The rewards of being devoted to live a conscious life are priceless. Waking up to reality is always nourished by asking the right questions and by being open to meaningful contemplations for spiritual ripening. It is more and more dawning on me that the path is not through searching for what we yearn for but by letting go of what is not in service for meeting our true nature, till the end… Here comes a significant reminder of my teacher Adyashanti;
“Very easily and simply ask yourself; Can I let go just a little bit more? Don’t even try, just ask; Can I let go just a little bit more? As you experience the depth of consciousness, you notice that all the more conditioned tendencies -wanting, not wanting, liking, disliking, agreeing, disagreeing- feel more and more unconditioned, less and less move around. You start to experience the unconditioned nature of your own being.”
Now let’s move on to the last neighboring island, Lombok. Located in the east of Bali, Lombok is a medium size island that offers tranquil experiences in its natural and authentic environment. Although tourism is lively, the island is not as crowded as Bali so it is quieter and feels way more relaxed. There are huge areas of pristine forests and landscapes that are untouched. And the local culture can be observed more easily and clearly.
Up until I arrived Lombok, I spent quite much time at the coastline of many islands. Although Lombok (especially south) has a lot to offer in terms of pristine beaches, here I wanted to be far from touristic destinations and explore especially the nature, local culture and village life. I started from the north parts and visited 2 waterfalls close to Senaru that are; Sendang Gila and Tiu Kelep waterfalls.
In order to reach these waterfalls, you need to walk through the jungles from the last point that the car leaves you. There were many different types of plants, coconut trees and monkeys in these dense jungles. I saw gigantic trees that were almost 40m tall and the leaves of the ferns were extraordinarily huge.
It was breathtaking to see the waterfalls powerfully falling from dozens of meters down the valleys. As I got closer to the water, the strong breeze, coolness and freshness it creates and the high sound it makes was vitalizing all of the senses. I remember myself laughing and laughing with pleasure of seeing the striking beauty of nature. I felt sincerely grateful for the water for bringing life to each and every little corner of our planet.
Mount Rinjani, Indonesia’s second-highest (active) volcano, is on this island. So many trekkers come here to climb its summit. From the top you can see so many panoramic views including the crater lakes and the dense forests at its base.
At the foothills of Rinjani, at around 1200-1600m altitudes, there is this little town called Sembalun. Don’t miss to stop by the view point here and rejoice in the stunning 180-degree view. Because of the volcano the soil here is abundant, very suitable for agriculture. The most common growing crops are; strawberry, onion, garlic, chili pepper, tobacco, coffee, black pepper, cacao and vanilla.
Tetebatu was the main reason I was in Lombok for. It is a scenic rural area off the beaten track. Located around 700-800 m above sea level, it is the home of big palm trees, vibrant green rice fields and black monkeys.
I really enjoyed trekking around the village, amidst the rice terraces. Spending some quiet days in the lush green nature of Tetebatu was really medicinal, healing my body and soul.
The area is just few kilometers away from the southern boundary of Mount Rinjani National Park. Therefore the scenery along the trails was spectacular with the breathtaking mountain panorama of the volcano.
It was the time of rice harvest so there were so many farmers working in the fields.
The town almost seemed untouched by tourism. There are some cute and humble homestays in-between the rice paddies. The warmth of the house holders make you feel home. They are so open to share their life, talk about their traditions and culture. I stayed at the guesthouse of İka and Egi, the beautiful couple whose hospitality and friendliness I will never forget. We cooked and ate together, we had some expeditions around the area and had delicious conversations on many different topics on life in general. After spending 5 days together we were in tears of gratitude for sharing the blessings of life together.
Below you can see the humble neighborhood I stayed during my days in Tetebatu.
Tetebatu is also a hub for getting to know about the authentic local experiences and culture as it is so close to some villages that still preserve their handicrafts traditions. So many traditional handicraft artisans are spreaded throughout the villages in this area. Sarong weaving is one of the artisanships of the local culture here and it has been inherited for so many generations. Sarong is a covering worn by both men and women as a garment for everyday life and ceremonies. Handwoven sarongs require a long and complicated process that also includes the dying of the threads with natural colors. At the related village there are almost thousand women working as a weaver.
Bamboo weaving is the other tradition of the culture. Wide range of products are manufactured such as baskets, boxes, bags, etc. The young bamboo shoots are consumed as food but 2-year-old bamboo culms are used for weaving, and when the bamboo gets much older it is used in construction. When it comes to the local handicrafts, pottery has to be mentioned. It was surprising to see the primitive methods and tools used for the production of pottery objects.
The Sasak people live mainly on the island of Lombok. They are related to the Balinese in language and in ancestry, but they are predominantly Muslim while the Balinese are predominantly Hindu. Even Lombok is called the island of thousand mosques as Islam is widely practiced.
People are happy in Indonesia. I have never seen people complain here. Everything seems to be fine for them. Once in a while I love to ask people if they are happy. I have always received the same response; they look me in the eye with surprise of hearing such a nonsense question and reply; “Of course I am happy!”
This innocence may be also because they haven’t been caught up in the great modernization or globalization trend that has a great potential to take away the most precious virtues and deeply felt spiritual realizations from human beings. Although the unfavorable outcome of developing tourism unfortunately continues to grow, people of Lombok still preserve their traditional lifestyles, daily rituals and authentic heritage. Most importantly the deeper knowledge of being not separate but One with every living being that deserve the highest respect and love.
