http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Lombok/Gilli-Trawangan/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , Indonesia , Lombok , Gilli Trawangan en-us Thu, 31 Dec 2009 11:05:20 +0000 Thu, 31 Dec 2009 11:05:20 +0000 Day 562 on the road I have done my fair share of diving all over Southeast Asia in the last year or so but nothing comes even close to how amazing the underwater life is here in the Gili Islands off Lombok's north coast. Apparently the fishermen are paid by the local dive operators NOT to fish and it more than shows in the marine life to be found just a few metres from the beach. Visibility i http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Lombok/Gilli-Trawangan/blog-445164.html A civilization lost.Yesterday I watched a storm brewing and rain pouring down over Lombok. Slowly it moved over to Gili Meno and then towards us. Watching it we packed up our stuff and moved to a little beach hut to carry on playing cards. Then the rain belted down. We walked home. It felt good to be washed wet with fresh water. What a luxury it is. How spoilt we are us rich westerners with all http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Lombok/Gilli-Trawangan/blog-443528.html Today is the last day of Ramadan. Tonight the island folk will eat a celebratory dinner with their families and tomorrow they will go to Mosque and pray. And then it will all be over. The month of exercising onersquos will power and following an age old tradition. Weaving simple friendshipshellipI stopped to say hello to a man this morning who was weaving little baskets. I asked what they were http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Lombok/Gilli-Trawangan/blog-443520.html Grace and an enamel bowl.A woman walks past in the street below. Her flip flopped feet pat in time to the ebb of the ocean behind her. It is early morning and the sea shimmers behind her like fish scales in the sun. Her traditional Indonesian sarong hugs her slender frame. She is elegant and regal despite her poverty.The woman balances an enormous enamel bowl lightly on her head. A huge fish cur http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Lombok/Gilli-Trawangan/blog-443510.html Vi ligger p stranden ud for Vila Ombak. Mille og Theis gr i vandet... Theis lader som om han vlter og hiver en lille skattekiste op af vandet. Se hvad jeg fandt.... ...... prv at bne og se hvad der er indeni.Indeni var den smukkeste ring skabt til den smukkeste pige...Den smukke pige kiggede forundret p sin store kreste og sagde jeg troede ikke du ville giftes Men det ville den st http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Lombok/Gilli-Trawangan/blog-439071.html Endelig fik vi ro... kun kl 5 om morgenen brede det fra Mosk'n men det var lige til at leve med. Langsung sov godt igennem Idul Fitri begge ntter til stor forundring for os andre. Mske var det sd musik i hans rer... Vi blev hentet af Vila Ombak kl 10.30 og krt til stranden hvor vores bd gik fra.Efter en kort sejlads med en meget nervs bdmand som SveaJ havde skldt ud for 2 r siden http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Lombok/Gilli-Trawangan/blog-438820.html So we set off on foot away from the big resorts and started asking at every place along the way it became clear pretty quickly that because it was high season the prices were ridiculous some places were asking 200 quid a night to stay on the floor It seems lots of westerners have bought land on the island built 'boutique beach chic' huts and are asking sky high prices for them Eventually afte http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Lombok/Gilli-Trawangan/blog-430339.html Our Asian and New Zealand Adventure has reached its end although we're still in denial that it even happened in the first place Here is a breakdown of how we spent our last few weeks of ldquovacationrdquo.Kuta Bali IndonesiaKuta beach in Bali is known for it's world class surf and it's nonstop night life atmosphere. Throw in the fact that you can live like kings and queens for dolla http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Lombok/Gilli-Trawangan/blog-428446.