Gili T - time to say good bye

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Good Morning boys and girls. Today we will be talking about Gili Trawangan. Where we left off last time, Nepal, feels like an eternity and a half ago. I actually got quite a lot of feedback from the EBC blog and I hope I can inspire a few of my loyal readers to visit Gili Trawangan, or just Gili for short.

After eventually leaving Kathmandu (the flight was delayed for about 4 hours) I changed flights in Delhi, fully aware that my flight hadnt left yet. The airport customs quickly shuffled us through a motza of waiting queues only to leave us in another large customs queue. Now practically all of the people in this queue were trying to catch connecting flights that were also waiting for them, so more than a few arguments started as a result of very rude line pusher-in-erers (myself being no exception to pushing in and starting an argument about pushing in). Why the airport security wanted to scan our luggage again when we have never left a secure area is beyond me, but then again, I tend to understand very little of how an Indian's mind works. I arrived, on the correct flight, in Bangkok, in what must be termed the best shape of my life. All the Dal Bhat and Vegetable Lasagne from the previous weeks had slimmed me down to the same weight I was at 17! Aware of my new found appeal, I spent the next 4 days in Bangkok systematically destroying my hard work by eating and drinking as much western food and drink as I could find. KFC had never tasted soooo good. I eventually booked the next available flight to Bali (carrying another couple of kilos around the waist) and was back on the road once more.

Flying into Bali is something everyone should experience at least once. Looking out of the window is a festival for the eyes. Hordes of beautiful Islands, crystal clear blue waters, palm trees and to top it off, you follow the surf break into the runway... the worlds largest surf board being thrown onto land by the 2 meter plus surf. Time for some surfing, exploring and new culture??? Nah, bollocks to that. It had always been my intention to come to Indonesia at the end of my 8 month trip. I left myself a good 2 months to explore the worlds largest archipelago but after all the crap associated with Vietnam, Laos, India etc. I just wanted to put my bag down somewhere for a month or so without moving more than a kilometer at a time. Getting off the plane, it dawned on me that I had absolutely no idea where I wanted to go in Bali, so consulting the trusty 2007 lonely planet, I decided Kuta was worth a look and passed the info onto the curious taxi driver... seriously, how often do you get into a Taxi without knowing your destination? After my first night in Kuta, I decided that was enough of that and booked a ticket to Padang Bai where I spent a rather dull night and got the early boat to Gili Trawangan.

Gili T is a place I have wanted to visit for about 5 years now. Not actually part of Bali, the Gilis are 3 small islands off the coast of Lombok, about 80 minutes away by the super-duper fast ferries that everyone in Kuta wants to sell you. (Travellers note: never pay full price for the fast boats. If you pay more than 50%, around $30 one way, you're a sucker. I got them down to about $45 return). As the boat pulled into its sandy berth, I saw similarities to the Greek and Fijian islands of travels past. As usual, one must run the gauntlet of people selling accomadation (often before you had even got off the boat) but several firm "no thanks" were enough to see me walking up what the islanders describe as a road. In what is an exceptionally inspired choice, no motorised transport is allowed on the islands, so donkey carts and bicycles share the road with the pedestrians. Eventually allowing myself to follow one of the locals to their homestay, I checked into Cemos where I (or at least my bag) spent the next 13 nights. The room itself was perfectly satisfactory. The water from the salt water shower never fully went down the drain, the fan scared the mosquitos away but did little for the heat and the conviently located Mosque next door made sure to place its microphone right next to my window but all-in-all it was comfy enough.

I went out on my first night, not knowing what to expect, and as I was alone once again, I set off in search of fun and friends. Fortunately, the island has both in abundance. I eventually found a bar called D'Harbour, which had an open mic night and the horrible cover of Oasis was more than enough for me to plant my somewhat less ample bum on one of the bar stools. The English fella finished with Wonderwall and the local band kept going with their awesome renditions of BB King and Bob Marley. After a while, I decided it was my turn to break the ice, so I favoured the patrons with a version of Heroes by David Bowie, that can only be described as "out of tune". The night quickly took a turn for the better as I joined a table of Aussies and Poms, and did a duet or 2 with a dutch violinist, but we were all completly over shadowed by the closet-blues singer hailing from Holland, who just happened to have a harmonica in his top pocket. As the conversation grew increasingly stale (my new drinking buddies were actually 2 couples in dire need of a new face at the table) I set off in search of entertainment in the more "singles" variety and eventually found the local watering hole called Rudy's, but more on that later.

