Sembalun Valley

Sembalun sits at around eleven hundred metres in a bowl on the eastern side of Rinjani, cut off enough that the Sasak villages here kept distinct traditions, and it is farmed intensively - garlic above all, which the valley is known for across Indonesia, along with strawberries, onions and vegetables in a patchwork of small plots that turns the valley floor into a quilt seen from the surrounding ridges. It is the main starting point for climbing Rinjani, so the village has porters, guides and gear shops geared to that, and it is where climbers acclimatise. Shorter walks go up Bukit Selong and Bukit Pergasingan for the view down over the fields, and the Sembalun traditional village has old thatched houses. The 2018 Lombok earthquakes damaged the area heavily.

What you actually see

• A quilt of small fields - garlic, strawberries and onions on the valley floor.
• The Rinjani trailhead - porters, guides and gear shops for the volcano climb.
• Ridge viewpoints - Bukit Selong and Pergasingan looking down on the fields.
• A traditional Sasak village - old thatched houses in the valley.

When to go

April to October; the Rinjani route closes in the wet season. Two days.

Honest expectations

Rinjani permits are quota-limited and booked online in advance. The valley is cold at night. The 2018 earthquakes did serious damage and rebuilding continues in places.

Nearby

Rinjani rises above; the Sembalun pass road runs west to Mataram.