Gili Trawangan. What can I say about this place? If you haven't been - GO. On second thoughts, don't. I shouldn't even be writing this - who in their right mind would want to give such a secret away? But the truth is, I can't help myself. I need to share it. I am, well and truly, besotted by this breath-taking bit of paradise.
Gili Trawangan is just off the western coast of Lombok, and can easily be reached by a half hour boat ride from there. We took the choice to fly to Lombok rather than take the ferry (I was on holiday this time so did not need to endure the slums of the backpacking world, thank god). Arriving at the airport in Bali that morning, we were informed (in true Indonesian style) that the flight that we had booked was, indeed, cancelled. Hmmm. Great, we thought. No problem, the informer said brightly, we will schedule another flight for later and put you on that one. Several hours and a painful but invigorating massage later (had to pass the time in domestic departures somehow!) we finally boarded the plane, and arrived in Bali around 3.30pm after a pleasant 30 minute flight (cabin door swinging open all the way) and a complimentary chocolate wagon wheel (not bad for 270,000rp one way).
After negotiating a price with a driver at the airport who said he had a big car to fit the 5 of us in, we headed out to the car park. We had paid 400,000rp for all of us to get to the harbour at Bangsal (about an hours drive) and get the boat across to the island, which wasn't too bad. When we saw the car, we realized that it wasn't actually that big at all. In fact, my Aunt had to sit between all the backpacks in the boot. How I love Indonesia when these things happen!
The driver actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise as he had a fisherman friend that lived just outside Bangsal, who could take us over to the island in his little boat. This meant missing out on all of the terrible hawkers that pester people at Bangsal harbour, which (recalling past trips from there) was a great relief. We sailed over quite a calm sea as the sun went down, and jumped off with our backpacks onto the white sand.
Like I said, being on holiday rather than on a backpacking trip has its advantages. Last year, when on a tight budget, Gemma and I had stayed in rather... modest accommodation. This time, we could all afford to splash out a bit more. For 200,000rp a night for a room we all stayed at the Irish Bar, Tir na Nog, in rather plush bunglows with air con, hot water and a tasty breakfast (served til 12 - perfect). After one night of air conditioning though, Gemma and I woke up freezing cold with snotty noses, so asked for a fan instead. Reception gave us one free of charge - much better (I guess we are truly backpackers at heart).
Gili Trawangan has no car or motorbikes, just cimodos (pony carts) and push bikes. It is so refreshing to walk around with no pollution or danger of being run over! We all rented bikes on the first morning after breakfast (25,000rp a day) and cycled along to the best snorkeling beach (only 5 minutes away, slightly north of the central strip). The snorkeling off this stretch of beach is fantastic - just imagine being in the little mermaid, or if you haven't seen the film, being trapped in an aquarium tank. Beautiful colours just surround you. The current here though is strong so you must walk up to the far end of the beach and let the current bring you back to the other end as you snorkel.
For the first time on this trip, I ventured across to one of the other Gilis (there are 3 islands in total - Trawangan, the biggest ands furthest from Lombok, Meno, and Air). We chartered a fishing boat between the 5 of us and sailed the short jouney across the water to Gili Meno. What a deserted place. We didn't see another westerner the whole afternoon that we spent there. What a secluded place. What a place to relax! In some places it was really quite sad, as lots of hotels seem to have been deserted. One big resort had a massive pool out the front, filled with green murky water. It was like a ghost town in parts, which must be due to the recent downturn in tourists. Gili Trawangan is the busiest island and it is very quiet, so the other Gilis must have bene hit even harder. Still, the island has a few little restaurants and bungalows that are really quite lovely and quaint. We relaxed at one place on the cushions and in the hammocks, and looked out across the sea at Trawangan. What a beautiful view of white sand and turquoise water. We also rented a snorkel and mask to try to see some of the famous turtles that swim around Meno, but it was low tide and the sharp coral meant getting into the water was impossible, so we gave up.
The fisherman picked us up at 3:30pm and brought us back. We arranged with him to go on a snorkeling trip the next day on his boat (250,000rp for all of us for a few hours), so that we could definitely see the turtles. This turned out to be a great trip - we snorkeled at four different spots, and at one spot the fisherman got in with us. The current was strong but he swam faster than all of us (and he was the only one with no fins). He led the way and pointed out turtles immediately. The swam up to the surface for air as we watched them... it was amazing to see.
Another day, we did some dives. I had dived here last year and really enjoyed it. We dived with Manta Dive, who are a really good dive company with good equipment and very competent instructors. It costs $45US to do 2 dives. In the morning we dived at Shark Point, where we lots of brightly coloured fish, turtles, and the most amazing school of devil rays... about 30 of them, all swimming together in a massive group above us like slow-motion bats. Wow. That has to be one of the most stunning things I have ever seen. If I hadn't have had to keep breathing through my regulator, it would have taken my breath away. The dive instructors were all pretty excited too when we came up. In the afternoon we dived at Manta Point, where we saw more turtles and some white tipped reef sharks about 1.5 - 2 metres in length, which was great too.
What else? Well, the parties of course. You can't go to Gili Trawangan without going to a party - it is what the island is famous for. The parties are held every couple of days at various bars and dive centres. The Monday night parties at Dream Divers (from my experience) usually turn out to be the best of the week (luckly that not many people know me over there as I did end up dancing on the bar for an hour or so!), but we also went to another couple of good ones at Rudy's Bar and the Irish Bar (would be rude not to go to a party being held at your own hotel!). Although the island was quiet, the parties were still quite busy - a mixture of old and young, of people drunk on arak and spaced out on magic mushrooms, and always good fun!
Inbetween all this, we lazed around on cushions a lot. This is what life on Trawangan is like. Time just stops. There are no police on the island, but there is also no crime. It is such a friendly place - you will be here two days and every barman will know your name. In no time, the place feels like home, and you just don't want to leave.
But in the end, after a week, we had to catch the flight that we had booked back to Bali. As we caught the boat back to Lombok (all hungover) and looked back at the lovely little bit of paradise that we had just left, we all felt a bit sad.
We drove to the airport in another rather small car (yes, you guessed it, someone squashed between the bags in the boot again). When we tried to check in we were informed (yes, you guessed it again) that - surprise surprise!! - the plane had been cancelled. But luckily, they could get us onto a later flight. Luckily we didn't have to wait as long as on the outward journey, and we were back in Bali within a couple of hours.
We could not believe that the trip was going so quickly. Already two weeks gone. But we still had another week or so left. After a couple of days of rest (and another England win - more arak to celebrate!) we decided to head to East Bali - a place that I had never ventured to on previous trips. I was looking forward to seeing this bit of Bali immensely.
To be continued...