Lombok Tourism Place and the Sasak Tribe

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Lombok Island Tourism Map

Lombok is an island in West Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. The northern part of the island is mountainous and lush with tall trees or  shrubs. The south, on the other hand is arid and covered by savannas. The difference becomes more pronounced as one moves further east, where dry seasons are more prolonged.

Situated on the western side of Lombok Island, the city of Mataram is the capital and largest city in the West Nusa Tenggara Province. Mataram is the center of the provincial government, education, commerce, industry and services. Public buildings, banks, post office, general hospitals, shopping malls, and hotels are found here, making it a perfect staging point before travelers explore the undiscovered splendors of Lombok Island.

Sasak Tribe

No many people know about this general area in the past. During 17th century, Dutch began to colonize this place. Sasak kingdom dominated this area until Balinese and Makasarrese attacked it. In the middle of 18th century, Balinese kingdom reigned this place. Dutch occupied this place in 19th century.

After Indonesian independence, Sasak people and Balinese dominate Lombok, but Javanese also can be found in West Nusa Tenggara. Arab, Bugis and Chinese also live in this area. Most of Sasak people are Muslim. They value modesty, meaning visitors should respect their belief. You should cover yourself appropriately, meaning going nude or topless is deemed inappropriate. Public display of affection should be limited and consumption of alcohol must be done moderately.

Nowadays, Sasak People still live like their ancestors, fishing or farming. Corn and sago are staple food, instead of rice. Sasak people enjoy spicy food such as Ayam Taliwang, Plecing Kangkung, Nasi Balap Puyung or Sayur Kelor. Ayam Taliwang is roasted chicken served with peanut, tomato chili and lime dip. Plecing Kangkung is stir-fry water spinach that made with chili, shrimp paste and tomato. Nasi Balap Puyung is rice with side dishes of spicy chicken and fried soy bean. And the last, sayur kelor is hot soup with kelor leaves.

Some of Sasak People is a weaver too. Sukerare and Sade village is the producent of woven fabric which is called Tenun Sasak or Songket Sasak. It is one of the uniqes traditional crafts from Lombok. Women in these village was indeed obliged to learn weaving. More uniquely, one of the conditions of the weavers in the village must be a girl or still virgin or unmarried women. So you could say, before getting married, the girl must be clever in weaving.

 

Tenun Sasak

Regulation for marriage in Sasak is called Merarik. So, if both of them like each other, don ' t have to wait long to get married. The boy must steal the girl, wait for one day and the girl’s parents will looking for her. After that they should be married. Filch the girl was more accepted their family.

And the last, the most popular in Lombok is the tourism places. Senggigi and Kuta Beach in Lombok is also famous for its beautiful, largely deserted, white sand beaches. Sekotong, in southwest Lombok, is popular for its numerous and diverse scuba diving locations. South Lombok surfing is considered some of the best in the world and includes Desert Point at Banko Banko in the southwest of the island. And the nothern, you can go to Gili Islands. They are Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air. But, if you like adventurer activity, you must try to climb and hike the Rinjani Mountain. Rinjani Mountain is the third highest Mountain in Indonesia with the top 3.726 meters above sea level. You can see a most beautiful landscape like a paradise. Trekking up Rinjani Mountain is a test of endurance but you’ll be rewarded with spectacular views of volcanic landscapes, sulfur lakes and waterfalls and other magnificent scenery along the way. Once you’ve climbed the mountain, there are still many wonders left to explore in the Rinjani Mountain National Park.

Kuta Beach, Lombok

Rinjani Mountain

 

*all photos are from google.co.id :)

Semeru Mountain, a Hidden Paradise From East Java

Postingan ini ditulis demi memenuhi tugas kuliah :)

Semeru Mountain is the highest volcano in Java, with its peak Mahameru at the 3676 meters above sea level. It takes approximately four days to climb the peak of Semeru Mountain round-trip. To climb the Semeru Mountain can be started from the town of Malang or Lumajang. Then we go to the Tumpang Village by public transportation. After that, we must go to the first postal, they called Ranu Pane. We can go there by a jeep or vegetable truck in the back of the tumpang market with cost 35.000, - rupiahs for one person.

Using a vegetable truck or jeep, the journey starts from Tumpang to Ranu Pane, the last village at the foot of Semeru Mountain. Here there are checkpoints, there are also stalls and cottages. For climbers who bring tents are charged Rp 20,000, and if carrying a camera also be charged Rp 5,000,. In this post we can also look for the porters (local residents to help indicate the direction climbing, help us to bring our materiel and cooking). Climbers can also spend the night at the guard post. In Ranu Pane postal, there are two lakes who called Ranu Pane Lake and Ranu Regulo Lake. They located at the 2200 meters above sea level.

Having arrived at the gate "welcome", we can continue our journey to the left of  the hill. In addition to the usual route passed the climbers, there is also a shortway that usually used by local climbers, but this way is very steep. After walking about 5 km down a hillside overgrown with Edelweiss, we will arrive at Watu Rejeng. There are so many stone and very beautiful landscape to the valley and the hills, and is overgrown with fir and pine forest. Sometimes we can be seen the smoke from the top of semeru. To reach Ranu Kumbolo still have to travel about 4.5 km.

In Ranu Kumbolo, we set up a tent. Ranu Kumbolo is a lake with very clean water and has many fish. It has beautiful landscape, especially in the morning to watch the sunrise on the sidelines of the hill. Ranu Kumbolo located at an altitude of 2400 m with an area of 14 ha.


From Ranu Kumbolo, we should prepare as much water as possible. After leaving Ranu Kumbolo we must climb the steep hill, with beautiful views over the lake behind. In front of the hill, there is a grassland who called the oro-oro ombo. Oro-oro ombo surrounded by hills and mountains with beautiful views, wide meadows with pine forest. Sometimes, we can see the birds and deers. How beautiful it is!

After that, we will arrive at the next Post in Kalimati. They located at an altitude 2700 m. We can find a spring water source with a distance of 1 hour round trip. We can set a tent here. Or walking about 500meters to Arcopodo and set the tent there.

From Arcopodo to the top of Semeru takes 3 until 4 hours, past the dunes are very steep and easily degenerate. As a guide trip, at this point there are also several small triangular red flag. All of our materiel must left in our tent at Arcopodo or Kalimati. Climbing to the summit from the early morning at around 2.00 am from Arcopodo. There are so wonderful summit from the top of semeru mountain. We like standing on the cloud, with the beautiful sunrise and the cool breeze. It’s really a hidden paradise from East Java!