The quieter Bali next door — Rinjani above, Gili islands offshore
Mataram is the capital of Lombok, the Indonesian island directly east of Bali that has long been a destination for travellers seeking Bali's beauty without Bali's crowds. The city itself is a functional gateway — the real draws are Mount Rinjani (Indonesia's second-highest active volcano at 3,726m, one of Southeast Asia's classic treks), the Gili Islands (three small coral-ringed islands with no motorised vehicles), the pink-sand beaches of the southeast Kuta Lombok area, and the traditional Sasak villages of the island's interior. Lombok has its own distinct culture — predominantly Muslim Sa…
Lombok was ruled by Balinese kingdoms from the 17th century, which is why significant Hindu temples exist alongside the predominantly Muslim Sasak population. The Dutch took control from Bali in 1894. The island suffered one of history's greatest volcanic disasters: the 1815 eruption of Tambora (on neighbouring Sumbawa) was the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history, killing 71,000 directly and causing the 'Year Without a Summer' of 1816 globally through its ash cloud. Lombok itself was devastated by twin earthquakes in 2018 (magnitude 6.4 and 6.9) which killed over 500 people and dama…