Gili Trawangan

The morning after our tour of Bali, we woke up early to begin our journey to Gili Trawangan. Gili Trawangan is the largest of the Gili Islands which are located just off the north western coast of Lombok (the 3 little islands on the map).



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There are several ways to get from Bali to the Gili Islands, but the most efficient way is by fast boat. The fast boats transfer people to and from the islands each morning, and typically hold about 20 people. We knew the boats went fast, but we were still surprised to find racing-style seats upon boarding. We both immediately realized that it really was going to be a fast and bumpy ride. And indeed it was. After 2hrs skipping over large waves at top speed and watching another passenger repeatedly spew her breakfast into a bag, we finally arrived at Gili Trawangan.

Blair on our fast boat

 

Boats at the GiliT port

Locals unloading supplies for the island

There are no motorized vehicles allowed on the Gili Islands. The three modes of transportation are feet, bikes, and cidomos (horse carts). Our resort, Scallywags, was at the bottom end of the island, so rather than dragging our suitcases for 20 minutes through dirt, we figured we'd give the cidomo a try...

Horse cart

..and it was the most uncomfortable 20 minutes of our lives. Thankfully, once we arrived at Scallywags, the horse cart was quickly forgotten as we sat down to drink our welcome drink and embrace the view from our resort.

Restaurant view at our resort

Most of the resorts on Gili Trawangan, including Scallywags, offer outdoor bathrooms. While the bathroom was very private, it was a bit interesting taking a shower with the sun shining down on you.

Outdoor bathroom and shower

Pool at resort

The pool at the resort was very inviting, so we decided to spend the rest of our first day on GiliT lounging by the pool sipping pina coladas. ;-) That evening we enjoyed a traditional Gili T dinner - a beach BBQ. It was fantastic, so we indulged a bit every night we were there!

BBQ!

So much selection for the BBQ!

The next morning, we got up early to head out for a day of diving with Manta Dive. The diving was decent in terms of fish, but didn't offer much in terms of coral. It turns out that fishing with dynamite used to be very popular around the Gili Islands and it has pretty much destroyed most of the coral. We did, however, manage to see lots of tropical fish, turtles, and a shark.

Our dive boat

Sea turtle - this guy was massive despite how it looks in this pic!

Tiny little clown fish in a sea anemone

Our next day on the island was a dedicated beach day! We spent most of the day on the beach relaxing and swimming. As we wandered down the beach, we found a bar in the middle nowhere, so we stopped for some drinks and to enjoy the view.

Bar on the south end of Gili T.

Fantastic private beaches everywhere!

The next day, we took a fast boat back to Bali for our last few days of vacation. Though our time on GiliT was short lived, it was a very relaxing few days that we really needed after all the site-seeing in Singapore and Bali.

Next up - our final days back in Bali. :-)