GILI TRAWANGAN, LOMBOK, INDONESIA
We were only supposed to be in Bali for a week, but Indonesia is a fascinating place, and Chris and I thought it would be cool to see a little more of it. Turns out it doesn't cost us anything to change our ticket, so we've decided to extend our stay for another two weeks, and take a couple of side trips.
Our first destination is the Gili Islands (which is a little redundant, since gili just means 'island' in Indonesian), three small coral cays off the northeast coast of Lombok, the island to the east of Bali in the Indonesian archipelago. The Gilis--Gili Air, Gili Meno, and Gili Trawangan--have been described as "Bali without the crowds," which after a few days in Kuta is an appealing option.
Getting there from Bali is cheap (about US$30 round-trip!), but it involves a 12-hour journey across sea and land. We began this morning at 6:15, when a minivan picked us up from our hotel and took us to the east coast of Bali and the port of Padangbai. It's a picturesque little tropical harbor, and apparently a nice place to stay, too, although we just had time for breakfast at a local restaurant before we had to board the ferry to Lombok. The ferry ride across the Lombok Strait took around four hours, but was pretty relaxing once the hawkers left the boat and we motored out of the harbor. The seas were very light, almost smooth in places, and we had some great views of the high volcanic peaks of Bali and Lombok, and crystal-clear blue water below. At one point our boat cut right through a large pod of dolphins, which didn't seem to notice the boat at all as they swam off to wherever they were headed.
We arrived in Lombok at the port of Lembar, where we boarded another minivan that would take us north to Bangsal. On the way there, we drove up winding roads into the mountains, and through another monkey forest--here the monkeys were just sitting on the barriers at the side of the road, watching all the vehicles pass. An Italian woman in our van had brought a bunch of bananas to snack on, but ended up tossing a lot of them out the window for the monkeys to catch. Which they did pretty expertly, so maybe that's why they hang out on the side of the road in the first place! It was pretty amusing.
At Bangsal we had to wait for another busload of passengers before getting in a small open boat that would take us to our final destination, Gili Trawangan, the island farthest from the mainland of Lombok. Unfortunately, sitting around for a half-hour meant having to run a gauntlet of local boys trying to sell us stuff, including necklaces and unnecessary protection from mosquitoes ("You need mosquito coil for malaria--really expensive there!"--which is not true!) We could see all three islands from shore, which made the wait even more frustrating.
We finally made it to Gili T. just as it was getting dark, and after looking at a few places, settled on a bungalow behind Rudy's Bar (every establishment here seems to multitask as a bar, restaurant, hotel, and sometimes dive shop).
Oh, guess what: The Canadians are here, too! A full day's journey away, and we had no idea they'd be here. Pretty funny.
People met today:
We were only supposed to be in Bali for a week, but Indonesia is a fascinating place, and Chris and I thought it would be cool to see a little more of it. Turns out it doesn't cost us anything to change our ticket, so we've decided to extend our stay for another two weeks, and take a couple of side trips.
Our first destination is the Gili Islands (which is a little redundant, since gili just means 'island' in Indonesian), three small coral cays off the northeast coast of Lombok, the island to the east of Bali in the Indonesian archipelago. The Gilis--Gili Air, Gili Meno, and Gili Trawangan--have been described as "Bali without the crowds," which after a few days in Kuta is an appealing option.
Getting there from Bali is cheap (about US$30 round-trip!), but it involves a 12-hour journey across sea and land. We began this morning at 6:15, when a minivan picked us up from our hotel and took us to the east coast of Bali and the port of Padangbai. It's a picturesque little tropical harbor, and apparently a nice place to stay, too, although we just had time for breakfast at a local restaurant before we had to board the ferry to Lombok. The ferry ride across the Lombok Strait took around four hours, but was pretty relaxing once the hawkers left the boat and we motored out of the harbor. The seas were very light, almost smooth in places, and we had some great views of the high volcanic peaks of Bali and Lombok, and crystal-clear blue water below. At one point our boat cut right through a large pod of dolphins, which didn't seem to notice the boat at all as they swam off to wherever they were headed.
We arrived in Lombok at the port of Lembar, where we boarded another minivan that would take us north to Bangsal. On the way there, we drove up winding roads into the mountains, and through another monkey forest--here the monkeys were just sitting on the barriers at the side of the road, watching all the vehicles pass. An Italian woman in our van had brought a bunch of bananas to snack on, but ended up tossing a lot of them out the window for the monkeys to catch. Which they did pretty expertly, so maybe that's why they hang out on the side of the road in the first place! It was pretty amusing.
At Bangsal we had to wait for another busload of passengers before getting in a small open boat that would take us to our final destination, Gili Trawangan, the island farthest from the mainland of Lombok. Unfortunately, sitting around for a half-hour meant having to run a gauntlet of local boys trying to sell us stuff, including necklaces and unnecessary protection from mosquitoes ("You need mosquito coil for malaria--really expensive there!"--which is not true!) We could see all three islands from shore, which made the wait even more frustrating.
We finally made it to Gili T. just as it was getting dark, and after looking at a few places, settled on a bungalow behind Rudy's Bar (every establishment here seems to multitask as a bar, restaurant, hotel, and sometimes dive shop).
Oh, guess what: The Canadians are here, too! A full day's journey away, and we had no idea they'd be here. Pretty funny.
People met today:
- Patrick, a really nice, talkative guy originally from South Africa, who now lives in London. We met him on the ferry from Padangbai to Lembar. He's been traveling throughout Southeast Asia, and gave Chris a lot of information about what to expect in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. He's thinking of climbing Lombok's big volcano, but is considering heading to the Gilis to relax for awhile first.
posted by John Kuge at 9:04 PM
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