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Lombok Tours
Lombok
Island is a tropical paradise with magnificent
stretches of natural beach,
excellent diving
and snorkelling
off the three coral-ringed
Gili Islands and
traditional native villages, ancient temples and
palaces. Mount Rinjani dominates Lombok with its
high peak and two-mile wide caldera which last
erupted in 1901. In the crater is a lake called
Segara Anak (Child of the Sea) and a new mountain
christened Gunung Baru which appeared in 1942. The
people of Lombok are a gentle mix of Hindu-Balinese
and native Moslem-Sasaks, each with their own
variety of arts, crafts, customs and traditions.
Many say that Lombok is like the Bali of long ago.
The island lies across the straits from Bali and is
quickly reached by ferry or plane.
Mt. Rinjani Once in Lombok, you can enjoy the peace
and tranquility along its shores, or explore the
island's largest towns of Ampenan, Mataram and
Cakranegara. If you are fit you can trek up Mount
Rinjani through scenic countryside and picturesque
traditional villages and treat yourself to the most
spectacular panoramic views.
The countryside has a number of traditional villages
worth visiting, including a blacksmith's village, a
native weaving village with dome-shaped thatched
huts, and the royal water garden of
Narmada in which
stands the Pura Lingsar, the oldest and most sacred
Hindu temple on the island, thought to be the only
Hindu shrine in the world where both Hindus and
Moslems come to worship.
Famous for its 'ikat' hand-woven textiles, Lombok is
relatively undiscovered, except for the town of
Senggigi which is now a major resort.
The beautiful Gili islands of Lombok are paradise,
with white sand beaches, few people and some great
snorkeling and diving spots. Nightlife in this area
may be a good alternative or even for a night dive;
others are a complete escape from the crowds and
offer some fabulous trekking and beautiful panorama
for the more adventurous.
As well as scenery, Lombok offers terrific
sightseeing and shopping, with some villages
producing famous Lombok pottery and silk weaving at
reasonable prices. Whether you get the car or
motorbike and drive yourself, or arrange for a
driver to show you the way, you will find a country
with little influence yet from modern development
and tourism. Even on the road, the bulk to traffic
is the cidomo, or horse and cart.
When there are so much more of everything to see,
meanwhile, you have such a limited time, a good
planning becomes very essential to help you to make
the most of your time away.
Sumbawa once known as 'the sandalwood island' is
famous for its horses, beautiful beaches and 2,820
foot tall Mount Tambora, now dormant, which last
erupted in 1815 killing 12,000 people. The caldera
has two coloured lakes and the rim offers
spectacular views as far as the island of Lombok.
The village of Tepas has traditional-style
architecture and the former palace in Bima is now
being turned into a museum. Sape, where sailboats
are still made in the traditional way is a
convenient point of departure for Komodo Island.
Nearby Moyo Island has a nature reserve with wild
oxen, deer, wild boar and spectacular birds.
Komodo Island,
located between Sumbawa and Flores is quite barren
except for its fascinating giant lizard, the Komodo
dragon. These monitor lizards are indigenous to the
region and grow up to three metres long, feeding on
the carrion of goats and deer. The people live in a
fishing village and most supplement their income by
breeding goats for tourists to feed the lizards.
Komodo is now a nature reserve, and is most easily
reached by ferry from Flores.
Flores was named by early Portuguese settlers and
the island still reflects much of their influence in
language, music, cuisine, dress and religion. The
mountain of Kalimutu offers spectacular views of its
three crater lakes which continually change colour.
The town of Ende is where Sukarno resided in exile
during the early period of the nationalistic
movement in 1936 and his house is now a museum. The
town shows a marked Arab influence as a result of
traders stopping over in the 18th and 19th
centuries.
Yogyakarta was once the seat of the mighty Javanese
empire of Mataram Dynasty (1575-1640), Yogyakarta
nowadays still enjoys the kingdom life while
considered administratively as part of Indonesia.
Yogyakarta has numerous thousand-year-old temples,
surrounded by an artistic atmosphere, and
overwhelmed by typical Javanese hospitality.
Solo
Radya Pustaka Cultural Museum
Radya Pustaka Museum which was founded on October
28th, 1890. It is a small museum housed in an exotic
old building, showing collections of Wayang Kulit
(leather puppet), topeng (mask), gamelan (Javanese
music instruments), Royal Barge figure heads and
some Hindu sculptures.
Pura Mangkunegaran is a Royal Palace which was built
and completed in 1866. The Palace has priceless art
collections, including gold and bronze articles from
Majapahit and Mataram Kingdom.
Triwindu Flea Market is the authentic flea market in
Central Java and wonderful place to browse through
the pile goods. There are some antiques can be found
and bargaining is essential.
Serengan Village where the artists who are skillful
on carving both on teak and mahogany woods living .
Then you may see the Keris making process. Keris is
an integral of Javanese ceremony and ritual. It's
worn by men for special occasions and traditional
rituals. The Keris itself is another magical
mysterious product of ancient Java.
Ijen Plateau
Ijen Plateau lies in the centre of Ijen-Merapi
Malang Reserve, which extends over much of the
mountainous region directly west of Banyuwangi and
borders on the Baluran National Park in the
northeast. As at Mt. Bromo, the caldera is best
viewed from the air. Fortunately, almost all
commercial flights operating between Denpasar -
Surabaya, Yogyakarta or Jakarta usually fly, if not
directly over, then close by Ijen plateau, where the
seemingly luminous blue/green crater lake forms an
unmistakable landmark. It is beautiful scenery and
located about 32 km to the north west of Banyuwangi.
Grajagan ( G-land )
Plengkung is known as one of the best surfing
beaches in the world. The word of “G” in “G-Land”
derives from Grajagan, the name of the bay where the
huge waves were found at the south of the Banyuwangi.
It is surrounded by virgin tropical land forest. G
lad offers the worlds most demanding surfing sport,
and recommended for professional surfers only. May
to October is the best time for surfing. No doubt it
is a world of surfer paradise. Most surfers start
from Bali, take an overland to Banyuwangi and
directly to National Park of Alas Purwo, G-Land or
cross the Grajagan Bay to Plengkung beach where the
waves challenge invite the surfers. However it is
not recommended for novices |
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