Advertisement
Published: December 19th 2008
Gili Trawangan Sunrise
Sunrise, sunset and everything in between was beautiful in the gili'sSo here we are again, sitting in an internet cafe trying to figure out how to give an accurate description of the experiences of the last month. To be honest, it's getting difficult as the experiences are starting to far exceed my writing skills.
Indonesia was a big unknown for the both of us, outside of the basic stuff you read in the papers or maybe, if you were a much better student than I, remember from a geography class along the way; we knew very little going in. Usually, this is good thing...why go if not to learn firsthand. On this occasion, however, The Australian government had just issued a rather stern and explicit warning against travel to the area in the immediate future due to the imminent execution of the "Bali Bombers" and any unrest that may arise because of it, so our lack of local knowledge served to raise the apprehension a bit.
Nevertheless, and despite the fact the Aussies don't throw warnings around lightly, we decided to forge ahead, secure in the fact that we tend to naturally avoid the tourist hot-spots where any trouble would be aimed anyways. A thankful decision; what a truly
Sanur, Bali
Our pool at Flashbacks, a really mellow and relaxing way to beat the heat amazing country, and a travelers paradise!
We began in Bali, which is a Balinese Hindu island in an Islamic country of 220 million people, most of whom seem to want to know if you need transport. On advice from some folks we met in Aussie, we gave Kuta (the tourist haven) a giant skip and settled in Sanur for a few days to acclimate to the surroundings of a new place (temperatures, languages, food (read:stomach challenges) )etc, etc...that you usually run into when you're a five hour flight away from where you last were. My sincere apologies to Bali, in my ignorance I expected so much less.
So there we were, studiously studying our phrase book, "acclimating" in our pool, next to our room, after having been served our complimentary breakfast of coffee, eggs, toast and jams, and a large bowl of freshly picked tropical fruit and juice. Not quite what we expected for 16 bucks a night. I mean, here we were expecting to have to re-adjust to the hardships of life on the road in the developing world and in reality we found ourselves adjusting to the good life. We're not the kind of people who
Courtyard lookout
This guy got 3 offerings a day to watch the courtyard enjoy being served, but when the people doing it are so overwhelmingly happy about it, what the hell! Sanur was good. The beach wasn't really up to snuff, and the hawkers will drive you a little nuts, but when you can get a New York quality dinner in a Caribbean setting for 5 bucks each who cares...life is a balance.
After a few days in Sanur we decided to go check out Nusa Lembongan, a relaxed little island about an hours boat ride off Bali. Known for it's good surf, seaweed farms... and lack of ,we found it to be a great little escape and a cultural leap into the arms of Balinese Hinduism, which thus far had been diluted in our experience on Bali proper by it's growing western influences. It's a picturesque place with good walks, good beaches, the usual Balinese friendliness and lots and lots of seaweed, which I now know come in many shapes form and flavors...the things you learn along the way.
From Nusa Lembongan we took another boat to a bus to a boat to a bus to a boat type deal to the island of Lombok, or more specifically Gili Trawangan,
Breakfast
Coffee and fruit, followed by toast and eggs. The food was spot on one of a series of three little islands just off Lombok, known as the Gili's. We planned on staying for 4 days to get a good flavor...17 days later we had to make ourselves leave, I guess we really liked the taste. It was one of the places where you find yourself doing math in a real estate office wondering how you'd make a living on an island half the size of central park. It was awesome and after not really being stationary for very long, for a very long time, it was a perfect place to throw the bags down and just relax.
We hooked up with a local dive shop and did some great diving (thanks Todd) and snorkeling, met some fantastic people (thanks again Todd), ate like champions (a great steak or lobster was 6 bucks, great local food around 3) and I dare say had more than our fair share of Bintangs, which by the way are the only remedy for 100 degree heat. I guess part of the magic of the place is that it feels like you've discovered a secret. Maybe it's the small island effect, maybe it's because in the middle of
The Karma Taxman
Every house or business has a little spot put aside where one gives a daily offering of thanks to balance the Karma. an Islamic state you can walk down the street and order a mushroom shake or sit a bar a smoke a joint without anyone bothering you, if that's what floats your boat. There are no police in the Gili's, very little religious influence and that coupled with turquoise waters in the shadows of green volcanoes creates an amazing sense of freedom and serenity, where people can be who they are as opposed to what others think they should be.
