Starting in the mid 1980s, Lombok Island attracted world’s attention as an ‘unspoiled’ alternative to Bali. Lombok is a neighboring island of Bali exactly in the eastern side; both islands are separated by the Lombok Straits. This exotic Lombok could be reached through across Lombok Straits by boat or simply by airplane to Selaparang Airport, directly from Bali. Lombok Island belongs to West Nusa Tengara province in which its capital city is Mataram. Compared to Denpasar or Badung city in Bali, Mataram as capital city is still considered quiet.
85% of the inhabitants of Lombok are Sasak while 10-15% is Balinese and the rest is Chinese, Arab, Sumbawanese, and others. The island’s indigenous inhabitants Sasak are predominantly Muslim. Nevertheless the influence of Hindu and Buddhism came to Lombok already a long time ago. Although the major religion in Lombok is Muslim and the landscape is punctuated with mosques and minarets people in Lombok are fluent speaking Balinese.
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