Days 5-7
My first weekend here in Bali! Almost our entire group decided to head over to Gili Trawangan island off the coast of Lombok. There are three gili islands. Gili T, Gili Air, and Gili Meno. Gili Meno and Air are more quiet and less touristy where as Gili T is known as the party island. In order to get there, you must catch a fast boat from the Padang Bai harbor on the south east side of Bali. So we caught a bus there and headed to the harbor. Once we arrived to the harbor, backpackers flooded the beach. Everyone was barefoot, tan, and had dread locks. It was definitely a grunge hippie scene. On the boat we climbed up to the top and headed off to Gili. On the way we drank some Bintangs and listened to loud party music as we sailed past beautiful small islands growing out of the water. Some of the islands we passed had tiny houses on them. What a way to live! Once we got off the boat it was madness. People were all over the beach waiting for their boats to other islands. We grabbed our backpacks and pushed our way to the main street, which was just a dirt and pot hole ridden path. Little cafes and shops lined the street as well as bikes and horses. Oh yeah, the Gili islands have no motor vehicles on them so transportation is by bike or horse and carriage. The streets flooded with sounds of bike bells and horse hoofs hitting the street. I felt so bad for the poor horses pulling us behind. I tried not to look at them working all day but it was a very unique experience so I took it in as much as I could without feeling too sad. We stayed on the north end of the island away from the clubs and bars. So it was about a 30 minute walk whenever we wanted to go out for dinner or to party a bit. On the walk there, along the west side of the island we’re a bunch of little shacks in one strip all listening to reggae and asking if we wanted to do drugs with them. It was quite funny each time we passed they would tell us to just be happy and have a good time... don’t worry Mom I just kept walking! Our hotel was a small bungalow home right off the beach. When we arrived we had just enough time to drop our stuff and run to the beach for sunset. The colors in the sky reflected off of the water in pinks, oranges and blues all dancing on top of the water. In the distance we could see a huge volcano on a neighboring island. I’ve never seen a sunset like this. It’s one of those things that a picture can’t capture so you just hope to hold onto the scene in your head forever. The next day we hired a local to take some of us out on his boat for a two hour snorkeling trip around the three islands. We drank beers and listened to music as we stopped off at different points around the Gili’s. My favorite was seeing the romance statues under the water. Life size statues of a man caressing a woman all faced inward in a circle while statues of women lay in the middle. It was intense to see such a huge form under the water. It completely took my breath away. The weekend was filled with a lot of laughter, dancing, and long bike strolls. It was a very fast paced weekend and quite an exhausting one. Thank you Gili!! Â