Lombok Travel Guide

Lombok is an island in the West Nusa Tenggara province of Indonesia. It is 0art 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.

Located just east of Bali, Lombok in many ways lives up to or exceeds the promotional term, "an unspoiled Bali". With beautiful beaches, enchanting waterfalls, the large, looming volcano of Mount Rinjani combined with relatively few tourists,Lombok is indeed the paradisaical tropical island that many people still mistakenly imagine Bali to be now.

Lombok and Bali are separated by the Lombok Strait. It is also part of the biogeographical boundary between the fauna of Indo-Malaysia and the distinctly different fauna of Australasia. Theboundary is known as the Wallacean Line, after Alfred Russel Wallace who first remarked upon the striking difference between animals of Indo-Malaysia and those of Australasia and how abrupt the boundary was between the two biomes.

Calling Lombok paradise does not mean it is all things for all people. With a few exceptions, the natural landscape and the traditional way of life have re-ained unchanged for hundreds of years. Virtually all small to medium size businesses are run by local families. Many of these businesses sell a wide variety of merchandise, where villagers can find food, hardware, and toys all in a single small store. 

While it is possible to find five-star hotels run by global corporations this is the exception not the rule. The ubiquitous global fast food franchises are restricted to two outlets in the precincts of Mataram Mall in the main City of Lombok and are well sign-posted.

In the Indigenous language of the Sasak people of Lombok the word lombok means straight ahead or lurus in Bahasa Indonesian. The name of the island Lombok is not derived from the Bahasa Indonesian meaning of lombok which is chilli or cabe as is thought by many visitors.