Advertisement
Published: March 4th 2010
FANTASY: deserted beach. crystal clear water. ice cold beer. guitar music playing softly in the background. mountainous island in the distance.
REALITY: Gili Air!!!!
I had never heard of the Gili Islands before researching this trip, but the second I saw a picture of these 3 tiny islands off the coast of Lombok, i knew i had to come here. You all need to google GILI ISLANDS immediately, and then do an expedia search for the next flight from wherever you are to the Gilis.
There are 3 Gili islands, listed from closest to Lombok to farthest; Gili Air, Gili Meno, and Gili Trawangan. I have visited all three, so here are my impressions of each island:
Gili Air: AWESOME. My favorite of the 3 islands. The water is turquoise blue and crystal clear just around the island, then turns a magnificent sapphire blue. It is so clear that you can see to the sand and coral bottom even when you're neck-deep. There is a reef around the island that protects it from waves, so the water is calm like a lake. From the beach you have a view of mountainous Lombok. Right now is low season for
tourism, so the beach was almost entirely deserted. High season is june/july/august, and apparently it gets so crowded that you have to book rooms a few days in advance! Screw that!!...was much better to book as we walked off the boat.
Our first night we stayed at Sunrise Hotel near the main dock (by "dock" i just mean a larger beach for boats to pull up on). It had the nicest beach on the island, a great seaside restaurant (this i found to be standard, when you're on an island why would you ever eat farther than 20 feet from the beach??), and thatch roof huts on the beach with pillows, a table, and a waiter to bring fresh fruit juices. Heaven. The room itself was rustic. Open air bungalow, no fresh water (so that shower was from the ocean), and the bed had a mosquito net around it. I was feeling pretty nervous when I first saw it, but actually i slept pretty well other than being hot (of course no a/c, but we did have a fan!). I kept my eyes shut tight all night so I wouldn't see the bugs and/or critters that may have come to
visit, but nothing was so bad that it woke me up. Anyways, I was pretty proud of myself for being so brave in that place, and all things considered it was actually a pretty cool little bungalow. Alas, Nate needed internet access to work so we had to move on the next day. I put up a huge fight, of course...."You mean we HAVE to move to an enclosed, air-conditioned room?? But I don't wanna!!!". But Nate insisted... So we hopped on a horse drawn cart to move down the beach. Yes folks, the only transportation available on the Gilis is horse drawn cart or bicycle. NO cars, NO motorbikes. No constant motor droning in the background. The peace and quiet is fantastic.
The next night we stayed at Hotel Gili Air. For only $10 more dollars a night (this place was $30), we got a lot more amenities. There was a/c, nice bathroom (still no fresh water though), and a pool. I find it so funny that we can find internet here, but no fresh water shower!! To give you an idea of how small this island is, I walked around the entire perimeter in 1 hour. there really
isn't a road, it's just a sandy path just off the edge of the beach. The hotels and bungalows are all clustered together along one side of the island. Off the main "strip" of hotels and bungalows, there isn't much to see. Just a few primitive shacks and washed-up boats.
The hawkers are very nice here. Business is so bad in low season, but once they realize I wasn't going to buy anything they would hang around to chat. One hawker told me about local life. He said there are about 400 people that live on Gili Air, mostly in the middle of the island. There are no ATM's on the island, so every once in awhile one of them takes a boat over to Lombok to get supplies like rice and fresh water. Most of the locals make their money off tourists or through fishing.
I also talked for awhile with the bartender at our second hotel, his name is Afin. He is a local, and I would guess around my age. He was very proud to live in gili, says he loves the life there. He has lived in Lombok for a time but chose to come back
to Gili Air. I taught him how to play the card game "War", and after he closed his bar around 10pm he took Nate and myself up the beach to his brother's bar. His brother Amin lived in England for 6 years, then chose to move back to Gili Air. He plays guitar so he and Nate played music for us until late in the evening. Both brothers spoke of the dilemma with development and tourism on the Gilis. They know that more tourism will bring a better life to the locals, but it will also ruin the charm and environment that makes Gili Air so special. Gili Trawangan, which is known to be the party island, used to be as quiet and rustic as Gili Air even just 15 years ago. But an Australian businessman purchased a lot of waterfront property and built up hotels and bars, creating the party island it is today. These brothers worried that more tourism in Gili Air could bring this type of significant culture change. The people living on Gili Air seem to be very proud of the island, and seem very content to stay here. It's funny, this island is so tiny
and remote, yet hanging out with these guys who are probably around my age, i found that we weren't so different. The bartender was antsy to get off work, just as I always am around 5pm...they were pecking away at their cell phones....they like to sit around and play music, drink beer, and talk--all things I do with my friends in the US. We had a great night, good music and conversation.
