It's not just a cultural difference you notice when you travel to Lombok from Bali, but you have also crossed an evolutionary biological line called The Wallace Line. Just before Darwin published his book "On the origin of species," the naturalist and explorer Alfred Russel Wallace explored the islands of southeastern Asia. Between 1854 to 1862 he explored the Malay archipelago and took notes on the species of plants and animals that lived on each island he visited. He did so from today's Malaysia via Borneo down to Bali, and when he planted his feet on Lombok, he discovered something very peculiar. It is only about 30 km of water that separates Bali and Lombok, but animals and plants that were common on the islands he had previously visited was now absent. Instead, he noted several plants and animals that he had seen only in Australia. So he formed a hypothesis that all islands east of Borneo and Java was part of an Australian, or a former Pacific continent, that the eastern islands had separated from. Wallace findings from the Indonesian archipelago gave support to Darwin's theory of evolution, which was published 1859, and in 1869 the well-known biologist Thomas Huxley named this dividing line between the islands the Wallace Line.
In 2017, it was the family Englund/Mai/Persson/Lindblom's turn to set their feet on Lombok and for two days explore the island.
När man åker över till Lombok från Bali, så är det inte bara en kulturell skillnad man får se, utan man åker också över en evolutionsbiologisk linje, kallad "The Wallace Line". Just före det att Darwin publicerade sin bok "om arternas uppkomst", så utforskade naturalisten och utforskaren Alfred Russel Wallace öarna i sydostasien. Mellan 1854 till 1862 utforskade han den Malajiska arkipelagen och på varje ö han besökte noterade han vilka arter av växter och djur som levde där. Han gjorde så från dagens Malaysia via Borneo ned till Bali, och när han gick i land på ön Lombok upptäckte han något besynnerligt. Det skiljer endast cirka 30 km mellan Bali och Lombok, men djur och växter som var vanliga på öarna han tidigare besökt lyste nu med sin frånvaro. Istället noterade han åtskilliga växter och djur som han endast sett i Australien. Han formade en hypotes om att alla öar öster om Borneo och Java bildade en del av en australiensisk eller Stillahavs-omfattande kontinent, från vilken de senare separerades. Wallace fynd från den indonesiska skärgården gav stöd åt Darwins teori om evolution, vilken publicerades 1859, och 1869 namngav den välkände biologen Thomas Huxley denna skiljelinje mellan öarna till Wallacelinjen.
2017 var det familjen Englund/Mai/Persson/Lindbloms tur att sätta fötterna på Lombok och under två dygn utforska ön.
The Wallace Line. Separates Southeast Asia from Australia.
Picture taken from here, where you also can read more about Alfred Russel Wallace.
We rented scooters one of the days to drive around and explore Lombok.
Maja and Mats on our first stop just south of Senggigi.
If Bali is called the islands of thousand temples, then Lombok is the island of thousand mosques. That is another thing that differs Bali from Lombok, and most islands in Indonesia, the religion in Bali is Hinduism and in Lombok it is Islam.
The street of Senggigi, a town close to where we stayed in Lombok.
We went to the beach in Sengiggi to see where the locals where swimming.
At least the locals are growing the same thing in both Bali and Lombok.
We had an awesome accommodation in Lombok. The White Rose is situated just 5 kilometers south of Senggigi and is very pleasant, if you don't want to live in the center of the town.
And it's quite close to the Cowshed, which is an awesome steakhouse and dart place.
We rented a car (and a driver) for our second day in Lombok and went out exploring the northern part of Lombok.
We found macaques on Lombok, which also must have crossed the Wallace line at some point.
We visited a local market and we learned that our favorite fruit in Bali, the snake fruit, does not grow in Lombok. It is imported from Bali, so we found evidence for the Wallace line right here in the market.
Our goal this day was to hike in the mountains and to see waterfalls.
The Lombok people transports crystal clear water down from the mountain using aqueducts (sorry for terrible exposure in this photo).
An aqueduct that is also a bridge and a waterslide for local children.
First waterfall we visited was Sendanggia and you can see a video from our first part of the hike just below.
Then we walked for 30 minutes more to reach the second waterfall, the Tiu Kelep waterfall.
Ulrika's brother, Niklas, wading through the cold water.
Tiu Kelep. We could swim here with the locals and it was really cold!
We walked through the water tunnels on our way back to our car.
We went to Malimbu hill to watch the sunset.
But dark clouds and rain came over the mountains, so we had to leave just before the sunset.
Ulrika's family got to try real local food during our last night in Lombok.
Big Thanks to Bob and Stephanie for your hospitality and amazing bed&breakfast! We loved staying at your place, the White Rose!