Gili Trawangan, Indonesia

ccw824
Jul 1, 2024
11 min read

Updated: Jul 5, 2024

June 26, 2024

After a day of transit, Dmitri and I wake up in Bali and feel like we should pinch ourselves. We love love love Bali. It's a special place for us. We visited here 23 years ago on our honeymoon, we spent about a month here with the kids back in 2022 on our RTW trip, and we even named our cat Bali. The people, the food, the views....all incredible. And it's hard to beat the prices! A running thread during the blogs about Indonesia will be my delight with how little things cost! But, Cindy, why are you talking about Bali when your post is entitled Gili Trawangan. Well, buckle up, buttercups. I'll explain.

The Gili Islands are three islands located between Bali and Lombok in Indonesia. Gili means small island so saying Gili Islands is a bit redundant. Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno, and Gili Air are about a 2 1/2 hour ferry ride from Bali.

So after having a happy reunion with Wendy and Austin Barker, our VERY good friends from Champaign, Illinois, we have breakfast in our hotel and then are picked up by our driver and his wife, Putu. If I had actually written up the Bali blog from when we were here in 2022, I would have introduced Putu. She is a lovely Balinese woman, who has great affection for her island home. Jack and I actually met her husband, Raman, first. The last time we were in Ubud he drove us to a cat cafe. We took down his name and contacted him and Putu took over from there. She had her son, Satria, drive us around so he could practice his English and she accompanied him. They took us to temples and rice paddies and were absolutely wonderful. Fast forward two years and I reached out to Putu again.

Raman and Putu drive us from the airport hotel (Denpasar) to Padangbai, where we will get on our ferry. In terms of distance, it's about 56 kilometers. However, this being Bali, it takes us 2 1/2 hours. It's always a leap of faith in Bali and we arrive at the harbor and get our tickets and some nasi goreng (SE Asian rice dish made with vegetables--think fried rice) and get on the ferry. 2+ hours later we arrive at the harbor at Gili T. We take a horse and cart to our hotel. In the Gilis, people travel by foot, bicycle, and horse cart.

Two years ago in Uluwatu, we stayed at a Pink Coco hotel. And they have one in Gili T so we go with a known quantity and booked in here for the next 6 nights. The whole place is a bright pink and has a fun vibe. We are greeted with some sort of cold pink juice and wonderful smelling cold wet pink washcloths. It's heaven after the ferry ride and horse cart. We unpack and settle in and for the afternoon turn down they bring us cookies and facial masks for Wendy and me. I LOVE fun, unexpected treats.

We head out to where the hotel has set up pink bean bag chairs and have beer and ceviche (D and me) and calamari (Austin) while we watch the sunset. And it's just lovely.

Wendy sidenote - They had a DJ spinning tunes with a chill sunset vibe. Very cool!

Every night but Thursday they have fire dancing but poor Wendy is about to pass out from jet lag and being up since 2 am local time so we decide we had better not sit any longer. We head out to a seaside restaurant near the harbor and have a delicious and very inexpensive dinner, while being serenaded by a local named Dennis who plays a variety of older American songs.

It's been a day of fresh air and sunshine and beer so we all head to bed on the early side. I do take a quick dip in the pool and oh my goodness is it FANTASTIC.

June 27

Wendy sleeps 11 hours!!!! Total rock star. The four of us meet in the rooftop bar area for coffee and planning.

Austin catching up with his girlfriend back home

A friendly little Gili T kitty

Austin heads off to the gym and Dmitri and Wendy and I decide to rent bikes and do some recon. Bikes are $4 for 24 hours and they are pink. Very fun. We set off and with stops and starts it takes us about an hour to circle the island.

Dmitri and Wendy on our pink bikes. Wendy got the memo on all the pink!

We have yummy breakfast bowls at Carpe Diem. Gili T is a wonderfully-sized island and it's perfect for the four of us. We can each separate, do what we like, then meet back up again very easily. Dmitri has a work call, Wendy does some email catch up while Austin is at the gym, and I head off to get my legs waxed. Then I bike over to meet up with Wendy and Austin at the Jiggy Bar for lunch while Dmitri goes to the gym. While he's at the gym, Wendy, Austin, and I take a swim in the ocean. Then Dmitri and Austin hop in the pool. Dmitri has a late lunch while Austin naps and Wendy and I get head massages. We are all in and out of each other's orbits and everyone gets to do what they want, when they want. But oh my goodness gracious, back to the head massages. They are $6 for 30 minutes and Wendy and I decide to get one Every. Freaking. Day. These tiny Indonesian women have got some strong fingers!!! It's absolute heaven.