The following night I found myself in the Irish bar (Curiously called Tir Na Nog. Does anyone know what this translates to?) to watch mighty Tottenham Hotspur in action on the big screen. A friendly English fella named Chay sat down to my left and we, along with Simmo to Chays left (as well as Jamie who doesnt really enter the picture for another day or 2) got chatting about the in's and out's of the EPL. English guys are always suprised when my knowledge of Football equals or exceeds theirs. Having gained their mutual respect (sarcasm is quite hard to communicate when writing lol) we wandered on down to Surf Bar where they were having a full moon party. It was only about 11pm but the place was already rammed with people. Quickly integrating, we got chatting with some aussie girls whereby we dug deep to find our best Aboriginal, dead baby and Chuck Norris jokes. Strangely enough, only Aussies find dead baby jokes amusing. After more than a few bad taste jokes had run their course, it was Georgia (Aussie Girl) and my turn for a round. The bartenders were far too high on crystal meth to serve effectively, so we avoided the 30 minute queue and went to the nearest warung (small store) to buy vast quantities of beer and vodka. Upon returning, we were unable to locate the rest of the group so we went to the beach (Surf bar is on the beach... makes for a fun Full Moon party) and decided to make out under the moon and drink the remaining drinks by ourselves. Turns out that Simmo went home after a while (he was near 50, needed his sleep) and Chay had found some Aussie girl himself (Steph I think. Chay you man whore you) so it took a while before we were reunited. Turns out that Georgia had a friend, a male, ex-flatmate travelling with her and was somewhat in love with her (she did not feel the same way). We managed to re-find Chay and Georgias friends, danced around the bonfire, watched the fireworks and fire-twirling. It was a good night. Several hours later, Georgia's male friend did not like the idea of the 2 of us going home together (the fact that she and I did obviously did'nt occur to him) and proceeded to voice his concerns from a distance behind us for the better part of a kilometer (the word slut came up a few times). Anyone that knows me (Hi, Im Byron, 6 foot 4, over 100 kgs) knows that Im a calm, friendly guy but when he pushed Georgia over I felt it was only appropriate that I push him back and told him to get fuc**d. After he took a swing at me, well... I think I was fully in my rights to hit him a couple of times. Unfortunately this put a bit of a dampener on the evening and I went back to the full moon party alone.

The following day, I met up again with Chay, Jamie and Simmo once again at Irish Bar and we went over the details from the previous night. We soon went to Rudy's bar, which was absolutely packed with travellers and holiday makers. Rudy's is the islands fail safe bar. When nothing is happening at others bars, everyone goes to Rudy's. Quickly finding people from my first night out, the night went from good to great. My earlier blogs have made reference to changed attitudes in people when being abroad. I really do think that there is a correlation between local beer and friendliness. Circa Vang Vieng, Chiang Mai, Boracy etc. you can walk up to any old stranger and spark up a conversation. On my first night, with my quick-witted, foul-mouthed, Dutch Wingman Max, we made a game of chatting to as many people as possible. Out of about 40 people, there was only one girl who objected to us intruding upon her evening. After a period of time, the term "Pool Party" came up and before we knew it Max, Chay, Myself and about 20 girls were going back to Maxs place that, obviously, had a pool. While Max's fellow tennants didnt like the noise we were making, the Pool Partiers were having a great time. This is where I met Heather, one of the coolest girls ive ever met. An American, who just so happens to live in Sydney. After a couple of hours of "moon bathing" and trying to surf in the pool, the other tennants of the guest house had had enough and went burko at us (it was about 4am). Deciding it best to leave, we went for a cheeky night swim in the ocean (I have to thank Jamie for the term "cheeky". My vocabulary will never be the same again mate) and we made our way back down to Rudy's and parked up on the little bungalows. A guy with a guitar turned up (as they do) as well as a few joints (ditto) and the 2 of us stayed up waiting for the sun to rise over the volcanos on Lombok. Super romantic!

