Advertisement
Published: September 8th 2008
Edit Blog Post
Matt and I were moan, moan moaning about the stupid bus ride from hell as we drove through the streets of Kuta in Bali, streets lined with bars and life and the beach just metres away, when Tom turned round and said - "Will you guys shut up; we're in BALI!" To bloody right to be fair, we were on our way to the tropical delights of the Indonesian Islands and all we could do was moan about the journey getting there! We had another all nighter because it was the final of the Euro and our transport across to the Gili's came very early in the morning. The pub was absolutely full to bursting, mainly with Germans - I mean it was ridiculous I had to go back to our room to go to the loo because I couldn't make my way through the sea of overly confident German football fans! We stood on the Spanish side and had a really good night, very few actually Spanish people but we met plenty of Swiss😉
Add to the transport tally at the end of my Java blog - minibus/ferry/minibus/crazy,rikity long boat and you will have how we got from Bromo
in Java to Gili Trawangan in 33 hours! Gili Trawangan is basically paradise. We got a free sunset cruise as we were transported in the rikity long boat fom Lombok to Trawangan and we jumped down from the boat into the surf and saw the beach. Beautiful white sand and bright blue water. The beach isn't that big and nor is the main street that runs along it, around which everything is centred. It is all very chilled out and laid back but the street is lined with dive shops, accommodation and beach front bars. So although the whole place is very relaxed there are also excellent places to get a drink and party. Emily was kind enough to sort out our accommodation so all we had to do was dump our bags and head out for a drink, since we had abstained from crazy nights out for the whole of Sumatra and Java (beers don't count obviously!). We met up with the other girls who are so much fun, we had a wicked first night which for me has a few blank spots, I was adament that we hadn't moved bars, until later that week I was walking into
Hard at work
as we sail by the toilets of Rudy's and had a little memory of the painting on the walls! Opps! It was basically the end of everyone elses trip because after various periods of travelling they were all heading home, so the Gili's was a chance for everyone to relax and have a good time. That we did. We basically spent our time, sleeping in/reading on our balcony/watching films in the 'cinema'/swimming in the pool/chilling on the beach and having a few drinks. It's a hard life, but someones got to do it!
IN the Gili's basically it works that each night one of the bars has a 'party' so everyone just turns up at that bar and if you want a quiter night go somewhere else. The bars aren't that big and there aren't an annoying number of people crushed in there, it's just a good chance for everyone to get together. On our 3rd night it was Wednesday which is the turn of the Irish bar. We fell in love with Extra Joss which is like a cross beween powered redbull and the type of candy which fizzes in your mouth. It was cheap and put into the drinks so we
were still up and the last few people still begging not to be thrown out at 4.30am. That night is now know as Napoleon Dynamite night. On most of you this might be lost but during the evening a guy who actually looked like Napoleon Dynamite started dancing on the bar in the typical Dynamite fashion - it was bloody hilarious, especially when the poor boy's night was made by Grace and Tess getting up and dancing with him! So one messy night preceeded two fairly quite days until we were wondering around and a group of boys we'd met from our bungalows asked us if we wanted to go with themto sunset bar. If you walk along the main street and just keep going, it turns a little bit wilder and the street becomes sand but you eventually come to a "bar". Loosest possible meaning of the word, some decking and a couple of guys selling beers out of a cooler but you get the most incredible view of the sunset on the beach. The lot of us found ourselves a nice rock to sit on and watched as the cloud and setting sun created an effect which made
Lombok Port
Just before our cruise across to Gili Trawangan the mountain on Lombok look like MT Olympus. The cloud was low and cut off most of the land so just the peak rose above them and in the pinky light of the sunset the floating mountain looked like it was the mythical home of the gods in heaven. So fricking stunning - and guess who'd left their camera charging in their room?! After the last of the light had gone we went for dinner in a fantastic beach front resturant, all white linen and little candles; which was the prelim for yet another very drunken night. It involved a party a Rudy's, lots of dancing, Emily being hilarious and a very strange incident with the local workmen at our bungalows shining lights into our room and skulking around our balcony. By the way I wasn't as impressed with the locals here as I have been with the othe Indonesians I've met, they all seemed slightly altered by the presense of so many tourists and most of them welcomed you into their bars like rent boys (probably were!) rather than the fantastic "welcome home" style of Lake Toba.
ONe thing I disgustingly never got round to was diving, I
cutting through the water
Cruising across to the Gilis could've done my PADI open water there which is something I have always been desperate to do, but was having too fun to think about actually spending 4 days out and learning! Recent events in Oz have made me wish I had done it there, where most of the tuition was 1 to 1 and the reef so beautiful (apparently!) I was planning to go snorkling on my last day, becuase the day I had tried to go in before there were little jellies everywhere so was too scared, but was 'ill' after Rudy's so I was up too late. Emily and Matt said they saw turtles just a few metres off shore when they went, so if/when I go back I will definately be getting in there! I had a fantastic time there though and wouldn't take back a second.
Our time in Indo was topped off with 2 nights back in Kuta in Bali, I wasn't a big fan of this resort because it's basically an Ibiza for Aussies and the beach was packed! We splashed out a little and we all went to a fancy hotel (which actually only equated to about 10 pounds a night!)
Sunset cruise
Lombok to Gili trawangan and had a crazy typical party night in Bali for our last night there. Matt, Emily, Tom and I had to get back up to bangkok for flights and for me to meet my long expected sister. This involved another crazy, ridiculously long journey for Tom and I, while the others flew - Damn my tiny buget! 32 hours on a bus and ferry from Denpasar to Jakarta with only about 4 stops, another cool night in Jakarta even though the sweatbox of a guesthouse had the most horrendous bedbugs I have ever encountered and a flight from up to BAngkok. Ta Daa!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.042s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 8; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0222s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb