Gone To Gili
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On Thursday, we caught a ride to Pandang Bai where we negotiated a fare to Gili Trawangan, one of the three tiny Gili Islands off the coast of Lombok, Indonesia. As you’ve probably figured out, there are very few set prices in Indonesia and the speedboats operate with the traditional, free-spirited Bali attitude. The docks are flooded with passengers, all with tickets to different boats set to arrive at 9 a.m. The boats arrive every few minutes for the next hour or so and passengers and luggage are shoved onto them while vendors hawk Pringles and Bintangs, often from the dock onto the boats. Once on the boat, you bump your way about an hour and a half wondering if the life vests jammed into compartments on the ceiling are enough for the passengers, especially since there aren’t seats for every passenger. At least we aren’t in Titanic temperature water and Jay and I had our scuba masks and snorkels. This was my thought process. This boat is not recommended for people with motion sickness, but worth every moment of what waits on the other side.
We stepped off the boat into the water and our luggage was thrown over the side to us. We walked up onto the dock into another new world. The Gilis have no cars and no motorbikes. You can walk. You can bicycle (through sandy, unpaved paths). You can take a horse carriage. Yes. As in an 1800's cart attached to a horse that flies down the dirt roads and makes you cling for dear life to the cart and pray an axle doesn’t break. I haven’t cared about an axle since I played Oregon Trail in middle school.
But it all works beautifully.
DOCK SALES
Speed Racer
colorful even on a cloudy day
Our beautiful Gili T Home: Pandawa Resort and Villas
POOLSIDE PEACE AT PANDAWA
KING OF THE POOL
Gili T (as Trawangan is nicknamed) is the most social of the three Gili Islands and the largest, though you can walk the perimeter two hours. The magic, mayhem horse carriages could probably fly you around in 40 minutes. It’s one of the quaintest, most charming places I’ve ever been.
The colors of the water and the sky seem impossible; no matter how beautiful the photographs, the reality is ten times more vivid and awe-inspiring. The beaches are lined with swings in the water, so you can enjoy the cool water on your feet as you watch the sun slip into the horizon. There’s a childlike simplicity in the swings and the colorful umbrellas and beanbags, the bells that jingle from the horse carts, and the bicycle bells dinging. Lanterns light up the night and restaurants have live music and amazing barbeque filling the air. Laughter and music and joy are everywhere. It’s hard to put into words. The island is intoxicating.
