IT’S one of the great mysteries of travel in Indonesia why more people don’t visit the islands east of Bali. Known as Nusatenggara, “the southeastern islands,” these fabled lands begin just across the Lombok Strait, which is easily traversable from Bali by ferry or on a surpassingly beautiful 20-minute flight.

For Bali’s easterly sister island, I chose an approach by sea which always promises more of the unexpected.