Lombok - Senggigi

Photo 1: Sunset over Senggigi beach
Photo 2: Senggigi beach busy with families celebrating the end of Ramadan

Last Thursday night I headed to Lombok, via Bali, for the Lebaran holiday. My stay in Bali lasted a total of 10 hours. I arrived at the hotel only to be informed that they actually didn’t have my booking, but I could stay in a different room for Rp50 000 extra. Since it was 12.30 at night I didn’t have much choice, and decided to be grateful that there was a room at all.
The next morning I flew to Lombok for my 3 nights of solo travel. Lombok itself is beautiful – reminicent of Bali, but less developed and with less Hindu architecture (obviously, being a Muslim island). The airport is in Mataram, which is a small but bustling city centre. On the way out to the coast at Senggigi we drove through markets, the outskirts of villages, coconut palm groves, and past lots of cidomo (the horse drawn carts that seem to be the Lombok equivallent of a becak).
My hotel in Senggigi was gorgeous and amazing value. It was located off the main road on the outskirts of the village. Each room was a detached bungalow with an outdoor bathroom, set around a lush, tropical garden. There was also a large communal area, which was a good place to sit when it rained for 3 hours straight the day I arrived (this was the first rain for months, and thankfully the last of my trip).
I spent my time in Senggigi lazing by the beach, walking, reading and eating. It was incredibly relaxing. The sun was an absolute killer, really intense with no layer of smog to filter out the UV rays. Luckily there were patches of sand that were shaded by trees, but the the best option was just to retreat indoors in the middle of the day.
Senggigi itself is built around the tourist trade. Its nowhere near the scale of beach side Bali, only occupying a few hundred meters along the main road. Even so, the restaurant/ tourist ratio was way out of balance, with many places offering discounts in an attempt to lure people in. There didn’t seem to be that many people, tourists or local, hanging around, but that was probably because my stay in Senggigi fell on the Lebaran holiday weekend. The beach at Senggigi was nice, though not particularly impressive. The sand was the dark volcanic type with wooden fishing boats pulled up along the shore line, and the water was calm, clear and very warm.
Being alone in Senggigi was no bad thing. It was nice just to relax and do my own thing without having to worry about someone else getting bored. Because I was alone people were eager to come and talk to me, and were always eager to chat once they found out I could speak Indonesian.