First time for me to this part of the world! Beautiful islands, beaches, architecture, sculptures, etc.. and the Indonesian people are so lovely! They are very friendly and smile a lot (which I love). The experience was beautiful for many different ways for me, but… I also never had so much bad luck on a trip! 😅 So, it was a bit of a mixed bag for me.
I spent 18 hours on my flights alone, each way (longest time for me so far in one day) – Valencia-Barcelona-Dubai-Bali. Everything was super smooth with no problems; no delays, no big lines anywhere. I was SUPER lucky on both flights to and from my destinations (two 9 hour flights) where I had an entire row of seats to myself. 😀 The only down side is I developed a killer headache for the last 6 hours of the second flight. Brutal. But very grateful I could lay down in my private row.
The Gili Islands are a group of 3 tiny islands; Gili Trawangan (Gilly T), Gili Meno and Gili Air, in Indonesia. I only spent a 2 days in Bali, the rest of my 12 days were all spent on Gili T. I visited the area only 6 months after they had a earthquake and only 2 months after a tsunami. So there was still some damage and rebuilding.
Gili T was amazing! Incredibly beautiful, the water was warm and clear and the beaches were wonderful. I visited during the rainy season so the sky was often very dramatic with the rain and cloud formations, as you can see here in this video.
When I was there the tourism was low because of the time of year and weather so the prices for the villas we stayed at were incredibly low! The two villas below (each with their own private pool) were only $60 a night!
Over the years, I have traveled to quite a few islands in the Caribbean, Turks & Caicos, Belize, Cozumel, Cuba and lived in Key West for two years, but this was most remote island I have ever stayed for 12 days. You are right in the heart of the ocean so when there is even a small storm, it effects your transportation and power throughout the island. The interior streets are unpaved, dirt roads with a lot of pot holes and rocks and are flooded easily. There are no street lights and the lights from the villas and restaurants can be lost sometimes when the power goes out, which happened several times during my short stay. Navigating these streets on a bike or foot can be a bit treacherous at night and sometimes we resorted to a horse cart, which was a VERY bumpy ride, loads of pot holes. The interior roads were like a small river a few days (rainy season). There are no cars or motors, transport is only carts pulled by horses. They are a small percentage of locals that have electric scooters. If you have problems… there is an emergency clinic, but you have to go to the nearby, bigger island, Lombock for an actual hospital if you need it.
One time we had a mild storm with some stronger wind that hit one side of the island. It blew so much sand onto the roads that you couldn’t ride a bike or use carriages. People were shoveling the sand like snow just so people would come to their resorts and restaurants. 😅
I did the best I could to capture the island with images and videos, but because of the rain and the roads, although small, it was tough getting around the island at times, so I am very sure that there are many of photo opportunities I missed. See photo gallery below.
The Indonesian people are some of the most friendly I have ever met in my travels. Everyone smiles at you just walking or riding your bike on the street. Our villa was in the middle of the island and stayed in a local neighborhood and had regular interaction with the locals. One time a young father with two small children was riding a bike with a plastic basket in front and back of the bike where his children sat. I said hi as they passed and the father said hello and then both children said hello a the same time. Their voices were very melodic and they had adorable smiles. One of my favorite special moments. 😊 One Indonesian man was talking to us and explaining to us that if they smile at a stranger and that person doesn’t smile back, there think there is something wrong with them. Much different than my experiences with Europeans. 😅
I found out one specialty Gili T is known for their psychedelic mushroom drinks 🍄! Yes, I indulged. A fun experience, we just hung out on the beach, swam, relaxed and watched all the locals on their with their friends, families, coworkers on boats and paddle boards. Totally present and unplugged for hours. It was really magical and just the escape I needed.
There are two types of boats for public transport when traveling to Bali from the Gili Islands; the faster speed boat for people only – 1 ½ hours from Bali to Gili T and another bigger, slower boat that transports motors and cars as well as people. When the waves are too big it’s too dangerous to use the smaller speed boats and for our trip back we were forced to use the larger boat that takes 5 hours. However, you had to first take another boat to Lombok and then a bus to the actual boat that takes 5 hours. So with transport and waiting times the whole trip from Bali to Gili T was 12 hours long….. versus 1 ½ hours by speed boat when I arrived! Very long day!
My poor ex husband developed Dengue Fever our last day and night together. It started at the end of our very long travel day on the public boat. Dengue is caused by a type of mosquito in some tropical and sub tropical areas. You feel very sick with extreme temperatures swings; one minute you are freezing and then smoking hot and sweating. It can cause a lot of joint, muscle and intestinal cramping and you are feeling sick for about 2-3 weeks. Very nasty! Poor guy, he was really hurting. He had all the symptoms. There is no vaccination for this. You just hope you don’t get bit. If you do, you just rest, drink a lot of fluids and wait it out.
On the flight back they confiscated my nail scissors at security in Bali. Funny, since I have traveled a lot of places with my trusty scissors with no problem… that was a first! I had the choice return to check my back instead of carrying it on the plane. I opted to donate them. 😊
As I said… a mixed bag, but a great travel story. Much of it was a wonderful experience and I would love to return in the future to see more of Bali for sure!
