Gili Trawangan…

The road to Sanur had become a river...!!

The weather in Bali over the past few weeks has for the most part been superb… Cloudless blue skies were the order of the day, with light winds occasionally, which brought the temperatures down, but hardly made a dent in the humidity…

We planned a short three day trip out to the Gili Islands which lie off the northwestern coast of Lombok, the next large island in the chain that stretches east all the way to Papua New Guinea, and the outer reaches of Indonesia…

Two days before we were due to leave, the weather changed dramatically… Monsoon-like rain fell for a two days straight, flooding not only the rice paddies in the area, but causing havoc out on the roads leading down towards Sanur on the coast…

This beautiful wooden schooner lay at anchor just off Sanur...

Our driver battled through the flooded roads, taking twice as long as he usually would to get us to the harbour in Sarangan, in time to board the so called “Bluewater Express Fast Ferry” to Lombok and the Gili Islands…

Once all thirty passengers had settled into their seats, our boat sped out on the bay and headed for the open sea, to be met by huge swells that had the hull cresting the waves and then crashing down into the troughs behind them… At times the impact sent shudders through the boat that traveled up my spines, and exited somewhere out of the top of my head…

My plaintive cries of “Is there a Chiropratcor on board…??” fell on deaf ears, as the skipper seemed determined to send us all to the bottom of the bay…!!

We stayed close inshore, passing Padang Bai and Candidasa, and then with the Agung Volcano rearing out of the clouds on our left, turned east and began the crossing to Lombok… The seas in the Lombok Strait were even more mountainous than those that had been pounding the shores of Bali, and I thought it best at that point not to mention to Patti that the ocean floor lay over 1200 metres below us…!!

Heading for Lombok and the Gili Islands with the perfect companion... This photo was taken before our ferry began taking a pounding from the rough seas...!!

After clearing Customs on Teluk Kode's Beach, we leave for the final short run to Gili Trawangan...

Visitors to the island are landed right on the main beach...

We were told that the ferry normally took a little over an hour to get to Gili, but these were clearly conditions that did not fit into what could by any stretch of the imagination, be termed “normal”…

Three hours after leaving Sanur, and having stopped twice en route; once to check on a spluttering engine; and another to clear one of the propellers of a thick length of rope that had become entangled in it, we entered the shallower and mercifully, calmer water of the little village of Teluk Kode on Lombok…

Here the skipper had to declare the number of passengers he was taking over to Gili Trawangan, before casting off again and heading back out to sea, passing the two smaller Gili Islands of Gili Air and Gili Meno, before cruising into the narrow channel that separates Gili Trawangan from Gili Meno…

The three islands that make up the Gili Archipelago...

We wanted to find a quiet place away from the crowds if possible, and with our gear safely ashore, we set out to find a place to stay… There are no motor vehicles or scooters allowed on the island, and the only form of transport here, apart from that infernal contraption known as a bicycle, are horse-drawn carts known as “cidomos”…

Besides bicycles, the only form of wheeled transport are these little carts, pulled by the most raggedy-arsed horses I had ever set eyes on...!!

The accommodation we finally chose was only metres from the beach...

The cozy wooden bungalows of Good Heart... Ours was the one in the centre, and this photo was taken with my feet planted firmly on the beach out front...!!

With our bags tucked between our legs, our “driver” set off down the only road that runs along the eastern edge of the island, and then turned off this and onto a narrow track that led to the northern beaches…

The two places we looked at were either overpriced, or had no beach to speak of out front of them, so we headed back to the busier area close to the beach we had landed at, and found the Good Heart Bungalows, where we checked in and prepared to explore our surroundings…

The “main road” that ran along the beachfront contained the majority of hotels and restaurants on the island, and we had managed to find a place on the northern limits of the busier and noisier part of this stretch… Directly in front of us was the narrow beach that went off in both directions, and neatly arranged under a few scraggly cypress trees on the edge of it, was the Good Heart’s Dining Area…

We spent our first evening on Gili drinking wine on the beach and watching the sun set ...