It was sad to see all the empty hotels and restaurants, one after another. They set all their tables and light their candles every night, fresh fish sitting out by an open-air grill ready to be prepared. And there those tables sit, completely empty. I kept reminding myself that it is low tourist season, so in 4-5 months these places will be much busier. But it's just remarkable how beautiful they keep these hotel grounds, everything so perfectly manicured and cleaned. Just waiting for a few tourists to roll through...
Gili Meno: The middle and smallest of the three island, also the least developed. There were nicer hotels and bungalows than I anticipated, but it is still very quiet. There really isn't much going on in Gili
Meno. Which I suppose is why some people choose to stay there, but it was just a little too quiet for my taste. We just stopped there for a couple hours to walk around the island, didn't stay the night there. There is a lake in the middle of the island that we tried to find, but never did locate it. There was one sign at the beach saying "this way to the lake", but I never saw another sign. However, the walk gave me the chance to see the middle of the island where most of the locals live. It is extremely poor, open fields with cattle, chickens, and goats. Tiny little run-down shacks with adorable children running around. At one point we came across an enormous Muslim temple, right there in the middle of the island! It was beautiful, and brand new. It was in such stark contrast to the surrounding impoverished area. We also stumbled across a school. It was so heartwarming to hear the island children singing their school lessons, teachers instructions in the background. The children sounded so happy. I saw a couple school boys outside, they were dressed in uniforms and had american-style backpacks.
So cute!
Gili Trawangan: Has a reputation as the "party island", and I would say it lives up to this reputation. I could feel the change in vibe the second we got off our fast boat and stepped onto Gili T. There are so many more people here...tourists, locals, hawkers just milling around the beach. The strip of hotels, bars, and restaurants was enormously longer than on the other Gilis. There are several very nice high-end hotel/bungalows. The beaches in front of these hotels were nice, pine and palm trees right on the beach to provide some shade. But when you step just a few feet away from the hotel beachfront, the beaches are dirty. Trash gets piled up, chickens, goats, and cats are running around, and locals have set up little shacks along the "road" (again, just a sandy path running along the beach where all the hotels, bars, and restaurants are located...just like on the other Gilis.) The bars are catered to the party-seeking tourists. Lots of happy hours and American rock and pop music blaring from the stereos. There is even an Irish Pub...doesn't really fit into an island vibe!! The busy atmosphere, the bigger crowds,
the partying tourists, the pushy hawkers...it just didn't jive with a relaxing beach paradise.
I'm very glad we stopped there, it was great to see the difference between each island. But for true relaxation, Gili Air is the best in my opinion. We did have a very nice hotel room there, we stayed at the Manta Dive shop. Was an A-frame bungalow made of nice dark wood, had an outdoor sink/toilet/shower that was quite nice. The restaurant/bar out front was perfect, one of the more low-key spots on the island. I never did walk the perimeter of the island, Nate did and said the scenery was very similar to the other 2 islands. I spent most of my time on Gili T at the beach, in the cool a/c of our room, or at the bar!! Lovely!!
So now I'll backtrack a bit to what I did just before the Gili Islands. Last Saturday 2/20 we bought a ticket from our hotel in Legian Beach, Bali to Sengiggi (the "gigg" is like "giggle") in Lombok, cost 175000 Rupiah each, which is a little less than $20. We used a company called MBA, saw their stands several places along the
streets of Legian. The van picked us up at the hotel at 11am and drove us about 1 1/2 hours to Padangbai, where the slow boats leave for Lombok. The drive was beautiful, through the countryside of Bali. There were volcanic ranges in the distance, thick jungle, rice paddies, and tiny villages. In some of the small towns there were food stands, shops selling Hindu sculptures, and textile shops. I often saw the locals lazing around in the shade to escape the heat of the day. There were so many shacks off in the fields and along the side of the road where people live and work. I've seen pictures of this kind of poverty, but seeing it in person it's hard to understand how they live in such conditions. There was trash built up, no walls to these shacks, and dirt and animals everywhere.
