craft
Songket at the Loom in Sukarara
Sukarara, Central Lombok
90
Inaq Sri sets you on a backstrap loom, explains which motifs belong to a wedding, and lets you weave a hand's width of your own.
Mixed 3h
from Rp 450.000Discover experience
nusa tenggara
Lombok
Sasak villages, a volcano valley and weaving households an hour from the coast.
Understand this place before you visit
The place
The island east of Bali, shaped by Mount Rinjani: dry southern hills, a high farming valley in the east, and weaving and pottery villages across the middle.
The people
Predominantly Sasak and Muslim, organised around village prayer and farming groups, with weaving and pottery held by women's cooperatives.
The culture
Sasak custom alongside Islamic practice; songket motifs tied to marriage and welcome; village rules on what may be sold and what is only made to order.
The food
Chilli-forward Sasak cooking: ayam taliwang, plecing kangkung, beberuk terong, and sate rembiga in the towns.
The landscape
Rinjani and the Sembalun valley, dry southern headlands, rice country in the centre and reefs off the small eastern islands.
Local experiences
local life
Garlic Fields and Rinjani Mornings
Sembalun, East Lombok
86
Walk out with a Sembalun farming family at first light, when the valley is working and the volcano is still clear.
Low tourist intensity 4h
from Rp 550.000Discover experience
culinary
A Sasak Kitchen in Central Lombok
Central Lombok
89
Grind the chilli paste for ayam taliwang on a stone, then eat it with the family who taught you.
Low tourist intensity 4h
from Rp 600.000Discover experience