We could literally eat our breakfast meals on the beach…!! But breakfast was still a long way off on that first late afternoon we spent on the beach…

We had brought a few bottles of closely guarded wine with us, and after dragging chairs from under the trees and onto the beach proper, Patti and I sat sipping our wine while the sun set somewhere behind us in the direction of Bali…

The magical “Blue Hour” came and went, and still we sat there, enjoying the stillness of the evening and watching the small waves roll endlessly onto the beach before us…

Later, with a sky-full of stars above us, we walked down the road to find a suitable place to have dinner…

Trawangan was “coming alive” with people who had probably spent the majority of the day sleeping off hangovers purchased the previous evening…!!

The “street” was crowded with far more people than we had seen during the day, and many of the restaurants had already filled up…

Like Koh Phangan in Thailand, Gili Trawangan has become famous for it party atmosphere, and attracts many folk who feel the need to let it all hang out… Music blares from the many seaside restaurants, and can be heard into the early hours of the morning… While we walked, we were offered a variety of “euphoria inducing chemicals” by shady characters who would sidle up to us in the dark to offer their “wares”…

While graciously declining their offers, I noticed that there were many signs offering what I assumed to be a health drink of sorts… In keeping with my new found taste for all things vegetable, I decided to sample what is locally known as a “Mushroom Shake”…

In keeping with my new leaning towards more vegetables i my diet, I suggested we try the Mushroom Shakes...!!

The infamous Gili Mushroom Shake... Not your average run-of -the-mill health supplement...!! They should call this stuff Laughing Juice instead...!!

From under the counter appeared a small plastic container, in which small quantities of mushrooms had been wrapped in individual pieces of paper. The smiling shopkeeper then put one of these little parcels into a blender, went to the drinks fridge and returned with a tin of Red Bull…

At that point I realized that there was possibly more to this health drink that met the eye…!! As an afterthought he then added a second parcel of mushrooms to the Red Bull which was already in the blender, mixed the concoction up, and poured it into a small plastic cup…

With a flourish born of a natural showman, he added a straw to the cup, held it out to me and said, “See you on the moon…!!”…

I wanted to explain that I was not an astronaut on leave, and my journey did not include a visit to any astral body, but by then he had turned away to serve another customer who had been watching the mixing process with more than a passing interest…

I sipped on my shake as we walked, ignoring comments from some locals such as “Enjoy the trip…!!”, while others broke into spontaneous snatches of song like “Fly me to the moon…”, and the chorus of Leo Sayer’s “Moonlighting…” …

By the time I reached the bottom of my cup, I decided that it was high time I found a chair to sit on, to avoid my legs folding beneath me and giving me a much closer look at the road surface than what was absolutely required…!! Minutes later we were seated at a table right next to the lapping waters of the ocean, and the world around me was a warm and fuzzy place…!!

And that is how Patricia came to have stars in her eyes... I had nothing whatsoever to do with it...!!

I have no idea where my mind went to, but I do know it was a place ringing with laughter, mostly my own…!! I found everything and everyone around to be ridiculously funny… When a large bullfrog hopped into view from under our table, I remember advising all that would listen, that no matter how hard one tried, it was impossible to change the facial expressions of a frog…!!

While some accepted this little gem of general knowledge, and nodded sagely in the general direction of the inquisitive amphibian, our laughter echoed around the restaurant, scaring most patrons into stunned silence…!!

It went rather pear-shaped from there, and hours later, after a meal that I can hardly recall, I was still laughing hysterically… Only when I knew with certainty that my legs were once again functioning normally, did I call for the bill, and together with Patricia on my arm, we made a rather theatrical exit from the restaurant, stopping only once on the way back to our lodgings to sample a cocktail that was on special at another eatery nearby… Just like walking, laughing can be a thirsty exercise too…!!

The following morning, Patti roused me from a dream that involved intergalactic travel on a the Big Fella, and suggested we take a walk around the island…

“Are you feeling unwell by any chance…??” I asked in a voice that seemed to come from someone else in the room… “It’s about a 9 km trek by all accounts, fraught with sweating and the like…!! Not to mention aching joints and muscles…!!”

As usual, my advice about the evils of regular exercise was studiously ignored, and a short while later I found myself stumbling along a coral strewn beach, in sunshine that was far too bright for my liking…

Everything on Gili Trawangan is brought in by boat, even the sand required for building...

