Indulging in Gilli Trawangan

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We are now back home in the U.S., so this will be the last travel blog. We had to post pics of the last place that we visited because it was just so fun. We went to Gili Trawangan which is an island known for its party scene in Indonesia. We decided to treat these final ten days of our trip as vacationers rather than backpackers and indulged. That meant staying put in one place and staying put in nice hotels that cost about 50-80 US dollars per night. Delicious meals could still be had for 2-5 US dollars though. And while most of the island caters to the tourists--and enjoys catering to the tourists--we had some of the best local food of our entire trip at this one place at the corner of the art square. The pumpkin currry was my favorite, but ask for everything, and she'll pile your plate with about 8 different dishes.

Why am I talking about the food and hotels though? It's what you do there that's so great. While the beaches aren't the widest and the currents will take you to Never-Never land, it's a fun place to swim and snorkel and dive. We would put on masks, no fins, and let the current move us along the island, looking at all the turtles and fish, feeling as if we were on some Disney ride. But the most fun is night time. Every other night a bar takes its turn at hosting the party which goes until about five. And magic mushrooms are on the menus. We met some great folks and just danced in the streets with them. (Well, Andy and I mostly did the random street dancing; Adam cheered us on--but he did do his fair share of butt-wiggling, too.)


For anyone who might be traveling there, we would NOT recommend the slow boat even though it saves about 30 US dollars a person. The slow boat from Padangbai took about 12 hours and a lot of that time was standing around like cows wondering where and when we would be moving next. We had thought the fast boat, which is two hours, was the only other option, but we later found out there is a middle option, the not-so-fast-boat, that takes about 4 hours and has sand on the deck where you can work on that tan. That sounds like the ideal choice as the fast boat drenched a lot of people and was a bit weird in that you don’t actually see the sea, but are crammed down below and also feel like those aforementioned cows. Also, I posted a few photos of the hotel, Scallywags, that we stayed in for anyone who might be going there and interested to see what it was like. This place cost about 80 US plus tax. Anyway, if you are at all near this island and want to have some fun, go there. Right now it's not overrun or overdeveloped, but just a beautiful spot that's all about making it easy on you.

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Photos

Sun Setting Outside of Gilli Trawangan
Beautiful sunsets here every night.

Charlotte, Adam, Malin, Andy, and Karina
We met some of the best people here.

En Route to Gilli Trawangan
This parade of sorts made the road difficult to drive through, but who cared.

Another En Route to the Gillis
The landscape in Bali was beautiful. I took this through a moving bus window, so you can imagine how much prettier it is.

Charlotte and Andy Dancing Like the Other
So, the goal here was to imitate each other's moves. I think we just look like some bad Bangles video from the 80s.

Crew for One NIght
For one of the nights, we made up our own party and wandered from place to place with these guys.

Along the Main Street in Gilli Trawangan
Excuse how I look here since I just had woken up, but this is off the main street in Gilli T. All the bars and restaurants are situated along here and look out to the sea--as you can see.

Watching a Movie on the Beach
This place is brilliant. You can either watch movies every night here or rent little cabanas with a private TV and DVD or Playstations. Playstations were also fun.