Shoestrappers

The west coast of Lombok, north of Mataram, was the first major tourism area in Indonesia after Bali. It is centered on Senggigi (both “gi”s are as in “geek”), with its beautiful beaches at the base of plunging jungle-covered mountains. There are lots of hotels, small resorts, restaurants, shops, and other amenities in a relaxed, welcoming setting. There is a history here however.. Senggigi: Rise, Resilience, Renewal.

We stayed at The Studio, nestled high above Senggigi on The Hill. It is a beautiful and lovingly crafted series of villas in classical Javanese style.

The Studio is owned and run by Pak Mark Heyward and Ibu Laras Sopan. Pak Mark was away in his native Tasmania while we were there, but I read his excellent book, The Glass Islands, before we got there. It provides an intimately well-rounded overview of Lombok and of many aspects of Indonesia in general, while following their adventures building The Studio on The Hill. We had the pleasure of spending time with Ibu Sopan during the week that we were on Lombok. She is well versed in everything it seems! She hooked us up with a great driver, educated us on local culture, and gave us advice on all of our daily excursions. The house itself is a work of art.. adorned with art.

Ibu Sopan worked with their lovely staff to present super fresh breakfasts every morning. I cannot emphasize enough how wonderful fresh Indonesian fruits and their derivative juices and jams are. Dragonfruit still seems somehow not real to me it’s so bright!

Bread is actually not a common Indonesian food, but they get bread at a cute local bakery called Temptations to satisfy the westerners.

Their son Rory was often around as well. He was very engaging, providing an informed and insightful Gen Z perspective on the Lombok, Indonesia, and world scene.

Tucked in the jungle, The Studio has its share of animals. The most exciting we didn’t catch a picture of because we were so wrapt in watching it- a big water monitor lizard. It was maybe ~1.5m (5ft) long and stood on the dam as we entered the gate one day. After a brief pose it eased into the small pond and swam off into the greenery. There were often numerous monkeys high in the trees above the villa surely talking smack about us. Some other locals..

After our spider experience in Flores we were thrilled? horrified to find a baseball-sized spider on the wall of our bedroom. Traditional architecture means open air ceilings and walls so this is to be expected. I was just coming out of the bathroom brushing my teeth so very.. “vulnerable”. I finished brushing my teeth, and as I went to get my phone to take a picture it scurried down the wall and behind our open luggage. Not loving that as a nesting destination, I readied my camera and grabbed a hand towel. Inevitably, as I thought about what I was going to do, it came running out TOWARD me so I whacked it twice with the towel. Post-mortem photos available by request. It was so much smaller and shriveled once dead but still.. it had legit volume and weight for a spider! I feel bad though since generally we welcome all anti-pest allies.

One of our favorite restaurants in the area is Square. It’s a higher-end restaurant with a mixture of local and imported food. The presentation was refined yet very approachable and relaxed. We enjoyed a tasting “degustation” menu with soup, salad and ravioli. Everything was tasty and we enjoyed watching the passing kids celebrating Nyepi with floats along the street.

Some other restaurants we enjoyed..

The Kliff Bistro is a huge open-air restaurant within a resort at the north end of Senggigi. We went late at night so didn’t see the namesake cliff, but it was a very nice

Verve Beach Club is just south of The Kliff Bistro and has a busy, social atmosphere. The food was pretty standard pizza + bar & grill fare with lots of drinks. We enjoyed the banana split

Near the southern end of Senggigi, closer to The Hill, is Cafe Alberto. It has a fun atmosphere and a great sunset view.

You might notice that we never went to the beach to.. enjoy the beach and swim . That wasn’t entirely intentional. We were always heading to an area for the day and it was so hot that I think being out in the hot sand (which burned!!) wasn’t nearly as appealing as exploring inland. Also we did go to the beach in other areas… next time perhaps!