https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=UA-178488063-1

window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}
gtag(‘js’, new Date());

gtag(‘config’, ‘UA-178488063-1’);

So this is my first blogpost of the travel to Indonesia this year to Lombok.

In this post, I will share on my experiences and the information that you would need to visit the beautiful and less often visited destination in Indonesia – Lombok area falling under the Archipelago of Lesser Sunda Islands.

Indonesia is a very large country spreading across various provincial areas and most popular among the tourists is Bali and one destination picking up as the most sought after is Lombok with various unspoilt islands to its credit.

How to Travel?

You have two options:

Option One: Fast Boat from Bali

• Plan your travel from Bali which can be your port of entry to Lombok
• You can plan your return trip through fast ferry which takes you from ports like Amed, Sanur to Gili Islands and Lombok
• The travel time is around 45 minutes and not much of turbulence is felt other than an occasional thud against the waves which is absolutely fine
• We made our bookings through Gilibookings.com which included a hotel pickup

Option 2: Fly from Bali

Fly to Lombok and take a fast Boat to Gili Islands, this is a very good option too as the flights cost just between ₹1,000-1,500/person and is anywhere between 30-45 mins in duration.

While we did not use this option this time around, I will mostly be using this on our next trip to Indonesia

Option 3: Fly directly to Lombok

Airasia connects Kuala Lumpur with Lombok which is connected with many destinations and you can fly directly to Lombok from your city with a transit in klia2

Where to stay

Well, we were restricted to Gili Trawangan this time around on our trip out of the three Gili Islands between Trawangan, Meno and Air.

• Pondok Santi Estate
• Vila Ombok
• Ombak Sunset

The above three properties are something which I would recommend. While I have stayed at Ombak Sunsry, the next time around I would prefer toook at Santi / Vila Ombok for the night life that you could see otherwise.

What to do?

Well the one thing that we enjoyed on our one night trip was lazing on the beach in the evening having some drinks and enjoying the sunset followed by a movie on the beach at Ombok Sunset.

We attempted our first Snorkeling and boy, it was soo different and wonderful for the three of us who never swam or know swimming ever.

Private Snorkeling would cost you around Rp. 2 million for a family of three with a duration of 4 hours.

Snorkeling activity is conducted around Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air where the flora and fauna is found the best.

We started on a nervous note but did not realise when the time passed and we had to start back after around three hours of lovely activity.

My Recommendation for a Indonesia / Lombok Offbeat trip

My recommendation for an offbeat Indonesia would be as below so that you could explore the less explored destinations and avoid the commercialized destinations:

This would be valid for all tourists travelling via Kuala Lumpur and you can book your flight through Airasia,

A caveat that you out to select your options carefully as this is a super low cost carrier which means you end up paying for anything and everything which adds to the overall cost.

If you are a vegetarian, you would be in for a surprise at Kuala Lumpur airport in Malaysia as you would not get any good vegetarian options around, so be prepared and pack some snacks for sure

Now coming to the itinerary: the beloe is my dream itinerary and would definitely plan this for my second Indonesia trip

Day One

Your Start point to Kuala Lumpur, try getting in a flight which has less transit time so that you could save on sometime on your travel.

Lombok Day Two – Day Four

Spend time in Lombok, if you fancy trekking, you should not skip Mount Rinjani where you can camp after summit to the mountain top near to the crater.

Explore Kuta for its less touristy beaches along with Senggigi which is known for its lovely resorts, should you have spare time.

You should also plan a visit Banyumulek for witnessing the pottery activities there which is their speciality in Indonesia.

Read about what Ami from Thrilling travel had to say on the places to visit in Lombok https://thrillingtravel.in/things-to-do-in-lombok-indonesia.html

Day Five – Day Eight

Head over to Gili Islands, you can choose between Gili Trawangan to Gili Meno and finally for those of you planning your honeymoon or quiet couple time, look for Gili Air.

Three to four days is a must if you want to participate in scuba diving or surfing or snorkeling. The costs are very reasonable and do not bore a hole in your pocket.

You can tweaks as you find suiting your budget or time on hand, plan a extension to the island of Bali, more on that in my next blog post.

What to Carry?

You should definitely carry the below, as most of your time would be beach time when around Lombok.

• Beach wear
• Swimwear along with Sarong
• Shorts / comfortable wear as you are in a tropical area
• Sunscreen cream to prevent you from tanning
• Goggles and Hat
• Refillable water bottle
• Camera and chargeable batteries
• Cash, though there are ATM’s and the cards work at most of the outlets here, it’s better to carry some cash just in case you would need to pay for Tonga (Horse cart) etc

Should you need any details or help in planning your trip, reach out on my social media or through Comments.

Head over to my Instagram / Youtube Profile and do follow me for more amazing road trip / travelogues.

Until my next blog-post, this is Srikanth Signing Off!Do follow me on Social Media for my travel journeys: Twitter / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest