Gili Trawangan

Jukung

Originally, the plan was to take a jukung (small fishing boat) from Amed on the mainland, across the Lombok Straight to the Gili Islands. However, after speaking with the locals, they informed us that that was an impossible task. The seas had become treacherous and we wouldn’t have found any captain to take us for the 3-hour journey into the open ocean. Although it would have been fun, we weren’t too keen on the idea of having our having our backpacks and all our belongings soaked by the time we got there. So the only other option we had was the fast boat. It left at 9am and we got there in an hour. It was fairly choppy along one of the deepest straights in the world and we definitely realized why a jukung would have been an epic fail of a decision if we’d gone that route.

View of Gili Meno from Gili Trawangan 

The Gili Islands are made up of 3 oval shaped islands off the east coast of Lombok: Gili Air, Gili Meno, and Gili Trawangan (or Gili T). Air and Meno are smaller islands and a lot less developed compared to Gili Trawangan. Don’t get me wrong, the island is still small… about 3km long and 2km wide. Heather and I ran around half the island in about 35 minutes one day. There’s one main road that links the entire east coast of the island and all it bungalows, restaurants, pubs, and backpackers. It’s month 3 of me backpacking so I've been through the ropes with the whole looking for a place to stay bit. Heather safeguarded our bags at a café while I went into every bungalow looking for the right one for the right price. I end up finding a steal of a bungalow that overlooked the water for 180,000 rupiah, or about $18 a night. They originally wanted 250,000 but I bargained it down, given the fact I have a cute smile and they were completely vacant at the time. Shannon – 1 point.

Bungalow party!

The first thing you notice when you get to the Gili’s is how much hotter it is there. Like suffocatingly hot which brings me to my only complaint about staying on the island. Our bungalow has no AC and the fan on the ceiling is sh!t, so I make a special request to the manager and get him to give us an extra fan so we could at least sleep comfortably. Thank god for it cause we couldn’t have gone through 4 days of heat exhaustion and insomnia. So once we settled in, we got some lunch down by the water. Then we laid out on the beach and soaked up the beautiful sun. Absolute paradise!

Prior to Gili T, I was convinced the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia were the most spectacular island I've ever been to… that is until I got to Gili T. The scenery and the color of the water looks like it’s out of a cartoon. The vibrant blues of the ocean contrasts the white sand. Breathe taking. Not to mention there is a reef and a drop off right off of the island, which makes for the best snorkeling I've ever seen in my entire life. Better then Thailand, Bahamas, Hawaii, Malaysia, anywhere. True story.

Turtle dude!!

Too many cocktails? Maybe.... 

So Gili T isn’t just known for its amazing beaches, no cars, and no dogs, but it’s also famous for its amazing nightlife. Gili T is THE party island. It’s been a backpackers/hippie haven for the past couple decades and now has a host of different bars rotating weekly drink specials. Tonight was Irish pub night and it was crazy! The entire island was there drinking and dancing. We of course had a blasty blast meeting more people from all over the world i.e. French, Brazilians, and Canadians. And I’m sure you’ll never guess what time we got back to our bungalow?... Answer – 4am of course!

Heather and I were both suffering from a case of the struggles the next morning. Ouchy hungover… so mission #1 is recover. Breakfast at our bungalow is served until 11am, which is completely reasonable time for most people… but not for us. We get out of bed at 11:30am and beg the managers to give us breakfast, which they thankfully oblige. Yippee! We had a banana jaffle (something we definitely don’t have in the states – it’s a pressed filled sandwich kinda like a panini) and a banana juice to boot. We alternated between the banana jaffle and the banana pancake each morning, which always put us in a good mood.

Heather is stoked for her banana pancake breakfast! 

Delicious fishies!

It was a partially cloudy day – the only one we had while we were there – but we managed to have a pretty epic snorkeling adventure. We rented snorkeling gear for $2 for the whole day and did 2 killer sessions. As mentioned before, it was absolutely unbelievable. We saw 5 turtles, cuttlefish, an octopus, stingrays, eels, and of course plenty of diverse and colorful fishies. At the end of the day, we had an amazing seafood dinner as we were craving it after watching them swim about all day.

The original crew winks to you. Respect! 

The next day was a pretty typical Heather and Shannon beach day. After having a nice breakfast, we begun our beach regimen of TSD. We also managed to meet back up with Pete and Sophie. They stayed at our bungalow, as per our recommendation so it was always easy to hang out. It was great to catch up with them again. We always have a blast with those two. We told them about our time in Ubud, Candidasa, and Amed.

Being Friday night, I’m sure you can already predict what kind of shenanigans we got into.  After enjoying dinner with the original gangster crew (Pete, Sophie, Heather, and me), we hit up Rudy’s for some drinks. We were all having a great time and attempting to dance but within 2 seconds of moving, you become drenched in sweat from the heat and overcrowding of the bar. So the dancing didn’t last long…. But the night was fabulous!

Ya, this is really a place on Earth. Come here. 

Dusk over Gili T

Despite drinking the night before, Heather woke up early to go scuba diving at shark point. I of course slept in while she did her thing. That afternoon we hung out with Pete and Sophie until beer o’clock. We took advantage of the killer happy hour specials for 2 for 1 and ended up getting a pretty good midday drunk. Cha-ching!

Sunrise over Lombok

Our last night was the best. The crew had dinner and drinks together again. And though Pete and Sophie went to bed late, we stayed up to watch the sunrise over Lombok. I’m not a morning person and I rarely stay up late enough to watch the sunrise so I haven’t seen many of them, but this one was the best! So beautiful and peaceful. The fisherman were getting ready for the days catches while we stumbled home in the morning sunshine. Only 1 hour of sleep until we have to catch a boat back to Bali’s mainland…. Great… but totally worth it!