BANGKO is a beautiful, unspoiled coastal environment in which nearby islanders from Bali’s Nusa Penida, 18 nautical miles away across the Lombok Strait, trade in friendly harmony with their Lombok neighbours.
In the south of Lombok, the Bangko Bankgo coast offers magic views to Bali and the rugged landscape of Nusa Penida.
We entered the charming and friendly tourist precinct of Bangko Bangko at Batu Putih village, in the Sekotong region of West Lombok, along a path surrounded by hundreds of teak trees in a conservation area established by the national government.
The delightful white sand surf beach is a favourite with international tourists
who are catered for with simple food prepared on the beach by local people. “Now and again the beach is deserted, but in the high season hundreds of tourists can come here every day,” said café owner Zul, 34.
Visitors usually arrive independently at Bangko Bangko which rarely features in the programs of major Lombok travel agents. A route through West Lombok’s isolated and traditional Pemalikan Agung community takes travellers through steep mountains of sharp, craggy rocks.
Many tourists make the morning crossing from Nusa Penida, which takes around three hours in normal conditions. They generally return in the evening.
“I like coming to this place,” said Paul, a European who has lived for a year on Bali and who with five friends was savouring local food specialities on the beach at Bangko Bangko. “It is natural here and there are no crowds to interfere with your peace and enjoyment.”
We walked on to a fishing village, not far from a non-operational ice factory, which in the right season is a major centre for catching tuna. Around 120 families live in modest homes that line the coast along with hundreds of fishing boats.
We walked on to a fishing village, not far from a non-operational ice factory, which in the right season is a major centre for catching tuna. Around 120 families live in modest homes that line the coast along with hundreds of fishing boats.
Resident Wayan Pande, 45, said during the tuna season which runs for about two months during July and August, a fisherman can catch up to 1000 tuna a day. Each live tuna sells for between Rp20,000 and Rp25,000.
The tuna are taken for sale to major markets in Mataram and other Lombok centres, but according to tuna contractor Jenah, 50, a lot of purchases are made at sea even before the boats get home with their hauls.
“Many tuna transactions are made at sea,” said Jenah. “If the catch is very abundant, then transactions reach the shore where the beach becomes an impromptu and very hectic market.”
Jenah believes most fishing boats lining the Bangko Bangko coast belong to Balinese, rather than locals, and have been beached for repairs to nets and the boats themselves. Other people have said many sales at sea are to traders from Bali who take the fish directly to Bali, bypassing the Lombok markets.
Our next stop was at the traditional settlement of Pemalikan Agung, in steep and rocky hills about four kilometres from the coast. The village is one of the most isolated in Sekotong and its people adhere to their ancestral traditions.
The name Pemalikan is said to mean restrictions, or things that must be either adhered to or avoided in order to circumvent curses and misfortune. The village administration system involves traditional leaders, religious scholars and other customary officials and structures.
Source:enchanting-lomboksumbawa.com
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