Bali Diaries- Gili Trawangan.
We took a fast boat to Gili T, passing by Lombok and Gili Meno, which were beautiful to see, and two hours later arrived on the beach at Gili T.
Jumping straight down onto the sand, we took in our surroundings. Backpackers and travellers walked up the beach into the palms that lined a dirt track that I knew stretched round the whole island. Dragging our bags across the sand, wheels useless, we found one of the decorated horse and carts that are the only vehicle on the island and asked if they could take us to ur hotel. No, they said, because it's just there.
Nothing in Gili T. is far away. The main stretch is fifteen minutes walk from one side to the other. All along the dirt track tourists and backpackers walk in thongs, barefoot, in dresses and shorts and bikinis. Here, they are free. Bars and restaurants and shops with fixed prices line each side of the road and the only thing you have to watch out for are puddles and those horse and carts. The call to prayer is heard, but I never saw anyone stop. Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention.
On the first day, we found a beach down the South of the Island and took a few shots. In the evening, we noticed a couple giggling hysterically and later passing by a restaurant which advertised 'happy cocktails' I remembered what my brother had told me: 'Gili is THE place for shrooms'. With all the lights and parties, I can understand why. Apparently shrooms are illegal, but not strictly. There are no police on the island, and these 'happy cocktails' are advertised on a notice board outside a couple of restaurants.
A friend joined us the next day and I went diving. Unfortunately all the pictures are still on her GoPro but I will try to get them because it was incredible how many turtles there were. While the GBR is still the most beautiful diving I've ever done, it has nothing on the bounty of wildlife off Gili; Lionfish, dog-faced puffer fish, shoals of Angel fish and those pointy ones I don't know the names of, Eels, and so many more but what stole the show were the turtles. On the GBR you'd be lucky to see one, maybe two. Here, I saw no less than ten. Some were hawk-billed crunching coral, some were the Green Sea Turtles. They were all HUGE. I mean, a meter long huge. Which is double the size of the GBR turtles. Yeah, I'm pretty stuck on how big they were.
Moving on, there was a full moon party, also my first ever beach party, which is funny when you think I lived in Australia for two years. It was full of light and cool music and people chilling on the beach just watching the moon. I think a lot of them were on shrooms, to be honest.
On our third day we cycled round the island. Having grown up in Switzerland, the idea of being able to head away from home and arrive right back at home is pretty cool, and the day didn't disappoint. We arrived at lone beach stands selling friendship bracelets, ate in a raised bungalow overlooking the beach, jumped off our bikes and pushed through wet sand, and saw the less touched parts of the island, with it's cows and plantations.
When I thought we had just rounded the top of the island, and still had the other half to get round, we arrived somewhere I recognised: the full moon party beach. It was one of the weirdest sensations I've ever had.
That night, we had quite an amazing experience, but went to bed early to wake up for our next day of travelling...
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