I've received an overwhelming feedback from my friends regarding my previous trip to Lombok, Indonesia. I think I should post up the trip story here in case there are people out there would like to know anything about this trip - itinerary, travel agent contacts, costing et cetra.
My favorite leather passport holder :-)
We booked Air Asia ticket from Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to Lombok (LOP) about 3 months before the trip. Flight ticket (per person) itself is RM250 (two way) at that time (booked on Januari 2015, flight on April 2015). Plus all of the taxes (Indonesia Airport tax), add-on baggage, insurance & food, total is RM385.
And the car rental, other transportation and activities arrangements has been made earlier before the trip. We engaged with Margo Joyo Travel (contact and other details can be found in the attachment at the bottom of this entry). You are allow to arrange and plan your own itinerary or you can simply ask the travel agent to plan the itinerary for you.
Our flight departed from KLIA2 at 3:35 pm (Kuala Lumpur time zone) and arrived at Lombok International Airport at 6:45 pm. Pak supir (the driver) was already waiting for us at the main entrance of the airport holding the signage with our name written on it. Some people might think that it is not necessary to engage with travel agent but if there is one thing every traveler need to concern about when taking a trip to Lombok is its transportation. You might really need a local driver to drive you along your trip. Our driver or we called 'supir' ('supir' means driver), Mas Ferhad (‘Mas’ (sir or brother) is a friendly term for contemporary males. They like us to call them 'Mas' instead of 'Pak' because 'Mas' will make them feel younger hehe). Mas Ferhad not only provided us with great service, humble attitude, the willingness of compromising our route of trips with the price, but also lots of inside tips of each delicacy in Lombok.
We had our dinner at
Lesehan Taliwang Irama restaurant at Mataram. The 'ayam taliwang' is to die for. The chicken taliwang is really delicious and very authentic. It is known as original dishes from lombok. It's very spicy taste. They have other choices menu like gurame bakar, plecing kangkung and many other delicious menu. The price is kind of expensive (approx. RM12-RM15 per pax with variety dishes) but we don't really care about it. Haha.
Ayam taliwang (Photo courtesy of www.panoramio.com)
Checked in at Imaj Private Villa, Batu Layar, Senggigi. WiFi, private pool/villa and aircond provided. 2 chefs available onsite. Perfectly sitting at the gateway to Sengiggi Art, Culture and Tourist Centre, facing the glorious Lombok Straits with Sunset views to Mount Agung in Bali.
Imaj Private Villa (Photo courtesy of Airbnb)
It was a long, rocky and bumpy road up to the villa but after we arrived, we forgot everything. The feeling was totally awesome. Oh, don't forget to do some survey first before you book the hotel/villa. Try to compare the price with other hotels via any accommodation booking website such as Airbnb. Do not book directly from their main website because the prices are more expensive than in Airbnb.
Attached below is our Lombok itinerary for your reference :
(Lombok, Day 2 - to be continued)