We walked barefoot for the most part, staying on the beach all the way to the northern tip of the island, before turning and making our way along a narrow dirt track that bordered small hamlets, where livestock grazed among the coconut trees…

For the most part we were alone, and walked along remarking on the things we saw and marveling at the beauty along the shoreline… We watched a small boat offloading building materials directly onto the beach, bags of sand carried on the shoulders of the guys as they waded through the shallows…

There is barely enough land here to provide the produce needed by the islanders themselves, and small boats ferry many of the island’s daily requirements from Lombok and far beyond…

By the time we had covered half the distance around the island, any toxins from the night before had filtered through my pores and evaporated off my skin, and with a clear head, we continued south, heading for the bottom corner of the island…

There are no tourist developments on the western half of Trawangan, and until we made the final turn to head back up the eastern shore of the island, we had seen hardly a soul on our walk…

The beautiful deserted beaches on the western side of the island...

Notice the interesting curves on this driftwood...

It's a long, long way from the beaches of Johannesburg...!!

The only constant noises were the Cicadas screeching from the trees and bush on one side, and the rumble of waves washing onto shore on the other… Apart from the wheezing coming from at least one set of overworked lungs, of course…!!

We came across a large wooden deck area, built into the rocks on the edge of the sea, and I thought this would be a perfect place to rest while watching the large fishing boats that lay at anchor in the bay in front of us…

My self-appointed personal trainer had other ideas however…!! To my astonishment and disbelief, as well as that of a small group of locals who had been sitting on the deck, I was then put through a series of stretching and Yoga exercises that left me thinking that the term “Holiday on a Paradise Island” was vastly overrated…!!

We stopped to take a breather at the poolside of the Villa Ombak Hotel... "Sanctuary at last...!!" one of us cried...!!

The third suggestion gave us a few good laughs...

A few kilometres further, we stopped off at a hotel with an invitingly large swimming pool, and both agreed that a dip was in order… I had been made to jog the last kilometre and wild horses would not have dragged me away from that pool anyhow…!!

Had to smile at this one...!!

We scratched around in our pockets and found barely enough money to buy a glass of fruit juice and a bottle of water, and after a long swim, we continued our walk, passing the long line of restaurants and hotels on this the busier part of the island…

We passed the place we had eaten at the previous evening, getting friendly greetings from the waiters who were preparing tables for breakfast… Yes, it was still THAT early…!! They spoke to each other in their language and then burst out laughing as passed… They probably said something like “There goes that crazy guy from last night…!!”…

Reminded me of my mother's menus back home...

By this time the sun was blazing on high, and apart from being ravenous, the 9km and three hours we had spent walking through thick sand had us both a little knackered…

A popular hangout on Gili Trawangan...

After a quick and simple breakfast we headed for the beach, which did not take too much “heading” as it was barely ten metres from the door of our bungalow…

Umbrellas and loungers had been dragged out from under the trees by the various hotels along the beach, and all was being made ready for another long day in the sun… Small groups of people were already staking out their spots, the Aussie contingents as usual, beer in hand…!!

No different than back home in South Africa…!!

Considering the volumes of alcohol and other chemicals on offer, this bar is aptly named...!!

The beach outside our bungalow... Idyllic...!!

Patti snorkels over the reef which lies only a few metres offshore...

We hired masks and snorkels, tried on various fins until we found pairs that fit, and headed into the turquoise waters of the channel, stepping carefully over the corals that were exposed by the low tide…

Moorish Idols swam beneath us in small groups...

In water no deeper than our waists, I helped Patti get herself “organized” before we began swimming out among the glass bottomed boats and other skiffs anchored offshore…

Once over the reef itself, we were able to take in the sight of schools of the beautiful fish that populated it…

They swam up close to us, clouds of Wrasse and other species which I did not recognize at first, until slowly but surely, I was able to access the archives of my memory to be able to explain to Patti what we were seeing…

With my trusty Canon D10 camera, I was able to dive down and snap away at the fish that came close enough to be photographed… Although the reef had been damaged by the many boats that anchored here on a daily basis, the fish had clearly decided that it was still worthwhile hanging about…!!

Blackbelly Trigger Fish, one of my favourite fish, along with it's cousin the Clown Trigger Fish...

Blue-line Surgeon Fish foraged among the coral...

The list of species I was able to identify beneath me as I paddled about in barely 2 metres of water, is too long to mention here, suffice to say that it contains all the usual suspects endemic to Indian Ocean reefs and I was reminded of the hundreds of hours I had spent on the reefs of Sodwana Bay, Mauritius and Reunion Island, leading dives and certifying student divers in the 80’s…

Chevron Butterfly Fish...