We sat at a bar one afternoon as the fourth Muslim call to prayer, which conveniently coincided with our first call to happy hour, thus alleviating the need to wear a watch, sounded over the loudspeakers from the local mosque. One bar tender, who was Islamic did his thing, the other who was a rare Hindu in these parts, was doing whatever he was doing with an offering of sorts, and the two of us representing the Christians (god help us all) sipped our beers while they were at it. Five minutes later we're all back laughing about something and I sat there thinking "what the hell is wrong with the world!" We all need to get over ourselves and
Cheap Food
Keep in mind the exchange rate was 12500 to 1, and the food was excellent our beliefs and all the other nonsense that leads to so much trouble...everyone needs to sit down and have a beer together and the world will be a better place.
Due to our rather obtuse overstay on Trawangan we had run out of time to follow our original plan to catch a boat out to Flores and Komodo for some more supposedly top shelf diving. Apparently the weather wasn't right for it at this time our year so without much disappointment we hopped back on a boat and went east instead of west and back to Bali, and it's holistic capital Ubud, made partially famous by the rather pathetic book "Eat, Pray, Love", which should have been titled "Moan, Whine, Whimper" Anyways, I digress.
Ubud was great. It's location, halfway between the coast and the volcano, and set amongst lush vegetation and rice paddies, lends to it's reputation as a holistic and artistic mecca. If you need a good massage (6 bucks for an hour-no happy ending😊 ), some yoga, fantastic temples or wonderful artwork, this is your place. We stayed at a place called Sania's which came highly recommended by our neighbor on Gili T. It was
Local Food
The first night we figured with the prices it was kind of a "tapas" type thing. The waiter graciously explained we had ordered five entree's awesome, more like a temple itself than a hotel, and after they throw in a good breakfast, a swimming pool and HOT water you don't mind getting ripped of for 17 bucks a night (it's ridiculous how far your money can stretch here). Not one for tours, which are plentiful here, we decided to rent bikes and go get lost in the countryside by ourselves one day. It was amazing, spending the day meandering through rice paddies and little villages, stopping to chat along the way with the nicest people on earth and sample the local culinary magic at some roadside stall. I even got to harvest a little rice, which was fun for me, and I think very strange for the 80 year ladies whose tools I used as they stepped aside to giggle at the crazy westerner who "wants to pick rice". I guess after a lifetime it gets boring. We spent the rest of our time squeezing in some more relaxation, partially because you feel obliged to relax here and partially because we know were headed back to some hard traveling through Borneo after a short stint in Singapore.
Well, thats it in brief. All in
Hindu Statue
Bali is covered with statues of this nature, each representing something all I'd say we both agree that Indonesia has been the pick of the litter so far. The irony is not lost on us that we debated coming because of the terror threats and I guess that is terrorism's true sin. You can blow up a building, they can be rebuilt. You can kill the innocent, in the calloused big picture, there are plenty of us. It's when you start to sow the seeds of doubt in people minds. Seeds that grow into distrust and ignorance and fear, seeds that leave us wanting for our own, skeptical of others and vulnerable to our ancient and instinctive need for safety. It's only then that terrorism reaps it's harvest and that's the real fight we all face. Terrorism pries apart the bonds of our common humanity. When we think of the people we would not have met and the experiences we would not have had if we went elsewhere because of a couple of crazy lunatics it really hits home. Two weeks ago they ran amuck in Mumbai, we'll be visiting India eventually...I can't wait.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.05s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 8; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0271s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Rose
non-member comment
Indo Nice A
I didn't finish my comment about how could you return home after experiencing all the grandur of this world? I'm with you, by sharing different cultures and experiencing different ways, the world would be a better place to live, open, caring, alive!!! Have fun and be safe out there. Love your cous, Rose