Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
and more in the pipeline. The main village centres are
Sekotong Tengah
and
Pelangan
, with
Tawun
,
Tembowong
and
Labuhan Poh
the easiest places to organize boats. Only a few of
the islands (referred to as the
Southwest Gilis
) are inhabited; there is tourist accommodation
on
Gili Nanggu
,
Gili Gede
and
Gili Asahan
, and
Gili Sudak
has a restaurant.
SEKOTONG'S GOLD RUSH
The Sekotong region used to be one of Lombok's poorest, but its fortunes changed in 2008
following the discovery of
gold
. A mining company had found deposits but was scuppered
by a bylaw that prohibited gold-mining on Lombok, so illegal freelancers immediately
moved in, some with experience at mines in neighbouring Sumbawa but most novice chan-
cers from the Sekotong area. At its peak, some three thousand people mined for gold,
with makeshift camps popping up on the hillsides and roadside rock-grinding machines in
every hamlet. As a result, many households could afford motorbikes or even new concrete
houses. But the cost to the environment and public health is high; tunnel collapses have
killed hundreds, and the use of mercury in the filtering process has polluted many sites. The
provincial government's response has been minimal, and it seems that the exhaustion of
the easily reached seams and the sharp drop of the gold price has done more to curb mining
activities than any official efforts. Several hundred miners are still active in the mountains,
however.
Tawun and the southwest Gilis
Beyond
Sekotong Tengah
, the peninsula's principal settlement, and
Medang
, the views of
the
southwest Gilis
become ever more enticing as you reach the harbour village and sweep-
ing white-sand bay of
TAWUN
(also spelt Taun), 19km from Lembar. This is a convenient
place to organize boat rides and
snorkelling trips
out to the
islands
that are visible from the
