When you hear the word ‘village’ what do you think of?
Most people immediately imagine the rice fields which have a background of forests, rivers, and mountains, plus there are birds flying. Like the picture you made when you were given a free drawing assignment by the teacher during elementary school.
Such is the picture of Kerujuk Village in North Lombok. Literally. Really rural. There is no noise, the color is dominated by royo-royo green, and the breath of air makes my lungs thank you.
The Kerujuk Ecotourism Village is located in the village of West Winner, Pemenang sub-district, North Lombok. The location is not far from Bangsal Harbor where if you cross to Gili Trawangan, it’s only about 15 minutes drive by car.
I am very happy with the concept of ecotourism. Because we don’t just travel to unspoiled areas. But we also contribute to preserving the environment and the welfare of the local population.
Kerujuk village is usually used as a destination outbound. There are many games here that can hone team togetherness. Starting from conventional outbound games such as walking clogs to traditional games such as Tereng Silong.
Besides that, what’s fun there?
Playing in the fields, plowing with the buffalo, and planting rice with the farmers!
The kerujuk village was built with traditional values. So in addition to using tractors, people who work as farmers also still use buffalo to plow the fields.
I tried it myself. With the help of the farmer, I managed to sit on his plow. The buffalo is poked a little with a whip. That’s right, just poke it, not whip it. The two buffaloes moved forward.
But this buffalo seems to just want to eat. It always turns towards the grass. Even though this morning I ate a sack of grass, said Mr. Farmer. But yes, his name is also buffalo. To turn the buffalo I had to pull the reins tightly to the right. It’s really not easy. Like turning an 18 wheeler truck without power steering!
Just a few minutes of plowing the fields, I was tired. Even though there is still a process of pulverizing the soil and spreading rice seeds.
So let’s rest first. Coffee breaks!
Country-style snacks like this are perfect for snacking, especially after playing in the fields.
There are boiled peanuts, boiled sweet potatoes, fried bananas, and another sweet potato filled with sweet brown sugar. Perfect with a cup of hot coffee.
Oh yes, this kerujuk village is also famous for its plantation potential. Robusta coffee beans are grown here, processed traditionally, then become the coffee I drink during this coffee break. The type of coffee is Robusta because it is still in the lowlands. The bitter taste is very strong and the sour taste is subtle. Anyway, I’m happy as long as it’s not instant coffee haha!
Go around Kampung Kerujuk and get lots of rural-style instagram-able photo spots
Kerujuk in Sasak language means crab. It is said that the name of the kerujuk village comes from the many kerujuk that used to occupy the riverside area of this village. This village is divided by a river whose water is quite clear. “This river can also be used for sports tubeingbro,” said Hirwan, the PR staff of Pokdarwis in the village of kerujuk who was also my guide while here.
After drinking coffee and relaxing for a while, I decided to go around the village to find material for my Instagram feed, which I was thirsty for uploading.
Increasingly up the hill, I passed rambutan and durian plantations. Durian usually falls in the afternoon until the evening. Because it was still early afternoon, I had to cancel my durian eating agenda first.
But besides rambutan there is one fruit that caught my attention. It is not in the tree, but at the bottom near the roots. The name of the fruit is Renggak. Wild fruits are widely scattered in the forests of Lombok near the river.
The fruity aroma is similar to passion fruit. The texture is similar to passion fruit with small seeds between the flesh. It tastes sour and fresh. But the size is indeed small so you have to eat some fruit to be satisfied.
Lunch with a very ‘lombok’ home-cooked menu!
The word from the Lombok people means ‘chili’. But actually If the island of Lombok comes from Sanskrit. The word Lomboq which means ‘STRAIGHT’, not chili. But whatever it is, the food in Lombok is indeed relatively spicy!
Call it the culinary chicken taliwang which can make you sweat profusely. Don’t forget the plecing kangkung and sambal beberuk, whatever the menu in every meal.
If you take a package to stay in a village like me, you will be served very home-cooked food. It tastes really delicious, especially when eaten in a bale on the edge of the rice fields with a gentle breeze.
Dare to try this opaque + plecing kale?
Outbound Arena with natural nuance
As I said before, this village has a special area for outbound activities. I tried a few games here which turned out to be really fun!
Starting from this Bamboo Bridge. The shape of the bridge is quite strange. The footprints are in a zigzag shape. If we don’t fit right in the middle, the rope hanger will become unbalanced so we can be pushed down into the mud!
Especially if there are more than two people on the bridge. The shaking was getting worse. So here it is required to always be calm and step in the middle if you want to achieve the goal. Excellent.
Then there is another bridge which is only a bamboo footbridge. This is of course the most difficult because there is no handle. However, this bridge can also be traversed by two people, making it easier to cross.
There are also several other traditional games that can be tried or used as outbound games. The most interesting is the game named Silong Tereng. In our game, the team must insert a bracelet into the bamboo with a predetermined distance.
This bracelet should not be thrown. So team members have to support one of their members so that his hand can reach the bamboo. It is quite difficult and quite challenging physical strength. But it looks really fun!
In addition to the shady nature that we can enjoy at Kerujuk Tourism Village, you can also invite your friends (or persuade your boss at the office) to enjoy various games. outbound traditional method that can strengthen the relationship between individuals in the team.
For me personally, a visit to this village is very encouraging refresh thought. If you live in big cities like me, a visit to this kerujuk tourist village in North Lombok can be a cool oasis.
So if you are in North Lombok, after Gili Trawangan or Mount Rinjani, you can make an agenda to stop for a while to this Kerujuk Village.
Also watch the vlog version below!
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Contact Ecotourism Village Referral
Hirwan (humas kelompok sadar wisata) Kampung ekowisata kerujuk Desa Pemenang Barat Kecamatan Pemenang Kab Lombok Utara 082341458128
Create by ipadguides in category of Travel Story