Life’s a Beach in Gili

I cannot say enough good things about my time spent on the Gili Islands. Sure, getting there was an adventure, but the discomfort of one day of travel was well worth the six glorious days we spent on these beautiful islands in the sun.

Gili Trawangan

We spent the majority of our time on Gili T, an island small enough to walk around in less than two hours. This truly is a special and picturesque place, with turquoise colored water and white sand beaches.

The fact that no motorized vehicles are allowed on the island make it extra calming and carefree (until you're dodging a horse carriage piled high with propane tanks). There's also no police and only one health clinic, but we felt completely safe.

We had such a great time surrendering to the island lifestyle – spending our sunny days bronzing on the beach, eating well in waterfront bungalows and walking around the island.

There are a few quirks here though – the loud speaker prayers booming from the island's mosque, the roosters that crow at nightfall rather than sunrise, cat's whose tails look like they've been slammed in a car door, bulls on the beach and the drug pushers trying to sell you magic mushrooms.

Unfortunately, we did have a few severe rainstorms, which completely flooded the streets (ringworm fest) and dampened our outdoorsy plans. Thankfully our hostel was an awesome refuge where we could hang out with our new friends, watching movies, playing games and sharing cold Bintangs and Juss shots with at the tree house like rooftop bar.

Even in the sometimes soggy evenings, we always ventured to the nightly food markets, one of the highlights of the island. Backpackers, tourists and locals all frequented these delicious stalls for satay, noodles, corn on a stick, veggies, to die for pancakes and an assortment of other Indo dishes. At first, we were a bit scared of getting sick from the local food, but we made it five nights strong, Bali Belly free.

One sunny day, we joined some hostel mates on a snorkeling trip around all three of the Gili Islands. Through the crystal clear warm water, we saw brightly colored fish, corals, sea turtles and occasional ocean floor junk. After getting a glimpse of the underwater beauty, I can see why the Gilis are overrun with dive schools.

In addition to divers, Gili T definitely suits the younger, banana pancake eating traveler crowd. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, each of the three main bars on the island (Blue Marlin, 'The Irish Bar' and Rudy's) have their own party night where everyone on the island, including the locals, come together to sweat under the stars.

While we were there, we also got to experience one of the island's Full Moon Parties. There was a huge bonfire on the beach, fire twirlers, fireworks and a sandy dance floor. While cool to see, it was a bit too trancey for us, and once amateur fire twirling hour came, we decided to trek back to the hostel before seeing some stupid drunk German ignite themselves.

When the morning came to head back to Bali on the fast two hour boat (thank goodness!), I was quite sad to leave paradise. I really loved Gili and could've easily stayed a few weeks longer. But our Asian travels have just begun and it was time to give Ubud in Bali our attention for our last few days in Indonesia.

See you again one day Gilis!

 

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