This was my first experience of the new Lombok International Airport at Praya, after its move from the old Selapa rang Airport in Ampenan. The new airport was impressive! I think it is the second best in Indonesia after Hasanuddin Airport in Makassar.
I still "believe that "What you see in Bali you can see in Lombok, but what you see in Lombok you might not see in Bali." For whatever reason, even though they are not that far apart, Bali still receives far more visitors than Lombok. I really do think Lombok is just as interesting though. It has plenty of untouched landscapes with beautiful views, especially on the road from Senggigi to Bangsal. The Gili islands are still beautiful, even if the reefs are slowly disappearing. The government needs to be more effective promoting tourism while still preserving the natural environment.
It made me nostalgic remembering back to the first time I visited in 1991.1 was backpacking with my friend Pepita and we had had enough of Bali, so we hopped on the ferry to Lombok. Back then, Lombok was very different to Bali; it was still quiet and there were very few local tourists. We stayed in Senggigi when the beach was still white and clean and we could spend the whole day there swimming. We even got to know some locals!
We loved it so much we came back a year later. Pepita, Yasmin and I took the bus this time and after hours and hours of sitting we'd pretty much lost all sensation in our backsides. We were still kids though, happy to be on the road. I remember in Senggigi we stayed at Pondok Sederhana. It was a wooden framed building with thatched walls like a cheap boarding house. The cheapest room was tiny and there was nothing inside except a mattress on the floor; you had to share the bathroom. The bed bugs were terrible and left you covered in itchy welts! We renamed the hotel to "Pondok Amat Sangat Sederhana".
On the last day we ran out of money and didn't have enough to pay for a room. We looked for a night club that stayed open as late as possible, just so we could find a sofa to fall asleep on. We soon found out they closed at 2:00 a.m. it was a long time to go before sunrise, everywhere was closed and the roads were empty. In the end we went back to Pondok Sederhana to see if we could sleep in the lobby! The receptionist tried to kick us out, but what could we do? We had no money! Eventually he just shook his head and let us fall asleep.
My first trip to the Gili islands was in 1992. They didn't even have electricity, let alone a nice hotel. Anyway, we were totally broke so we had to sleep in the office of the dive operator. The generator only ran between 6:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. so if you went out after dinner the electricity would suddenly die and everyone had to move from the clubs to the beach to hang out with the locals.
It was scary trying to get home at night after partying. It really used to be absolutely pitch black on Gili Trawangan at night, especially when there was no moon. Of course, we hadn't thought to bring a flashlight. If you were a little drunk, stumbling along trying to find your house in the dark could be a bit tricky because they all looked the same: wooden frames and thatched bamboo walls. I don't know how many times we walked into someone else's bungalow, because they were never locked, one time I actually fell asleep in someone else's kitchen!
In 2002, I was back on Gili Trawangan, again and surprised to find smart hotels, cafes and bars. I rented a room in a hotel down an alley somewhere because it was Nyepi" and the island was full of people getting away from Bali for a short break. Although it was a lot more crowded than it used to be, at least it was clean and you could still wander around barefoot. Gili Trawangan in those days was the Ibi za of Indonesia a place to party. The night's entertainment was barhopping and dancing. I remember I had someone I liked back then we kept disappearing off to a corner on the harbor pier to find a quiet spot!
Fast forward to 2012 when I returned to Gili Trawangan I saw that very same pier, but now it was totally crowded with tourists. On the beach you had to pick your way through to join the sea of people in the water. There was hardly any space, it was so full of beached boats and tourists. The road had now been paved from the harbor to my hotel and you could rent a cidomo (horse drawn cart) to get around in. The road was lined on both sides with hotels, restaurants, bars, cafes, dive operators, travel agents, shops. It could have been a street on Phi Phi Don in Thailand or Boracay in the Philippines. What really amazed me was that they finally had an ATM!
Forgive me. I guess I am one of those people who doesn't think too highly of modernization sometimes, especially on an island as pretty as this one.
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