Lombok beach cottages

I, along with a couple of friends, decided to embark on a similar journey through Asia – sans the killer coconuts.

We ended up stopping off at seven different locales, some planned, most not. These included Tokyo, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Bali, Lombok and Hong Kong. Each stop revolved around soaking up the local flavor through adventure seeking and continuous eating.

The place that sticks out most in my mind is Lombok, a tiny island in Indonesia consisting of predominately-Muslim citizenry.

Lombok beach

Barely a blip on the radar, Lombok is a hop, skip and a jump away from the tourist-ridden island of Bali in Indonesia.

Bali was swarming with Australian tourists since we arrived in the midst of their summer vacation, winter for us, which forced us to vacate the island prematurely.

Searching for a bit of serenity, we consulted our Lonely Planet guide and realized that we were only a half-hour propeller plane ride away from the island of Lombok.

We decided to spend the next week on Lombok, where the main shelter consisted of beach cottages.

Lombok is the lesser-known equivalent to Bali in terms of beauty, with stretches of gorgeous uninhabited beaches and lush rainforests.

After having our fill of the beaches, we decided to explore the rainforests and the hilly terrain by taking a bike ride through "the monkey forest."

Normally, I would not be interested in socializing with monkeys after being harassed by ultra-hyper ones in my childhood when visiting a Pakistani zoo.

These monkeys, however, were not of the zealous kind; they were actually quite mellow and seemed to await our arrival by hanging around the side of the bike paths with the hopes that we would feed them crackers, which we did.

The hillsides were incredibly green and fertile, laden with agricultural fields and small villages.

Lombok beach cottages

Small children would run out to greet us as we rode through their villages, where we gladly handed out high-fives to cheering 10-year-olds.

Although Indonesia has a Muslim majority, the main religion of Bali is a form of Hinduism.

Lombok, however, is more than 85 percent Muslim. We happened to be in Lombok on a Friday and decided to venture into the main city of Mataram for Jumu’ah, or Friday prayer. Mataram can be considered the modern part of Lombok, since it consists of paved roads and concrete buildings.

It is also home to the Mataram Mall, the city’s hotspot for teenagers and families wanting to escape the heat and enjoy some air-conditioning.

Mataram Masjid in Lombok

Mosques are on every corner of Mataram, which made it difficult for us to choose one for Jumu’ah.

After asking some of the locals, they all suggested we head to the National Masjid, a large building with two floors, one for males and the other for females.

It was quite empty and stark at 1 p.m., so we decided to mosey around the neighborhood for a more local masjid.

Within minutes, we were upon a small one with a large dome and no walls.

After noticing that it was painted yellow and green (viva Brasil!), I immediately knew this was where we would pray Jumu’ah.

After hearing the adhan, call to prayer, the masjid quickly filled to capacity, although we were the only women in the congregation.

This seems to be a normal trend in Muslim countries worldwide — women not attending the masjid for prayer but praying at home, instead.

Although I know it is more a cultural practice than Islamic, it does seem quite disappointing in a land where mosques abound on every corner.

I also noticed this trend in Pakistan and Egypt, where there sometimes wasn’t even a prayer area for women.

I realize that we take for granted the fact that most masjids in the United States not only have areas for women – although the state of their condition is questionable in many cases – but a strong presence of women.

This helps in the incorporation of women into the society and strengthens the notion that women are important pillars of every community.

Venturing off the beaten path allowed us to discover this gem in the Indian Ocean.

The one thing I cannot speak highly about in Lombok, however, is the food. Most menus were identical to one another, offering European and Indonesian cuisine, which consisted of a few staple Indonesian items (nasi goring and gulai) and spaghetti.

It was impossible to escape this menu, which became worn quite quickly.

Fasting became the meal of choice after a couple of days, although we did make sure to fill up on the native fruits and juices.

Normally, French fries are my backup meal, but the soil and climate of Lombok is not conducive to potato farming, forcing the locals to serve frozen-bag fries. Thanks, but no thanks.