It was around about this point where we found the worlds greatest day time activity. Lounging around on Egotiste's beach beds. In days to come, people would come and go, but the group would always be lying on the beach beds in Egotise (on the swimming beach). Grab a club sandwich, cheeky beer at 5 pm (2pm if your Jamie) head out snorkelling for a few hours (more later) or just work off that hang over with another couple of hours of sleep in the shade. I can't imagine a better way of passing the time then with good friends, all cravings satisfied and a postcard view of the water and Gili Meno. Later that day it turned out that Heather was feeling under the weather from the night before, so Jamie, Chay, Richard and I went to play some Table tennis where we met possibly my favourite 2 English girls, Amy and Meg. Hailing from somewhere in England, but with Geordie affiliations, these lovely ladies come complete without a conversation filter. Any thought that entered their minds exited through the mouths. I'm going to have serious issues going back to Sydney after our conversations together. A few games of table tennis and once again we were out and about. As it was a Monday, we were at the Blue Marlin party and there is multiple photos on facebook of me dancing on tables. As the night progressed, we ended back up at Rudy's bar and chatting to Heathers friends. Turns out they had a pool of their own, so it was only natural that we head back to their place take advantage of their facilities. By this stage, we were hanging around with another English fella called Russel. Between Chay, Russel and myself, we made a game of staying at girls places that had Air-Con. Russel might be the smoothest operator I know, as he managed to pull it off for the 4 nights in a row we were hanging out together. That said, I think he might not of understood the rules as he was adamant nothing happened when he shared a bed with 2 of Heathers friends, 2 nights in a row. Another of our swimming buddies, Andrew from Brisbane, brought his hired bicycle into the pool's courtyard and thought it best if he rode his bike straight into the pool! Not suprising behaviour from a guy who woke up 3 days earlier with a tattoo on his butt, his first tattoo!

The following day we were at the beach, and as I had an un-air conditioned room the night before, I was suffering. Our group had expanded to about 15 people. I love Gili T! After a few hours respite, I went out snorkelling with Jamie, Heather and her friend Steph (who Chay might have hooked up with a couple of times). The snorkelling off the coast of Gili is pretty amazing. In my 3 weeks on the Island I must have found over 30 turtles, clown fish, blue tangs, magestic angels, dog fish, several thousand moorish idols, bat fish, a lion fish and more. On this particular day, I just so happened to find a sea snake. The nearest person to me was Steph, so I pointed out my new discovery and dived down about 5 meters for a better look. When I came back up to the surface I looked for Steph, but she had swum about 50 meters down stream in the 60 seconds I had been under water. Note to self: girls don't like snakes! Evidently, there are reef sharks out there as well, but despite my best efforts I never got to quote Roy Schnider and say "I think we are gonna need a bigger boat". Many hours of relaxation later was followed by a Shisha session where a Finnish girl named Sarah joined us. As it turns out, I had met Sarah in both Vang Vieng and Sihanoukville, where she was working in the bars. Sarahs conversation filter is less prominent that Amy and Meg's. A few nights later, when almost everyone had left, Sarah and I had a 5 hour chat in Rudys where by we discussed the technicalities of arranging an orgy, straight guys giving each other head on a dare and drinking human piss. My o my, I really do love sitting around with good people just talking about pointless, meandering crap.

Heather and her friends left the following morning and I carried Heathers bag to the jetty for her (such a gentleman). After an emotional goodbye and promises to meet up again in Bali, I noticed Russel walking up the road with 2 of Heathers friends and may have been doing twice the load I was.... surrrrreeee, nothing happened! I walked back to my somewhat less nice place and went to bed (at about 10 in the morning) and woke up again around 5 that evening. Before I went to bed I met a swiss girl, Angela, who was checking into my home stay and felt obliged to tell her that the 2 girls who were staying in her room previously had about $250 stolen from their room the day before. Fuc*#*g locals had broken into their room and taken all their reserve cash. Seemingly this didnt bother her. Later that day I saw Russel at a table with a couple of people in Sama Sama. I grabbed a beer and joined them. Turns out Angela was sitting there as well. Small Island! Along with Russel and Angela were Nicole from Aus and David from the UK. Long story short, Angela is quite boring and not cut out for travelling, Russel pulled Nicole and got his 4th consecutive night of air-con and David and I got into a quite heated discussion about how Australian troops in WW2 were lazy and shit. Around this point (about 5 in the morning) David, who was an awesome guy until this point, decided it was appropriate to intentionally slap a drink out of my hand while I was drinking from it and say "what do you think of that?" to which I replied "Well, If I didnt know your a good guy I would be punching you at the moment". Saw him again the next day and he was only apologetic but had no recollection of the previous nights (mornings) events. Some people hold their booze better than others.

