Lombok: Still a virtual tourist free island- part I

Lombok is the neighboring island to the east of Bali. You can get to Bali from the airport on a 30-minute flight or a 4+ hours ferry from Padangbai.

Lombok definitely offers a different environmert to Bali and its interesting to see how it changes over the last 15 years. The Indonesia Handbook written in 1991 says "This lush, non-commercial island, fringed by untouched white-sand beaches, is in the throes of being developed. Yet you can still spend 2 days travelling without seeing another westerner. The island isn't as clean as Bali, there are fewer road signs, and the people overcharge too much (its their own kind of humor: to make you angry is funny), particularly in E. Lombok."

"It's a poor island, subject to famines; children in remote interior villages are covered in open infections and sores. One of the biggest annoyances on Lombok is that, being such a curiosity, people stop and stare at you wherever you go; sometimes whole villages of kids trail after you."