October 25-28
The Gili Islands. Three small islands between the islands of Bali and Lombok in Indonesia. A three hour fast boat ride from Bali, and only a 30 minute slow boat ride to Lombok. Sounds good.
Lena, my couch surfing host, and I decided to go to the Gili’s together for a short vacay. We booked our tickets the night before we left…keeping with my last minute nature of course. We were picked up at 6:30am, which wasn’t a problem for me since the chickens had been waking me at 5am every morning anyway. It was a one hour drive to Padangbai, the harbour we departed from.
The boat took between 2 and 3 hours to get to Gili Trawangan. We all got off the boat and waited for our bags to be thrown off the boat. We were starving and decided to nourish ourselves before scouring the island for a cheap place to stay. We didn’t walk far before we found a quiet place to rest and reenergize. We were accompanied by some adorable kittens as well, which is always welcomed company for me.
Once we were rejuvenated and ready to go, we bartered a price to rent 2 bicycles for 2 days. Riding almost half way around the island we found only one place that met our budget…but it did not meet my cleanliness requirements. So we returned to the main part of the island and ran into a man on a bicycle who said he had a room for 140,000 rupiah(including breakfast)…split in half meant it met our budget…so we had a look. It was beautiful. He and his wife have four rooms, each very spacious, white, light, and clean. As soon as we saw it we said “yes!”. So Rumah Kundun was to be our home for the next four days.
While Lena had a rest, I went exploring by foot. While looking at some handmade bracelets, two girls walked up to check them out as well. I looked up and saw Cinthia, a girl I had spoken to for about 5 minutes in Ubud a few days prior. She had met, Kirstin, a girl from England on the boat ride over to the Gili’s. We joined forces to do some exploring before deciding to stop for some delicious snacks to tide us over until dinner time.
I went back to shower, get dressed for the evening, and wake Lena from her rest. We spent the evening having a lovely Indonesian meal, and chatting about anything and everything. We planned to meet the next morning and ride bikes around the island…which, we were told would take no longer than an hour. So after having delicious banana pancakes and some fresh fruit for breakfast we met the girls. It was a beautiful day, but rather humid for an afternoon of bike riding. The somewhat paved road didn’t last for long and soon turned into compacted sand, and then loose sand. We had to start walking our bicycles, thereby no longer producing the breeze that was keeping us alive under the full rays of the sun. After far too long walking our bikes, and not knowing how much further this loose sand would last we cut down a road that would lead us back to the main strip. Parched from the trip we stopped at a spot on the beach that was quiet, and had bamboo huts to shield us from the sun. They served delicious fruit shakes and ice cream to satisfy everyone’s needs. The day ended with another fabulous dinner and a giant strawberry daquiri and live reggae music at a Reggae Bar called ‘Sama Sama’, meaning ‘you’re welcome’ in Bahasa.
The next day was spent doing much of the same thing as the previous day minus the bikes…we went to the beach, read, swam, napped, read, ate, and repeat. We did however make a plan for the following day to go snorkeling. Being very productive.
We met at 11am to get on a boat and go to Gili Air, and Gili Meno for some amazing snorkeling. The sky was clear and blue. The ocean was clear and blue. The fish were colourful. The coral was colourful(what wasn’t dead from stupid tourists touching it). The water was so warm and inviting.
We saw 3 turtles, tons of fish, beautiful coral, and sun beaming through crystal clear water.
We stopped on Gili Meno for lunch and then continued on for a little more snorkeling before heading back to Gili Trawangan.
The next day was spent relaxing on the beach, reading, writing, and swimming. Kirstin and I planned to go to Lombok for a quick look around, and our friends Vian, and Herman offered to come with us and show us around. So the next morning we all waited for the boat to go across to Bangsal, Lombok. We stayed for only two days, giving us only a small taste of what the gorgeous island had to offer.
Kirstin and I head back to Gili Trawangan for another few days of relaxing in the sun. When Kirstin left I teamed up with 3 other girls, Anna, Sarah, and Val. We rented bicycles and did the tricky ride around the island again, this time being attacked by the biggest rain storm I had seen since the flooding of the main street in Ubud. To escape the rain we ran to a small hut that acted as a bar to anyone who ventured out there to see the sunset. A local guy was twirling balls around and then when it grew dark he lit them on fire. We hadn’t even realized at this point that the rain had already stopped.
The evenings were spent watching sunsets, eating delicious food, and dancing until bed time. The days were spent relaxing. It was a glorious few days and a very welcomed chilling time before continuing with the rest of my journey.
My word for Gili Trawangan: power…because allowed myself to relax, to slow down, to enjoy, to indulge in the food, to follow my heart, and to just be.
