Mataram City, Main Cities of West Nusa Tenggara

The three popular main cities in Lombok island Indonesia, namely Ampenan, Mataram and Cakranegara are worth paying a visit that makes an amazing day trip to explor. Ampenan is used to be an old port during Dutch colonial occupation (now it becomes a fisherman village) where the style of old architecture is still easily seen around the town, especially if you just go towards the beach to the west, This area serves a market at night filled with some warungs (food stalls), food carts with local tasty flavor and very cheap! Also you can find varied shops, cheap small hotels, dusty roads and cidomos (horse carts), gold and pearl shops, and Arab Quarter. No wonder Ampenan is often called “Colorful Town”.

In Ampenan, there is a local market site named “Kebon Roek”, close to the traffic lights on the road from the Airport. The traders daily set up stalls selling freshly products producing from surrounding island, local snacks, live chickens and fresh fish. Market area is pungent but it gives a different experience!

To the east of Ampenan about 3 KM is Mataram, is the main administrative center for Lombok and Sumbawa (West Nusa Tenggara Province) filled with numerous government offices, schools and colleges, banks, mosques, bookstores, the post office center, Mall (mataram mall that sells wide range of goods such as jeans, shoes, and copy brand bags and belts), department store (some electronic stores and shops selling various clothing, CD’s and DVD’s) and university. A museum is also found here such as historical and cultural artifacts from Lombok and Sumbawa.
 

A bit further to east of Mataram, is Cakranegara (Cakra) is the main shopping area and also home to Chinese and Balinese that make up over 50% of the city’s population. Go shopping makes a small tour with sporting goods, gold shops, clothing stores and fabric stores selling imported silks, laces and cottons. A lot of lombok’s weaving and basket making industries are here found as well. The next town east of Cakranegara is Sweta, a big daily covered market near the Bertais Bus Terminal with any kinds of goods on sale, as of foodstuffs to clothing, colorful birds, handicrafts and more.