Padangbai was a nice little port town. We were quickly ushered from our van into a restaurant (clearly these people worked together!) but we were hot and hungry so we went along with it, and enjoyed a nice lunch. We were hugely disappointed to find it was a 2 hour wait until we could
even board the ship...not what we were lead to believe when we booked the tickets. But such is Asian travel...so we waited awhile, Nate watched the bags for a bit so I could roam the town. We finally got on the boat around 2:30, but the boat didn't actually take off until 4. This is a huge cargo boat with cars, trucks, motorbikes, crates of goods, and lots of people. It is really the only transportation for locals between Lombok and Bali, and the cheapest option for tourists. There are fast boat options, but those are up to 4-5 times more expensive. There aren't many seats, and the only ones left when we got on were in the blazing sun. They were also directly behind the exhaust, which made me pretty nauseous after about an hour. We moved to a spot with shade and away from the exhaust, but no seats so we had to stand most of the trip, which was fine for a couple hours but this boat trip was 4 hours. When they say "slow boat", they aren't lying. It's not that far between the islands, you can see Lombok pretty quickly after leaving Bali...but that boat
just moves slow.
The boat docked in Lembar around 9pm, which is just a port town in Lombok. The tour company where we purchased the tickets for the van ride in Bali and the slow boat also had a van waiting for us at Lembar...that was a godsend because Lembar was chaotic with hawkers screaming at us from all sides. The tour company actually came to find us!!!...and ushered us into their van to take us to Sengiggi as was arranged in Bali. We had an hour ride, arrived in Sengiggi around 10pm and immediately booked a hotel for the night. Shower, A/C, and food were calling my name...but there was more excitement to come...
Our room was fairly basic, it was so dark when we arrived that we couldn't really get a feel for the hotel grounds. Nate offered to go find snacks while i showered. So I undressed and gathered my shower stuff, walked in the bathroom and turned on the shower...then looked up. A lizard was looking back at me. I turned, saw another over the door, squealed like a little girl and ran out of the bathroom with the water still running, completley naked. Now, these
lizards are not huge, maybe 5" long...just little geckos. So I stood there in the middle of the bedroom, frozen in fear, and tried desperately to reason with myself. I knew this day would come, and will likely continue in most hotels. And what a day to encounter my first indoor lizards---i was SO filthy from that boat so I HAD to get a shower! I grabbed a towel to wrap up in and continued to inch closer to the bathroom, then finally Nate returned. He helped to shoo the one on the ceiling out the window, but the other one was too far to push. So I put my "big girl" face on and got in that shower, keeping one eye on my new friend the entire time. Turns out Nate is right; they are more afraid of me. and they won't run towards the water at my feet. and they won't drop from the ceiling onto my head. I was pretty proud of moving past that hurdle!! Those geckos are EVERYWHERE, so I have gotten used to them...still don't like them in my room, but i'm adjusting 😊
After such a long day, and not a very
restful night's sleep, I woke up early to check out the hotel grounds. Beautiful!! And we were right by the beach! There was a little restaurant patio with complimentary breakfast overlooking a lovely beach. After breakfast I went down for a swim, the water was so refreshing and had almost no waves. The beach was deserted, only a few hawkers walking by now and then.
A schoolage boy, maybe around 15 years old, approached me while I was lying on the beach. He was in school to learn English and had an interview form to do with an English-speaker. Very quickly a group of about a dozen other students came up, and we all chatted for about 30 minutes. They were so adorable, and in awe of America. They asked questions on my favorite color, favorite food, hobbies, what do i think of Lombok... There was lots of giggling and "i'm nervous", only a few students would ask me questions. They all said they love living in Lombok and plan to stay there. It was a great morning after a tough night! Between those kids and my fantastic swim, I fell in love with Sengiggi!!
We had booked a nice
hotel room for Sunday night on "latestays" website. Great website to find last minute deals on really nice hotels. This place was amazing, it was on the opposite side of the street from the ocean, but our room was on the side of the hill so we had a perfect ocean view. Great spot to see the sunset! the pool was also beautiful, so we enjoyed an afternoon dip and a cool Bintang Beer. Walked around the town the rest of the day, all in all i would definately recommend a few days in Sengiggi. Was a great stop-over town from Bali to Lombok and then on to the Gilis. I wish we had time to see more of Lombok. It is a Muslim country, so the architecture and music are all very different from Bali. But those Gili Islands were calling my name!!!