It was around about this time that days and nights become increasingly blurred and memories blend into a series of days rather than one in particular. Heather and her friends had left but Chay, Jamie, Amy, Meg, Steve and Russel were still around and new arrivals such as Claire, Tom, the 2nd Georgia and Rebecca were making up the numbers. A night out in Rudy's again and have vague recollections of Rebecca and Georgia revealling their deepest, darkest sexual memories's that would make a pornstar blush. The night ended in the somewhat enjoyable scenario of going home with Meg and Amy for a night of spooning and pillow talk. Not entirely sure how this happened but we came to an arrangement whereby it would be nice just to cuddle and talk without anything untowards going on. Jasper, the dutch guy in the next room, was waiting for me as I emerged the next morning with a "So how was it"?. "If only" was all I could come up with.

I could continue in this mold for another 5,000 or so words but the following days are difficult to distinquish from each other. Lots of lying on the beach during the day, Georgia being very Georgia-ry, Jamie getting lots of cuddles, Mushrooms for breakfast with Chay and Steve, about 100 awesome photos on facebook, Tom and Claire having some akward moments, the departure of Steve, Chay (who found it all rather emotional), Meg and Amy, loads more good snorkelling, Jamie going for a cheeky departure and me having one last night out by myself. I remember very clearly my last night, at the Irish Bar party. My boat was the following morning at about 10. I was hanging out with Jasper and Franck the German, taking it easy, meeting loads of people but fully aware I was leaving early the following day. The night had all the hallmarks of one to remember but come about 2.30 am I told myself it was time and I pulled out a last cigarette to soak it all in and reflect on what an awesome experience it had been. I had no desire to leave but the constant partying was reaking havoc to my insides and one can only live like this for so long. As it turns out, I could only live like this for 13 days. I really do have a theory that, much like the TV show Lost, the Island has a personality and 2 drags into my cigarette, some gorgeous girl walked up to me and started talking. So very sorry, its time for bed. Gili T, your not going to keep me here, no matter how hard you try.

There were several reasons why I left Gili. I had to renew my visa, my brothers Mike and James were arriving in Bali in about a week, Meg, Amy and Jamie were all going to be in Kuta soon and my body needed a rest, so it was back to Kuta again. As I walked into Kedins on Poppies 1 in Kuta, I found Jamie sitting by the pool. Small world. In fairness, I told him to check in there, but its always nice to find a familiar face in unfamiliar surroundings. A few hours later, as I was going for my first massage in 2 weeks, Meg and Amy turned up at Kedin's and the massage went on hold for a while. It was off to Sky Garden for free drinks and to dance away a storm in the VIP section. On one of the following nights, we went back to our pool and had our own pool party which attracted about 15 people at 3 in the morning. Meg didnt have a bathing suit, so went topless but managed to find a hat which she used as a modified bikini top. Amy thought it prudent that we throw loose tiles from the pool into the water so she could go swimming and find them again (much like a dog fetching a stick... sorry Amy :-) ), Meg, Amy and I managed to get a 3 person totem pole going in the water with Meg on my shoulders and Amy on hers, Jamie sitting back, admiring the view and thinking how daft we were. The things you do when having a pool party!! The next couple of days found us frequenting Sky Garden every night, the arrival of Lee and Lee (1 2 3 pancake) as well as Meg and Amy flying to Thailand. After about 5 days drinking in Kedins pool, Jamie and I decided a trip back to Gili was in order, so after Mike and James arrived we made our way back to Gili knowing that Lee, Lee and Tiffany would be soon joining us on the Island.