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Lombok/Gilli-Trawangan/blog-425625.html Gili Trewangan 19th23rd July Left hotel at 8.00am in the morning and headed to Serangan harbour. Took Black Pearl with Nikki Spok and kids to Gili Trewangan. Arrived at idyllic location and met Spok's brother Garth his wife Dawi and kids. They put us up in bungalows near beach. Mode of transport on the island is horse and cart. Wide range of accommodation on the island with lots of money b http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Lombok/Gilli-Trawangan/blog-425312.html Let me start by saying that we are all safe we are not in Jakarta and we are still in Indonesia. We are however on an island in the middle of nowhere where there is no vehicles and you can walk round the island in two and a half hours. To fill in the gaps. We continued to celebrate in Kuta and went for another night. This was not before we found Cody in our bathroom. He didnt get the fate of Bob http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Lombok/Gilli-Trawangan/blog-420673.html Hello friendsI hope all is well with all of you. It appears that the blog emails are not automatically sending to you folks. That is a shame. I will try to fix but I am sorta clueless as to where to begin. Anyway let it be known that this blog post will not be full of extreme adventures and cultural shocks. So if you are only reading this to see pictures of me wading through piles of bat poop or http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Lombok/Gilli-Trawangan/blog-416053.html BaliI was given an indication of what to expect in Bali while in Sydney waiting to board the flight. Every flight I normally catch has a cosmopolitan mix of cultures and purposed however today my fellow passengers seemed to be exclusively australians going on holiday giving me a vivid recollection of the few package holidays I have taken in europe. Pre 'Gen Y' 'Ryan Air' 'Easy as you like' world http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Lombok/Gilli-Trawangan/blog-406000.html Gili Trawangan Bali Indonesia 13 31 May 2009After yet another day in Kuta I was picked up at my hotel at 6 o'clock in the morning on Tuesday to be taken to Padangbai to catch the ferry over to Lombok. Whilst I was too tired to chat up with the people in the minivan I was meeting Johnny an English guy and Melanie from Germany on the 4 12 hours boat trip and it soon turned out that they http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Lombok/Gilli-Trawangan/blog-398410.html I know I seem to say this every time I write but this time it really has been so long that I don't know where to start. It's been about 3 weeks since my last entry and so much has happened since then I can barely remember what happened 3 days ago never mind 3 weeks But I'll do my best...Well starting from where I last left off..Ubud Bali. I spent my last couple of days there and absolutely http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Lombok/Gilli-Trawangan/blog-394008.html 72 300309The Gili's small litlle islands that are beautifulEarly rise hangover but have to get to the gili islands. Lady at hostle arranges another bumpy ride for us to catch a boat across. Caz is sick in a bag on the way ...thats how bumpy this ride is. We wait for ages at port to get a full boat which nearly make sme throw up on the way across...we arrive on Gili Trawangan feeling horrific http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Lombok/Gilli-Trawangan/blog-391795.html I'm not sure if I mentioned how much hotter it feels on the Gili Islands vs. being in Bali The pools aren't heated but they feel like a jacuzzi once you step into them. Also just until recently all of the hotel showers were only salt water. Not sure how one could feel clean after being hot and sticky from being in the sun and the water and then going back to your hotel and trying to wash off http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Lombok/Gilli-Trawangan/blog-390256.html HALO HelloWe arrived at Lombok Island by boat from Padangbai. It took five hours. We were transferred to a minibus to Bangsal . Waiting one hour for the boat we were on Gili Trawangan Island late evening.We found a hotel at the center with fan only Trawangan Cottages 125 INRUSD10.0 incl. Breakfast.The first day we tried snorkling areas on Gili Trawangan. Second day we rested on the b http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Lombok/Gilli-Trawangan/blog-390243.html Ok class here's today's quiz. If I leave Gili Trawangan at 1130 am on the 13th travel by fast boat to Bali then transfer to a taxi for an hour and half drive to Jimbaran to get back to the Intercontinental hotel stop there for a 3 hour massage and dinner travel to airport for a 120 am flight on Korean Air on the 14th to Seoul then onto Narita Japan then stop in Portland for a few hours an http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Lombok/Gilli-Trawangan/blog-390092.html As I pulled up the zipper of my wetsuit I began to get a claustrophobic feeling. If just putting on a wetsuit could do that to me how would it be to have a weight belt tank and a mask on my face feel once I got into the water Jennifer and I were in the process of learning how to dive in the Trawangan Dive pool when I suddenly realized that this was just not for me. I'm more than content to sw http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Lombok/Gilli-Trawangan/blog-389575.html