So now to catch up after the Gilis...we left Gili T on Friday 2/26 and got back on that damn slow boat. The ride back wasn't as bad...we got smart and found chairs in the shade this time!! From Padangbai in bali we had a van take us up to Ubud. Ubud is considered the
cultural and artistic hub of Bali. It is in the mountains and has several temples and art studios on the outskirts of the town. There are actually about 600,000 people that live in Ubud, so it's a pretty big town. If any of you have read "Eat, Pray, Love", this is the town where the author stayed. We booked a nice hotel, Graha Ubud Hotel, which is in a good central location. Saturday 2/27 we went to the Monkey Forest where hundreds of macaque monkeys reside. They are very comical, wrestling around with eachother and begging the tourists for banana treats. They can get pretty aggressive though, one saw I had a banana and leaped up onto the front of my shirt! The grounds were beautiful, mountainous jungle and streams.
This town is MADE for shopping. it would be so easy to drop a lot of money here. But I'm sitting on my hands as best I can...I really don't have the space to lug around souveniers! But if you were so inclined, there is great jewelery, baskets, artwork, sculpture, sarongs, fabric, clothes...everywhere! It's great to just walk around the town and window shop. Saturday night we saw a Kecat
Balinese dance and fire show. I gotta be honest here...I was a big disappointed. The costumes were beautiful, and the dancing was very graceful and lovely, but it just didn't really capture me as I imagined. The grand finale had a male dancer knocking over a fire pit and running around on the hot coals....that was pretty impressive. For dinner we found a great restaurant playing live music, was a really good band who played mostly American rock cover songs.
Sunday we walked up to Goa Gajah (Elephant Cave). Was about a 2km walk through the outskirts of town, with rice fields and jungle streams along the way. Was really nice to see the town outside of central Ubud. The walk was a bit hot, and unfortunately it was along a fairly busy road so we had to stay shouldered to the edge of the road. But well worth walking it to see this party of the city and countryside.
Goa Gajah is an ancient temple that was just unearthed in the 1920's. It was built in the 11th century by Hindu and Buddhist locals. An earthquake had completely covered the entire temple village, but one day someone noticed a
huge tree near a stream and recognized this as a spot for a temple. They began digging and unearthed a huge bath where the monks had washed themselves prior to meditation (they say if you wash your face in this water you will be eternally young...so of course I tried this out). The main focus of Goa Gajah is the Elephant Cave. The Hindus use "elephants" to refer to anything big in size, in this place it means the cave and the river running near it. Inside the cave are tiny alcoves built about 2-3 feet off the ground, just deep and high enough for a monk to sit cross-legged and meditate. Apparently they would sit in there for days at a time. What I found most remarkable about Goa Gajah was that a place this old was only just found within the last century!
A guide had offered to walk us through the grounds to explain the significance of each area...I'm glad he was there since there are no brochures to offer history and information...however I knew he would want money at the end. Having walked there, Nate and I didn't have a lot of money on us so
we gave him what we could afford. This was a very unfortunate way to end this tour, especially after he expounded on Hindu beliefs that money is evil and even ripped on Westerners and our lack of a spiritual being.... Because he really turned his nose up at the amount we offered, and even directly asked for more. The argument can be made that we are rich American tourists visiting such a poor area, and a few dollars means so much more to them...It's a difficult issue that comes up many times through the day. Negotiating price is standard here, and I find it extremely difficult to figure out what is fair for both myself and the locals. I certainly don't want to be seen as a walking ATM, but looking through their eyes I'm sure that's exactly what I look like. I don't suppose there is a good answer...it's just a cultural norm you have to adjust to in this part of the world.
Monday 3/1 we hired a driver to take us around the north and western coast of Bali, then we ended at Tanah Lot Temple and finally Seminyak Beach for our last night's stay in
Bali. We flew out of Denpasar into Jakarta on Tuesday 3/2, had time to tour around Jakarta Wednesday morning, then we got to Ho Chi Minh City Wednesday 3/3 evening. I will post another blog soon with all those details...
Thank you all so much for your responses on this blog, i love reading what you think of my trip so far. Keep them up, and of course I always love emails in my hotmail account. Hope you're all doing well in your parts of the world!!
Love,
Lori.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.102s; Tpl: 0.018s; cc: 11; qc: 52; dbt: 0.0663s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Amy
non-member comment
lovely green
Hi! So glad that you had a chance to post more on your blog. The pictures are just beautiful. It's so nice to see green!! It sounds like you've been moving around a lot and seeing tons of places, but you've also had time to relax and enjoy being tourist. Can't wait to read more! Miss you!! Love, Amy