Lombok gets its good name back

Pariama Hutasoit, Contributor, Senggigi, Lombok

Lombok has always been compared to Bali, as though it is the beautiful but neglected step-sister, the Cinderella of the Indonesian travel world.

Travel brochures breathlessly describe it as "the way Bali used to be", or "From Lombok, we can see Bali, but from Bali we cannot see Lombok", a reference to how the minority Hindu population on the island has also built some magnificent temples.

In a sense it does a disservice to this island, with its own unique attractions, because it has been forced to live in the shadow of its neighbor about 50 kilometers west.

Today, Lombok, once seemingly destined to rival Bali as the place to go in eastern Indonesia, has dealt with its own problems.

Lombok Island is home to the Sasak people, whose ancestors migrated to Lombok from the fallen Hindu Majapahit Empire of East Java at the end of the 14th century. Their language, ancient script, art, song and dance show their link with the Hindu/Buddhism cultures that dominated much of Indonesia before the arrival of Islam.

Distinct in language, dress and custom from their Balinese neighbors to the west and the Sumbawanese to the east, the Sasak are linked by history and culture to the ancient civilization of Java. Although strong followers of the Muslim faith, their arts are unique to them.

The Islamic Sasaks, most of whom are farmers, mingle harmoniously with Balinese Hindus in a mix that enhances the island's cultural and traditional attractions. Most of Sasak people of Lombok follow a brand of Islamic orthodoxy professed by traditional teacher, which is known as "Tuan Guru".

Others follow the syncretism tradition of "Wetu Telu". Instead of praying five times a day as a Muslim usually does, they pray only three times a day, and have a cosmology influenced by Hinduism. There is even a temple in Lingsar where people from Hindu and Islamic traditions meet for common prayer.

The Lombok Strait is one of the most important lines of geographical division in the world. This turbulent strait, that separates the island from Lombok, that Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913), the esteemed English naturalist, drew what has become known in evolutionary science as The Wallace Line or Wallace's Line.

This line marks the center of a transition and evolutionary zone where the lands, flora and fauna of subtropical Southeast Asia make a sudden and quite dramatic transition into the earth, plants and animals typical of Australasia.

In Bali we have barbets, fruit-thrushes and woodpeckers; on passing over to Lombok these are seen no more, but we have an abundance of cockatoos, honeysuckers and brush-turkeys, which are equally unknown in Bali, or any island further west.

The strait here is 15 miles wide, so that we may pass in only two hours from great division of the earth to another, differing as essentially in their animal life as Europe does from America.

This island, which measures about 80 kilometers north to south and about 70 kilometers east to west, is also a much drier and tougher island than generally verdant Bali. This is what led Lombok Island to its own name in the Sasak language: "Bumi Gora" meaning "The Dry Farmland".

The uniqueness and strategic location of Lombok has provided it with an advantageous position in the development of local tourism. Since 1986, the government of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) emphasized tourism as the main priority of development, particularly on Lombok.

At the same time, the growth of NTB tourism underwent rapid development, averaging about 30 percent in the period 1986-1996. In 1989 the government identified 15 potential areas to be developed in NTB, nine on Lombok Island -- Sire, Gili Air, Gili Meno, Gili Trawangan, Senggigi, Suranadi, Gili Gede, Kuta, Seger -- and six on Sumbawa Island.

All the plans started to come asunder when the economic crisis and unrest hit the country. The situation worsened when a riot broke out on Jan. 17, 2000, in Mataram and West Lombok after a religious rally.

Overnight, Lombok became tarred with the stigma of an "unsafe" tourist destination, a place to travel at your own risk. Several embassies issued travel warnings, and the one from Japan remains in effect.

Visitor numbers plummeted. In 1997 there 245,049 foreign visitors, which fell to 168,727 in 1998, 144,953 in 1999 and 126,364 in 2000.

The fallout from the World Trade Center attacks in September 2001 led to the threat of a "sweep" of foreigners in Indonesia if the U.S. attacked Afghanistan in its search for Osama bin Laden.

The NTB authorities, knowing the potential for another blow to tourism, did their utmost to reassure visitors and potential tourists, particularly in major markets like Germany, that they would assure their safety.

NTB Governor Harun Al Rasyid recently stated that the decline of tourist development caused great hardship to the economy of the province, since the sector is the second biggest employer after agriculture but carries higher economic value. It has also led to the expansion of other industries, such as handicrafts.

"Nowadays, Lombok is safe enough and there is no reason to be scared to go to this island," he said.

"After the tragedy (2000 riots), we then contacted the traditional teachers to give an explanation. The community and the teachers stated their deep regret about the tragedy and they realized that it brought lots of disadvantages. Therefore, we are optimistic that tourism in NTB will be promising in the future."

After years when hotel occupancy rates crashed, there is also hope from that sector that visitors are on their way back.

"I'm reasonably optimistic. I am very confident, and we just need some time," general manager of Novotel Corolia Lombok, Stephane Fagez, said.