Lombok like Bali? The “Balification” process

Not all was nice and lovely in Lombok unfortunately.

I have to say that I've found Senggigi quite changed already, in less than a year time. The name I came up with for the change is Balification: things here are starting to get too similar to Bali.

First of all sellers on the beach and on the roads are getting pushier and pushier; the beach was already off limit to tourists because of that (many prefer to spend time in the well protected swimming pools); it's impossible to walk or have a meal anywhere or without having sellers all over you. As a consequence many restaurants and hotels have signs asking customers not to talk or invite sellers in; some posh hotels even have barriers and anti-sellers security men.

Of course this is a vicious circle, as sellers of course need to make some money to eat, and will be even more aggressive in places where they are allowed, but at the same time this doesn't sure help visitors having a relaxed stay.


Consider also that almost every shop owner tends to take advantage of the fact that you're a visitor and not familiar with local prices. The price of a bottle of water at the same shop depends for example on whether you'll be served by the owner or his wife. In many occasions while paying in shops I had to wait and make clear that I wanted my change back. They looked almost surprised, a “visitor” that knows how much something costs! Of course I don't mind leaving the change or a tip, but I want it to be my choice and not being considered a dumb tourist.


Another effect of the Balification process is more “bad” tourist coming over. Many of them are sexual tourist, and the consequence is more and more prostitution. While before sex workers were hanging around in few clubs and discos now you even see them down the road at night. Not a pretty sight.

To add to my frustration for the Balification process internet connection (which was quite decent in February and March) was rarely available, and I've found even the service in many places that I liked much worse.

I thought a lot about all these changes. Is it possible that Senggigi got so much worse in less than 10 months? Is it possible that when I came here the first time I was so excited about my trip beginning, seeing new places and cultures, and coming from a stressful environment didn't mind or even notice all these things? But then just one month ago I was in Langkawi, where like in Lombok the pace of life is very slow, and there's the same lack of Western facilities like decent internet connection, footpaths, cash registers that allow to have your bill in less than 20 minutes.

Still i loved there, while now I don't know if I would recommend Senggigi as a tourist destination to my friends now.

Unless of course you go there for Kampung Loco. That was what really made the trip. Not only my friends, but everyone in the village really considered me one of them, was super nice and polite. Going there you see the real life in Lombok, you forget the pains of tourist life in Senggigi and most important you learn to really appreciate the people and their culture there.

Feel free to contact Lombok Travel Info if you ever wish to visit or stay in the village. My friends there will be more than happy to help you and show you around.

Back to Lombok, Kampung Loco

Coming back to Lombok is like coming back home. The lads from the village, Kampung Loco, were at the airport waiting for me with three scooters: one to carry me, one for my backpack and one.. just for fun. From the Mataram airport to Senggigi I felt like an escorted ambassador in that line of scooters.

I came back to Lombok for various reasons.


First of all to see my friends and “extended family”. To live again the kampung life, and see how my friends are getting on.

Secondly I knew Joep and Marijke, the founders of Proyek Kampung Loco would be here at this time, so I wanted to meet them after hearing so much about them, discuss with them what else can be done for the village, and see if my familiarity with Internet applications could make life easier for the project.

Thirdly I came to here to close the circle. Lombok was my first destination on this trip around the world, and as I feel it's almost time to go back to old EU I wanted to come back to this island to close the circle, get some conclusions and move on (not simply move back) to my European life.

Already on the second day my friend Baong took me on a hike up the mountains. It was supposed to be from the top of the mountain, the Monkey Forest, all the way down to the village. Somehow it looked to me like the path (when there was one) was always uphill though.


Very tough hike (don't even want to know how many kms were involved, or how Baong can do it all barefoot) but stunning views of the mountains, the little villages, huts and Hindu temples up there, and the odd person coming down with wood or bananas to sell at the market.


But apart from that hike I didn't do any touristic activity. I've seen most of the places of interest in Lombok in my previous visits, plus this time I didn't come to do sightseeing but to see and spent time with my friends. An so I did. Hours and hours chatting and messing in the bruga with the folks, drinking coffee, eating fried bananas, and other unpronounceable but delicious snacks.


And of course there was Bemo shopping. With Marijke and Joep, the founders of the Kampung Loco Proyek, and the lads from the village we went around investigating prices for a bemo (minivan) to bring the kids to school, licenses involved etc. But more on this soon...

Read the Previous Lombok stories...

Return to Lombok

Having had enough of Bali I decided to head back to Lombok. I don't really understand why Bali is so famous and Lombok so unknown. From Lombok you can see Bali (mount Agung at sunset), but from Bali you cannot see Lombok. I believe this is a good metaphor: Lombok has everything that Bali has, and more. You have lovely beaches, tropical climate, fantastic culture, but without the traffic, noise and hassle of the super-touristic Bali. Beaches are suppose to be even better, and from a culture point of view while Bali has only Hindus, in Lombok you can get to know Hindu AND Muslim cultures.

Senggigi is a small place (sometimes too small), so 30 mins after my arrival everybody knew I was back. You know the way, the hotel guy at reception tells the barman, the barman goes to but cigarettes and tells the supermarket guy, etc. Time to check-in, have a quick shower and get to my usual restaurant to grab some food, and here comes my friend Sahur.

