About Gili Trawangan

As promised in my previous post, I wanted to write about my time in Gili Trawangan. Manc C and I spent three nights on the biggest and most popular of the Gili Islands. Gili 'T' is a popular stop for travellers, revellers and weekenders from  Jakarta and Singapore. It is very much the party island teaming with bars playing reggae music, pubs, cafes and seafood restaurants catering to Western tastes but also have some Indonesian dishes thrown in. Our housemate Withnail spent a week with his family and plans to build a hostel  there in two years. We were intrigued to see what the hoopla is about this waterless paradise - seriously there is no fresh water on the island.

Gili T is also renowned for its scuba diving and snorkelling. You did not need walk less than ten feet without seeing guys renting snorkelling gear or a dive school here. Manc C is a qualified scuba instructor so she made sure she got a few dives in. As for me, neither snorkelling nor diving  are my thing so I figure I would just chill by the beach and top up on my tan (I look like a Chocolate Creme Oreo as we speak).

The journey began with an evening flight from Jakarta International Airport to Bandara International Airport in Praya, Lombok. The journey lasted for an hour and we disembarked to collect our bags then we had the tricky situation of getting to our hotel. I am always wary of getting rides from taxis at airports because they literally take you for a ride where the price is concerned. We bargained the dude down to 75,000 rph to take us to the hotel which was about 45 minutes from the airport. Wire (pronounce wee-rah) and his driver offered us a ride to Bangsal Harbour in the morning, so we could get a boat across the Gili Trawangan (WIN!) We got to our hotel, Aerotel Mandalika where we given complementary juice and a cake. 

In the morning, we had a breakfast meal of Nasi Goreng, toast and fruit. At 11, we were picked by Wire and a new driver named Joe. Wire actually works for Lombok Tourism so he gave us the history of Lombok and places to see and things to do in Lombok. The journey was going to be a long one as Bangsal is a couple of hours away from where we were staying. Since we did not reserve a place on a fast boat, we gave Wire the OK to take us to a Sasak clothing factory. We saw women making traditional Sasak clothing like sarongs and blankets.

We did our bit too!

We had a look around bought a small Sasak cloth that would go well in my room. Satisfied with our purchases, we were on our way again but we had to stop in Monkey Forest to see monkeys and take some photos.

These monkeys were tame.

With our very willing guide Wire

The terrain in Lombok is so beautiful.

 After that, we made our way to Bangsal Harbour where we had to wait a little while for the next public boat. The single trip cost 10,000 each and believe me when I say you get what you pay for. The boat was not crowded but it was not comfortable. The ride over to Gili T passed with no incident and we disembarked off Gili Harbour. I arranged for us to be met by someone who worked at our accommodation, The Welcome Inn . Rhon waited for us for over half an hour and kindly collected our bags and took us to our temporary abode.

 The Welcome Inn is literally five minutes from the beach so we eagerly we changed into our bikinis and headed out to see more of this tiny island. We stopped off at a cute cafe because C needed her caffeine fix and then headed along the miles of upon miles of beautiful sandy beach. We stopped for a moment to sunbathe and take in the view of Lombok and the beach. We carried along until we found this cocktail bar on the beach, we could not help ourselves in indulging our first cocktail on the beach and take in the sunset.

Our time in Gili T was marked by sunbathing, having a swim on the beach, getting pampered at spas (me), scuba diving, (C), drinking our weight in cocktails and smoothies and eating a ton of good food (both of us). This trip was exactly what the doctor ordered. It was a relief to be taking in fresh air and not hear a car or motorbike revving up and down the road. This was pure bliss in comparison to Jakarta with the smog , pollution and altogether negative vibe, this brought some peace to my mind.

Nasi Campur

As we concluded our stay in Gili T, C and I agreed that this place is doable for the most three nights because  apart from diving and snorkelling there is not much to do or see. On a side note, the Gili Islands have no police so a lot of the travellers we saw were openly smoking weed and no one batted eyelid, so if you are not comfortable seeing people openly taking recreational drugs then this place is not for you! I did enjoy my stay in Gili T and would like to return to probably do some snorkelling or heck maybe enrol at a diving school.

We left Gili T Monday afternoon to do the second half our holiday in South Lombok. To be concluded!