100,000 IDR is USD $6.09. This being a hotel, prices are about 2x of what they are nearby.

Austin is off tonight to a pub crawl, and we all hope he can meet other people his own age. Not that he's upset to hang out with us older folk. He's been a great sport. But it's time for him to meet up with some Aussies who are here to party!

Photo taken outside our room at the Pink Coco. You flip the sign for when you aren't in and they go in to make up your room. I'm sure they meant to have the sign read "Gone to the beach" but something got lost in translation. But still. Good advice for anyone. Go to beach.

The sunset is the most spectacular one I think I have ever seen in my life. The sky is a sherbet of colors and the photos I take do not do it justice. Near the end, as everything darkens, the whole sky turns this deep, deep red that is reflected in the water. It is absolutely stunning.

The gang reconvenes and we have dinner in an upper deck restaurant at the Pearl hotel.

The food is great but the real treat is dessert. We order the Gili nuts and it is spectacular. I'm not even hungry at this point, but I'm scarfing it down.

We return home to an amazing smell in our room coming from a tea candle and burning oil. We find our nightly cookies and a little stuffed turtle. And a fun message written on our bathroom mirror.

June 28

I'm up early and I can't reach Wendy bc connection issues. I'm pretty sure she's gone to walk. So I get out my yoga mat and take advantage of the beautiful light and the birds chirping. When Wendy returns from her walk, we swim laps. The pool is A-MAZ-ING. Great temp, super long--we estimate about 49 yards--and in the morning we have it to ourselves.

Having stretched and swam, Wendy, Dmitri and I hop on bikes and go have a wonderful breakfast at Banyan Tree. Overnight oats, good. Berry bowl, good. Pink chai, good. Golden chai, good. I am in love with almost everything on this menu and plan to return for future meals.

Right next to the restaurant is a place that does yoga and free diving lessons so Wendy and I sign ourselves up for a free dive intro course that's a half day to see if we like it. Then it's back to the hotel for some quality daybed lounging time. Meanwhile, Austin has been up and dropped our laundry off. And then for him, it's off to the beach to drink with some Aussies he met last night.

We find a spot that is just heavenly. Loungers in the shade, sounds of waves crashing, cheap Bintang beer, friendly waiters. Does life get much better? We alternate with dips in the ocean and chilling out on the loungers. At some point, Dmitri joins us and we order some food. It's all good. Wendy hears her first call to prayer, which is novel to her. lndonesia is a predominantly Muslim country and there is evidence of this on Gili T. Bali is more visually Hindu and Buddhist.

We get so involved relaxing at the beach that there isn’t time to get massages before sunset. I know. I know. You just feel terrible for us, don’t you?

All too soon it's time to head to the beach for another stunning sunset and the fire show at Pink Coco.

Dmitri's flip flops have fallen apart so we head into "town" to get him some new ones. Wendy and I cancel the intro free dive and instead sign up for a snorkel trip for all 4 of us for the following morning. Austin picks up the laundry he dropped off earlier today and it cost us $4.50. Score!

For our nightly surprise we get cookies and a flower hair clip

June 29

Wendy and I are up before the boys and so we take a walk partway around the island, stopping frequently to pet the cats of Gili T.

We meet up with Dmitri and Austin and have a lovely breakfast at Pink Coco before heading out for a snorkel trip. We have a private boat for the 4 of us and it'll be about 4 hours with some stops at Gilis Meno and Air and several snorkeling stops.

First up we visit Nest, underwater statues just off Gili Meno. There are 48 sculptures of couples standing together embracing. In the middle, fish swirl around and it's a sight to see.

Not my photo. I pulled this off the internet:

Our second snorkel stop we see TURTLES!!!! We swim with them and follow them around and it is magical. We can't believe how close they swim to us. Then it's on to see the coral and we haven't ever seen blue and green coral so that's pretty cool.

We have a stop on Gili Meno and see baby turtles at the turtle sanctuary--where they protect the eggs and baby turtles from predators before releasing them into the ocean. Gili Meno has a lake and we go to see it and then it's on to Gili Air. We do some shopping and get drinks and head back to Gili T. It's a nice feeling to know that we picked the right island in the Gilis to stay on. Gili T is the biggest of the three and has the most amenities, but is also big enough that our hotel is a bit outside the busy, party area.

