Senaru Village is normally thought of as the key gateway village to an arduous trek up Mount Rinjani. There is a lot more to this area than that though,and those visitors less inclined towards serious trekking should not be discouraged from visiting here. here are some cute little places to stay and glorious scenery all around, including some notable waterfalls, Senaru Village, bayan village & the village of batu koq about one km to the north, almost merges as one with Senaru these days.
culture
The area around senaru was the birth place of Lombok's unique wetu telu belief system ancient animistpractices combined with Islam. Wetu telu is traditional religion of sasak people of Lombok,now the religion is center around bayan area close to senaru, although it used to be widespread all over Lombok. it is a syncretic from islam which incorporates both Hindu and indigenous anismist beliefs, Followers of Wetu Telu do not pray five times a day and some observe just three days of fasting during ramadhan.
Traditional village senaru
Drive up to eastern side ending road a place for regestration before trekking Rinjani, around you will find traditional house named senaru village, a group ( family ) with same motif house.
Old mosque
Serround senaru, around 2 km you will find old mosque,located in bayan beleq.architecture by bamboo material
Waterfall Sindang gila
The best known and most spectacular of the three. The water cascades everywhere here breaking some 50 m above the main arrival point. From Senaru village walk about 20 minutes to the southeast. The path is pleasant and leads through some splendid tropical forest.
waterfall Tiu Kelep
Less spectaculer but still very much worth it, continue on uphill from waterfall sendang gila about 40-1 hours ( depend on your fittness this will involve a steep uphill climb & creek crossing others onstacle, Tiu Kelep has a nice bathing pool below the falls with very cool invosgatoring water
Guide trip to waterfall
Access to the primary waterfall of Sendang Gila is by way of an established pathway and steps and requires no special skills or knowledge as this pathway leads directly and quite unambiguously to the primary waterfall destination. The fixed price entrance fee is posted at the ticket booth at the top of the steps leading down to the waterfall site. If unsuccessful in gaining direct payment from a visitor the local touts and informal guides often demand a payment from the driver or guide who brought the visitor to the site.
The extraction of this payment may be done in a manner that is not immediately apparent to the visitor. Some of the accompanying guides and drivers who escort visitors to the Senaru area may explain this to the visitor, others may not. A reputable and suitably experienced guide is recommended to walk to the second waterfall. The use of a local guide is not required as most of the established and reputable Lombok tourism guides who take visitors to Senaru know this area well. It is essential to have a guide for Tiu Kelep as this third and more distant waterfall has a requirement for suitable climbing skills.