Lombok Shopping

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There are several villages in Lombok dedicated to pottery. Banyumulek is the easiest to reach, it lies half way between Lembar harbour and the capital Mataram.
The pottery is of a terracotta kind, with tied rotan or painted decorations.
A driver will probably bring you to 'Rismunika Astuti' art shop, which is located just off the main road. They have the most varied collection and are prepared to send your purchases abroad for you. They also give a demonstration how the pottery is made.
But it is worthwhile to go another km or two inland to Banyumulek village proper. Here every house produces and sells pottery, and you may see them at work too. Walk in and out several shops to find your bargain.

What to buy: Vases, plates, candlesticks, small souvenirs, and so on.

What to pay: Of course you have to bargain. Helen got six plates and two candlesticks for Rp 70,000.

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If you want to buy a piece of paradise,
there’s a few pieces of land
and developments already
being put on the market.

Eventhough in reality,
a foreigner can not
officially own land in Indonesia
there is the Freehold Title that is offered
and bought through a nominee.

Just make sure you do it with a lawyer at hand.
Investing in Indonesia can be a pretty tricky thing

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If you wanna to buy some local craft fr souvenirs to your friend and family back home, you must visit this market. They sell various local handicraft from wooden statue, hand made woven, and many more with bargaining price!

try out you bargain skill here!

What to buy: hand made woven/ textile
local hand made ceramic

What to pay: IDR 10 - 200 depend on the goods

What to buy: lombok is famous by its pearl.
they grow pearl in the sea around lombok so its relatively cheap compare to other places. you can buy pearl in chunk or already create into a jewelry. the colors are varies from the traditional white until pink and black.
the village that famous by its pearl is sekar bele

its opposite the departmental store, at the 3rd level if i am not wrong, at mataram mall. cheap fake tshirts from quiksilver, mooks, billabong, etc price is according to size. shop in aircon comfort and no bargaining for 30,000rp per piece for L size tshirt. bought many as gifts.

its in cakranegara, seems like every other shop along this lane was selling almost the same stuff. they sell tshirts, batik, sarongs,etc we paid around 18,000rp for each tshirt but gotta buy minimum 12 pieces. they have cheaper tshirts but the quality of cotton was different. we took the better ones. i think the cheaper ones were around 12,000rp. good touristy tshirts to buy as gifts and cheap as well. got very big sizes which cost more.

What to buy: Lombok is known for its pearls,
and you get a few vendors here and there
at Gili Trawangan.

You don’t need to look for them.
They’ll come walking right up to you on the beach.

So leave the jewelry at home,
and help the economy by buying some pearls.

Lombok pottery is famous for its style and beauty.
You wouldn't find a souvenir shop NOT selling pottery.
If you are a pottery lover - you may want to keep your eyes open.

Lombok also has plenty of traditional wooden sculptures and figurines. One that stood out among all is this statue/figurine of 3 brothers climbing on top of each other. Legend tells how three brothers were hunting deer in the forest one day. One of them Doyan Medaran, was waiting for his brothers beside a deer that he had killed when a giant appeared. Doyan Medaran was so frightened that he climbed up a massive tree to hide from the giant who, after devouring the deer, disappeared into the forest. Doyan Medaran remained stuck in the tree until his brothers came, along and rescued him by climbing on to each others' shoulders.

Personally, while I find the legend heartwarming, I find the statue extremely creepy. All 3 human figure were carved with facial features that we had come to associate with aliens, made famous by the TV Series "The X Files" - the same inverted dew drop head, slanty eyes without eye lids, almost non-existence nose and enigmatic mouth.

Would made an interesting conversation piece in your living room.

What to pay: Bargain.