Day Tour in Lombok, by Garth

We took a one day tour when we were in Lombok. The tour focused on the traditional aspects of life on the island, with a visit to two beaches. We were able to see a lot of the beautiful countryside in Lombok. 

We first went to Banyumulek to see pottery making. It was very interesting to see how the village made pottery without any electricity. 

Children sitting in front of some clay that is drying out to be used to make different types of pottery

Little jugs being placed out to dry, waiting to be "fired"

How the pottery is fired - over a brick fire that has coconut husks, newspaper, and some twigs

Hand made plates are stacked on top of each other, layer after layer

The fire is lit underneath the pieces

Straw is added on top. The pottery pieces are baked for about 4 hours

Finished product after it has been painted

Next we went to a traditional village that did different types of weaving, On the way to the weaving village, we saw some people harvesting rice.

Getting the kernels from the rice plant by smashing it against a wooden frame (a man's job).  The ladies sitting down (you can see their hats) are getting the rest of the kernels off the stalks

About to smash the rice stalks again

Women and men make blankets and clothing using traditional non-mechanical looms.

Woman at a traditional weaving loom. Some of the blankets she made are behind her

Hannah trying to weave on the traditional loom

Aimee weaving on a different type of traditional loom

Kate taking a turn at weaving

Elizabeth trying some weaving.  It is definitely harder than it looks

After visiting the weaving village we had lunch and saw a couple of beaches on the south side of the island of Lombok. We spent about 1 1/2 hours swimming at one of the beaches we visited.

View of one of the beaches we visited

Beach in South Lombok - beautiful, serene, windy and cool-ish temperatures, and almost empty of people

Man using a water buffalo for farming

Our last stop was to visit an aboriginal village called Sade, which is made up of the Sasak people.

Entrance of Sade with the house of the village leader in the background

House used for storing rice

Buildings in the village. Most of them had a clay base. The walls were made of bamboo, with straw being used for the roof

Cooking fish over an open fire