mawun beach. We reached it by noon, when the sun is at the top of its force. We managed to find a shade, though.
Before we left Selong Belanak, Ana took us for a morning stroll.
We saw a sting ray (or is it a manta ray?) on a boat and Ana showed us an octopus (or is it a giant squid?).
After leaving Selong Belanak, we headed to Mataram and spent two nights at Hotel Giri Putri, that only charges Rp 100,000 per day. We went snorkeling at Gili Air, Gili Meno and Gili Trawangan. We took an offer at Perama Tours, that only charges Rp 250,000 per person, but it should have at least two persons. I managed to beg Aneen to do it, hehehe...Snorkeling is fun!
Unfortunately, we did not have underwater camera with us, but the fishes we saw were more or less like these...
Don't forget to bring breadcrumbs if you go snorkeling at the Gilis. The fishes are so tame they will eat from your hands.