This time I didn't come back to Lombok to go on more tours, explore the island and generally speaking to be a tourist. This time the plan was just to chill out, spend time with my friends in the village, and get more info about the project to help the kids here. Like going back home. And so I did. My friends took me with them to various events that are part of their life this time of the year. First one was the party for the birthday of the prophet Mohammad. Not many tourist there as you can imagine. Every village celebrates it on a different day for a total of a couple of weeks, so people can go from one place to another, enjoying concerts (in Sasak language mainly) and seasonal food prepared jst for the occasion. The gentlemen in the pic are actually cooking a Panggang, a cake made of rice, palm oil, sugar cane and some other ingredients, stirred for hours in that pot heated from a fire in a hole in the ground.

From a Muslim celebration to an Hindu one. So the next stop few days later was cock fighting (expect comments from my veggie friends here) and Bola Adil. Bola Adil is a kind of Hindu simplified version of a roulette. You roll your money like a cigarette and you throw it on your favorite symbol, like yellow ball, red square, or green mountain. Then an odd shaped ball will be rolled on a table with all symbols and depending on where it stops... 10 to 1 paid for the right symbol, less if you put your money on combinations.
On the second day I happen to win quite a lot there (beginner's luck?), so with the money I won we went to the market, got 5 huge fishes, 6 durians and had a big party, grilling the fish and having more than 15 people eating in total!
How much did I win? Less than 15 euros!!

So keep that in mind: if you want to donate only a few euros to send the Kampung kids to school it still can make a huge difference!

The following days were exciting ones for the village, Kampung Loco. Having grown to a high enough number of residents, the village was electing for the first time a Kampung kepala, a head of village. This will give the village more power and independence from the city to which it was previously belonging. For me it was fun playing half the official photo-reporter, half an independent international observer:)

On the less cultural side, the remaining days gave me the occasion to flirt around a bit and exercises my bad influence on the lads. I will refrain from going into details, but let's just say that gin and tonic is now extremely popular there, and is now available in many bars where before my arrival they didn't serve it. One of them is Berry's Cafe, with staff at TGIM below.

Leaving Lombok

So after coming back to Senggigi, I spent basically most of my time between a couple more of excursions, hitting few bars at night, the hotel swimming pool (learning to swim or something close to it) and the kampung, the village where my friends live. Here (thanks to my muse Pascalle) I learned more about their culture, the way the live, the project in place to help them. The concept of family is extended here to your neighbors as well; spending most of the time outdoor you live together with your neighbors, spend hours with them, more than you would do with other relatives or friends living elsewhere.Of course you share everything you have, which often is not much. The project has helped these guys in many ways: bringing a big tank of drinkable water (no need to go to wells or go up and down from the mountains); making medicines and money to visit the doctor available; allowing as many kids as possible to go to school (yes, not everybody goes even to elementary school if you can't afford it). You'll be surprised how the amount of money that for us really means not much (the money you spend on an average night out in town for example) can really make a huge difference here, like sending a kid to school for whole year, or allowing someone who is really sick to get to the hospital in the main city. But you'll here soon about how we can help in this blog, just give me time to organize a couple of logistic things. For the moment, after taking a picture of Sahur's beautiful family it's time for me to go back to Singapore, but with the promise that I'll be back in a month or so, with more ideas and means hopefully to help this village.

Fresh Coconut anyone?

In Lombok, Indonesia, here's how fresh coconut works..

Read the story and buy some Fresh Young Coconuts (Set of 3)

Today went with Sahur and some other Dutch tourists to an excursion up in the mountains near Senggigi. After a good hour of trekking (often with no path at all, Sahur meanwhile guiding and happily proceeding barefoot in what I wouldnt describe as the easiest ground) we arrived to a tiny isolated village. Like everyone here in the island the folks there were very friendly and welcoming, they insisted on us taking picture of them and they offered us fresh coconut. So here's the chance for me to pass on the perfect recipe for fresh coconut, all in 3 easy steps. For those of you who need a closer guidance videos are included.

Step 1
Climb up the coconut tree.

Step 2
From the top of the tree select the best coconuts and throw them down to the ground. No worries, they wont break.

Step 3
Easy huh? Here's the difficult step. With your inseparable machete cut the top part of the coconut, but you have to make sure to cut only enough to let a small hole appear. That will allow you to drink the nectar contained inside. A deeper cut will and the coconut is wasted! Make sure you dont throw away (or rather dont let chickens steal) the parts of the coconut you just cut off. Once finished drinking you'll cut the nut in half and can use the left bits to cut out a spoon to scrape the soft white edible part.

Et Voila'! Fresh Young Coconut is served!!


Interested in Coconut Lover's Cookbook?

Around the Island with new Friends

All things happen for a reason. Although I wouldnt recommend the first place where I was staying, it's there that I got the chance to meet and become friend with Sahur, a sweetheart guy that works there. He brings me around in his scooter, gives me tips on where to go eating or exploring, and promised to bring me in some special places up in the mountains. I went for coffee in his place and really discovered a tiny little village just mins away from the main road of Senggigi, the main touristic city where I'm staying at the moment.

What you see here is "downtown" Senggigi, while below you can see Sahur relaxing in the brugah in front of his house/shop.


Finally a typical view from the main road towards the beach.. How do you see a DiTonto Pirates Bar there?