Sembalun in a Single Breath
Experience-based quality tourism activity can create a deep impression on tourists when they visit a tourist attraction.
East Lombok (ANTARA) - Junaidi walked slowly through clusters of orange chrysanthemums that reflected the glow of the late afternoon sun in the farmland area of Sembalun Bumbung village, Sembalun subdistrict, East Lombok Regency, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB).
The 33-year-old man occasionally stopped in his tracks. His fingers reached for wilting flowers, then picked them carefully so that the newly bloomed chrysanthemums could develop perfectly.
Amid the stretch of green horticultural land as far as the eye can see, the flower garden spanning 16 plots, or around half a hectare, has become an oasis that now serves as an alternative tourist attraction for travellers visiting Sembalun.
Visitors need only pay an entrance ticket of Rp30,000 for adults and Rp10,000 for children. From behind the expanse of multicoloured flowers, they can capture Sembalun’s distinctive panorama, with hills and the towering Mount Rinjani as a backdrop.
“We planted flowers little by little and sometimes bought flowers from residents’ houses — buy, plant, buy, plant — and it turned out well, attracting many visitors,” said Junaidi, recalling the process of establishing the Sembalun Flower Garden five years ago.
Thousands of people from various regions and countries swarm the site every day, especially during the holiday season. The dry season leaves the village roads covered in dust that often obscures visibility.
The presence of the flower garden has become one of the markers of change in an area long known as the gateway for climbing Mount Rinjani. The area, situated at an altitude of 1,100 to 1,300 metres above sea level, offers many attractions without having to trek up the mountain for three days and two nights.
Sembalun has great potential to develop into an exotic highland tourist destination in eastern Indonesia, offering a complete experience underpinned by its natural wealth, agriculture and culture.
Nature is the captivating main stage. Sembalun is not merely a story about a mountain, but also a tale of every blooming flower petal and the hands that tend them with loving care.
Experience-based agritourism
Morning always arrives gently in the area at the foot of Mount Rinjani. The cold air carried by dry winds from Australia bites the skin.
Dew still clings to young leaves, while the dusty black volcanic soil, a result of the dry season, retains the lingering chill of the long night.
Two middle-aged women farmers squatted without much conversation on one of the plots in the middle of more than 1,000 hectares of farmland in Sembalun.
Woven bamboo farmer’s hats covering their veiled heads provided extra protection from the sun’s glare slowly leaving the horizon. Their rough fingers moved gently, inspecting one lettuce seedling after another ready to be transplanted to the planting beds.