Oh, would you look at that! We make it back in time to grab lunch at Banyan Tree. On the ride back Wendy's bike pedal falls off and that's a major drag. Such is life in Indonesia. Things don't always run smoothly. The hotel people are very apologetic. And we have a Balinese massage ($12 US for 60 min) scheduled for 4 pm (after our afternoon dip in the pool) so that takes the sting out of it. Then it's off for wine and sunset and the fire dancer guy.

I am still pretty full from a late lunch so I decide to stay back at the hotel and post up on my daybed. Dmitri and Wendy head off to the night market.

Grilled fish at the night market

June 30

Another gorgeous day in paradise. 3/4 of us have a wonderful breakfast at Banyan Tree. I particularly like my blue mermaid bowl and pink chai.

Dmitri and Wendy head to the gym and I head back to the hotel to swim. However, the pool is in full sun so I decide to daybed it up and take care of a few things on my laptop since Jack leaves LA in about 24 hours to meet up with us here!! I fill out his customs form and chat with him briefly via text. Austin emerges after a late night out and heads to the gym.

Wendy, Austin, and I bike across the island to take a cooking class and O. M. G. is the food SO good. It's easy to make and healthy. From the bike ride over and then the heat in the outdoor cooking area, my hair can barely be held back. It's so so so so wild and bushy with the humidity. (Dmitri opts to daybed it up at Pink Coco and order a meal brought to him on said daybed.)

After cooking, eating, and biking back, Wendy and I relax at the pool before our 4 pm hot stone massages. $12 each. How can you beat THAT!!! We are loving our massages and we feel so spoiled and decadent. Tomorrow, however, we will not be able to keep up our daily 4 pm massage appointments, as we have pony paddling scheduled at 4. Oh, the hard decisions. Maybe a morning massage instead, perhaps?

Totally blissed out with our ginger tea post-massage

After some more daybed time, we head out to watch the sunset. Yes, again. It's a nightly thing here and we are loving the way tourists and locals alike head to the beach at sunset to watch the sky. What a wonderful ritual and in our day-to-day go go go lives it's a peaceful reminder that life moves more slowly in other countries. No one is in a rush on Gili T. Drinks take awhile, breakfast takes awhile, there is no rush. Another beautiful sunset, dinner at Pink Coco and more of the fire dancer guy.

The locals behind Wendy were singing Bob Marley songs

July 1

After an early morning walk around the island with Wendy, we set out for another breakfast at Banyan Tree. Oatmeal, smoothies, and my last pink chai on Gili T.

Then it's off to the loungers and some ocean time. Wendy and I take our goggles in for a swim and within minutes see 5 turtles! Seeing turtles is always a good thing.

We briefly chat with Jack and Mia at home, where it's still June 30. Jack is about to start his transit to meet up with us in Bali. He spends some last quality time with Bali the cat and then Mia takes him to the airport and off he goes. We will see him in a mere 30 or so hours!

Then Wendy and I are off for a pony paddle. There are lots of places on the island where you can ride horses but this one place I found, Stud Horse Riding and Rescue, looked humane and ethical. All the proceeds they get go to caring for the horses. Wendy and I walk over to the stable and met Princess and Jerry Sausage and we walk them to the beach and they have a little splash in the ocean and roll in the sand. Princess was saved from a slaughterhouse and Jerry pulled a horse cart but he's such a little guy that it was hard on his body so they bought him and added him the rescue and now he's fat and happy. On the way back to the stables we see deer! Who even knew there were deer on Gili T?!!

Princess LOVES to roll around in the ocean

Jerry loves to be splashed

Princess

Jerry Sausage

After the fun with ponies, we have a dip in the pool and both agree that the temperature in the pool is absolutely perfect. Not too cool, not too warm. And they have these floaty raft things that are heavy but still float and we all wonder why every hotel doesn't have them. They are perfect for lounging in the pool.

Since it's our last evening, we get the most out of our daybed time before packing up. Tomorrow is a transit day--9:30 am ferry to Padangbai and then we split for the day. Wendy and Austin will go straight to Ubud. Dmitri and I will go back to Denpasar to pick up Jack from the airport and then head to Ubud.

We will miss you, Gili T.