I was back in the element I sometimes felt born to, and although I quickly discovered that I can no longer spend as much time underwater on a single breath as I used to, I nevertheless took immense enjoyment out of the time I spent on the reef off Trawangan…

While Patti headed back to the beach to catch some rays, I went back out to the reef...

When Patti decided she had had enough, I escorted her back to the beach, and then went back out again, spending time watching a pair of Clown Fish protecting “their” Anenome, then finding a small school of Butterfly Fish and following them as they jinked in and out of the coral heads…

They disturbed a Bleeker’s Parrot Fish, which took my attention away from the Butterfly fish and focused it for the next few minutes on this beautiful fish… Sunlight glinted off its electric blue and green scales, and as I chased it, trying to get a photo, I realized that I was now almost exhausted by the effort of swimming and diving, and eventually gave up the quest…

When I eventually put my head up above the water, I noticed that the weather had changed dramatically…!! The sky had darkened with the promise of rain, driving many of the sunbathers back to the bars and restaurants they usually frequented…

I swam in over the coral on the incoming tide, easily clearing the part of the reef that we had gingerly walked over to get to deeper water a few hours before…

We sat watching the sky, trying to predict whether or not it would rain, and luckily, the fairly strong wind that was blowing, moved the heavier clouds over towards Lombok, where the higher elevations were already receiving rain…

Dark clouds scud across the bay in the late afternoon, as we sit fingers crossed, hoping it would not rain...

Just when I thought it was safe to relax, I was dragged to the local yoga studio for even more exercise...!!

About 25 years ago...?? Over 30 metres...!! Now...?? More than 5 metres will have me shaking hands with the Grim Reaper...!!

By now it was late afternoon, and to my horror, Patti sweetly suggested that we attend a yoga class that began at 5.30 pm…!!

“Was there no end to this woman’s energy…??” I asked myself… My comment that healthy people were going to feel rather stupid one day, when they lay in a hospital bed, dying of nothing but old age, was met with a raised eyebrow and an exasperated sigh…

Reminding her that I had expended enough energy for one day already, did not get me off the hook either…

Needless to say, that after an early dinner that excluded any form of mushrooms, we made our way back to our bungalow, where I flatly refused any suggestions regarding riding a bicycle around the island the following morning, and fell into a sleep that would have put a corpse to shame…

Breakfast on the beach... Mercifully the beginning of a far more relaxing day than we had shared the day before...!!

The previous evening we had stood watching a honeymoon couple enjoying their dinner under this gazebo...

The boat trip back to Bali was made in brilliant sunshine and over calmer waters...

We spent the following morning soaking up sunshine on the beach and snorkeling in the clear waters, until shortly before lunch, we packed up our gear, and headed back to the area where our boat waited to take us back to Bali…

While we sat watching the colourful boats bobbing at anchor in the channel, we rued the fact that we had not planned to spend an extra day on the island… We agreed that the two half days and one full day was not enough to completely unwind and take in all there was to do here…

The trip back to Bali took a little more than an hour, the weather perfect, allowing us to spend some time on the small rear deck of the boat, watching Mt. Agung draw closer as we crossed the strait and turned south to run along the shore to Padang Bai, where we were the only ones to disembark, the remainder of the passengers going all the way south to Sanur…

The ferry that would take the Big Fella and I across to Lombok in a few weeks time...

Looking down the jetty at Padang Bai...

As we walked back along the jetty to where a driver was waiting to take us to Ubud, I watched the ferry from Lombok motor into the bay and tie up at the terminal there… While Patti walked on ahead, stopped to take a photo of it, reminding myself that in the near future, I would be taking that same ferry away from Bali and Patti, and on towards East Timor to continue my journey…

I tried to banish the thought, thinking instead of the wonderful few days we had just enjoyed, and hoping for more of the same in the last few weeks I intended staying in Bali…

But on the hour long drive back to Ubud, the unpleasant thought of leaving Patti behind kept intruding, and by the time we arrived home in the gloom of early evening, I had lapsed into an uncomfortable and somewhat morose silence…

I knew without a doubt that then that Patti meant a great deal to me, and immediately began thinking and planning of ways to see her over the course of the remainder of my journey through Australia and South America…

I was determined not to let go of this jewel I had discovered in Bali…

©GBWT 2011