Lombok Indonesia 3/19/24

March 22, 2024

Lombok Indonesia

Our first Indonesia stop is the port of Lembar on Lombok Island. It is surrounded by a number of smaller islands locally called Gili. Lombok has three main districts with three capital cities: Mataram in the west, Praya in central and Selong in east Lombok. The majority of commerce is in the capital city of Mataram in west Lombok. Population is 3.9 M, and the name Lomboq is the Sasak word for straight, honest. Islam is the majority religion, but all other religions are practiced freely. Lombok was colonized by the Dutch and there is still some influence to be seen on the island. As Muslims are the primary religious group, there are multitudes of mosques throughout the island, right next to the Hindu temples. These are the most prevalent buildings that we saw. It is a very poor island, but people were very friendly, and the towns were clean.

We went to Narmada Gardens to view the grounds and temples. Mickey went to their version of the fountain of youth and dipped his face and hands into the water. Let's see if it works in future pictures!!! A small group of children were performing some dances at the temple and were charming. On to the next temple at Malimbu Hill. The daily offerings were at all the temples, and I received a blessing and a woven bracelet at one of them.

Headed into Mataram, which was a lovely city, and not what we expected from driving through the earlier neighborhoods. Very updated and their main street reminded me of Park Avenue in New York with all of the flowers and vegetation on the roadways. We went to the Islamic Center there and were able to enter the mosque once we covered our knees, ankles, and hair (women). It is a beautiful building, but the Blue Mosque in Istanbul is still the most outstanding mosque we have been to. Again, driving around Mataram, there are a multitude of mosques to see. One thing I did not hear, was the call to prayers. We were here at Ramadan, and the fasting was being observed, so many of the local food markets and stores were not open during the day. No food or drink until later in evening which is hen the stores and markets reopened.

Finished up our day with lunch featuring local foods, and spent a little time in the market area. Had to cut out some of our tour stops as we ran out of time and had to head back to the ship. Next up Bali...