When I left Gili, I had a funny feeling that I would be returning. Upon getting off the boat, we were greeted with "welcome back" from the locals, who I'm pretty sure I had never seen before. We found a new home stay, with Jamie, Mike and I staying in one place and James staying just across the clay road. Mike and James, being new to the whole travelling thing came out for a while but went to bed pretty early. Sitting on a bar stool in Irish bar, Jamie and I sparked up a conversation with Rich and Sam, the owners of the local Party boat. Another evening out at Blue Marlin party found me meeting a few new people (and possibly dancing on tables again) and signing up for the Party boat in 2 days time (more shortly). Rich and Sam joined us on the beach beds the following day and proceeded to drink a bottle of vodka before 1 pm. They were joined by Will, who had actually hooked up with Meg about 2 weeks earlier! Small Island! One bottle of Vodka was replaced by another, as well as some local food, all brought from ourside of the restaurant. Evidendtly the oweners of Egotiste dont get along well with Rich and Sam.

The party boat has a capacity of about 30 people, but around 75% of the paying guests just so happened to be women. I love Gili. As Jamie had an ear infection, and Mike and James were AWOL when I booked my ticket so I was on the boat by myself (save from the staff who I had been hanging around with for the past 2 days). Setting off at 3.30 pm, we did not return to shore until about 1.30 am. Dinner, snorkelling, backflips off the roof, swimming around the boat at 1am, dancing for about 4 hours, drinking way too much, chatting with about 20 new people. Did I say I love Gili? This took place on the same night as the Irish bar party, so when we reluctantly left the boat it was straight to Irish bar for more of the same (without the swimming). Irish bar was going crazy, and the introduction of the 30 odd party boaters only added to the fun. By about 4am though, it was clear that I had been in the sun for too long that day (and possibly drank too much) Time for bed.

I'm quite aware by now just how long this blog has gone for so I'll try to be brief from here on. The next few days went way too quickly. Lee, Lee and Tiffany all arrived in the coming days. We quickly reformed the beach bed group and gathered several additional members, which I hope is still continuing in my absence. We all went out for one last mega snorkel and were rewarded with about 8 new turtles. Mike and James seemed to enjoy their time on Gili without spending nearly enough time at the parties. One night out James joined us for several hours and I introduced him to several eligable ladies. Evidently they were "checking him out". Jamie recovered from his ear infection and managed to live it up for the last couple of days. The whole week culminated in one last night out, the Full Moon party (my 2nd). The night before we were talking it up over a couple of Vodka Joss's and decided it was only prudent if we took loads of mushrooms to celebrate.

We started the night at Irish bar to watch a less than mighty Tottenham draw with Aston Villa and proceeded to eat our entire supply of mushies before 11pm. After a couple of photos on the way to the party, the effect kicked in and the night started. We were greeted with fireworks and a bonfire, Blonde Lee found a scary shark on the dance floor he couldn't be close to and, of course, several hundred eager partygoers. Joe, one of the recent beach bed recruits, had done himself no harm by acquiring 5 bottles of local ricewine, which went down a treat. Having our cool crew in tow, we systematically went about acquiring friends for the night. Jamie was happier than the cat that got the cream when he pulled Tamara (the canadian bird from the beach who spewed when I gave her some rice wine. Nice one Jamie). Joe was seen leaving with some lovely young lady. Tiffany, who one of the Lee's had a fling with in Kuta, was seen being dragged off by 3 locals early in the morning. I may have gone for another cheeky night swim with Jess from the shire (my neck of the world). Later that night, around 5 in the morning, we were dripping wet with water dancing around the fire. I was in a symbolic mood. As we were dancing around with our shirts off (Macho, I know, but it was hot) when suddenly I had a brain wave. I had my favourite shirt hanging loosely from my waist. Gili might be the best place Ive ever visited. Much like old testament Abraham was called upon to sacrifice his first born son, I threw my shirt into the fire as an offering to the Island. My brothers Cameron and Aaron surely remember the gesture of throwing clothes into the fire (Cameron was actually in Vietnam when I bought the shirt). Jamie's Candian friend, Tamara who as it transpires recently had a boob job, threw her only bra into the fire. We all lost our Thongs (sandals), which I imagine also ended up in the fire. As I write this in Ubud in Bali, I know for sure that I am not done with the Island. I will be back, this year or next. If anyone has ever seen the movie "Pirate Radio" they will remember Phillip Seymour Hoffman saying "I'm afraid that these really were the best days of our lives". I couldn't agree more.

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