Gili Trawangan

Back when I was starting to plan our trip to Asia, I was surfing the different forums on the net looking at the different locations that people visit.
Initially I really didn’t plan on going to Indonesia but during one online conversation with a forum member on boards.ie, I was informed about the paradise like Gili islands.
It didn’t take me long to figure out that they would be worth a visit, and I knew that Florence wouldn’t need any persuading so I scheduled in a flight to Bali as part of our travels!
The Gili islands have long been a magnet for backpackers and tourists alike who have decided to venture away from Bali. Located in the northeastern tip of Lombok the Gilis comprise of 3 small islands namely, Gili Trawangan, Gili Air and Gili Meno. Each has its own different characterisitcs but all having the stunning turquoise-tinted, bathtub warm waters, friendly locals, beachfront bungalows and no motorised vehicles in common.

We left our room in Ubud at 6:30am Sunday morning having spent a lovely 5 days there. We were driven by minibus for over an hour to the area at the docks called Padangai. This was where we would be getting the fast boat across to the Gilis. The fast boat are so called because they travel at 30 knots for 1.5 hours to reach the islands. The slow boat option, while been alot cheaper can take anywhere from 6 to 8 hours to complete and only leave at irregular times. So we definitely said we’d James Bond it in the fast boat for this one

The journey across was very scenic and the boat was about 75% full. Arriving at Gili T was really like something out of a movie. Endless isolated white sand beaches stretched either side of the dock. The dock itself was brimming with locals all eager for us to use their “cidomo” which is a horse drawn cart. Since the only motorised vehicles on these islands are the boats that come and go the only form of transport around the island are these cidomo’s and bicycles!

The Island itself can be walked around by the parameter in 2.5 hours so as you can guess its not really big. Big and busy enough though to be the most visited of the 3 Gili islands.

We found ourselves a lovely little room which was only about a 2 minute walk to the beach and cost only 6 euro per person per night! There was only a fan in the room but it worked more the the propeller on an aeroplane so that coupled with the cool breeze coming from the beach ensured that it wasn’t going to be uncomfortably hot at night.

So that was Sunday night and its now Thursday and we are still here in same spot!
We basically spent the first 2 days lapping it up at the beach drinking fresh coconuts and generally lazing about.

		SOAKING IT UP! VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

It can’t be emphasized enough how ridiculously cool these islands are. While its that bit less cheap than the main land its by no means expensive to enjoy the fruits of the islands.
The local people are as friendly as ever and while trying to make a quick buck they never go overboard with their prices and generally will drop their asking price by half straight away if you turn and try to walk away.
There are some really amazing beach huts which cost around $50 per night that are literally out of this world and include swimming pools, satellite T.V, mini bar, fridge, money safe and air-con. If you were to come to this part of the world on a 2/3 week holiday you would be able to live like royalty for next to nothing. But since we are on an extended backpacking trip we don’t see the point in paying that kind of money per night when we are perfectly comfortable in our 6 euro a night room!

A few days ago we rented some bicycles and cycled around some of the island where we got to see the best sunset I’ve ever witnessed. We laid back while sipping a few drinks at a beach bar and watched the sun magically disappear, lightening fast!




Since I don’t have my SLR camera with me and only a G12(which is equally as good for what I’d need it for), I’m limited to what zoom ranges I can achieve. Basically the G12 has only a 5x digital zoom on it which doesn’t allow really close up images from any great distance. In saying that, its a fantastic camera for me as a substitute to carrying a big SLR around for months.
Yesterday(Wednesday), we went on a snorkelling trip on a glass botton boat. It was a 4 hour trip which brought us around the 3 Gili Islands with a snorkel around each of them. This was myself and Florence’s first time to snorkel as we never really wanted to on previous trips….that coupled with the fact that neither of us are really confident in deep waters. But we decided that at a location like this, it would be a shame not to experience it. So off we went and really had a lovely time. I got a bit sea sick for some reason after an hour which rendered me useless after the first snorkel. That combined with the fact I always seem to want to go to the number 2 in situations where I know I can’t, made it a tough first half of a trip until we landed on Gili Air for lunch.

		SNORKEL VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

So that brings me up to today which is Thursday 23rd June. We are just about to head down to the beach. We have no idea yet when we plan to leave the Gili’s. We have the open return ticket back to Bali, so we can head back whenever we like

Ciao!

Mt.Batur Volcano Trek!

Having never trekked a volcano before I was really looking forward to this. We were picked up from our accommodation in Ubud at 2:30am Saturday morning and we drove for a little over 80 minutes at a constant uphill incline the whole way until we reached the foot of Mt.Batur which is located in the northern part of Bali.
The summit of Batur stands at 1717m and is a 2 hour trek from where we were dropped off. Together with our guide we set off at 4am which would give us enough time to reach the top for the 6:20am sunrise.

		Setting off! VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

The route up to mountain itself was pretty straight forward but in some spots it was a little hard work, especially the last 30 minutes or so when we were nearing the top. We definitely worked up a good sweat. Our guide informed up that he does this at least twice every week and during the busy season he does it 4 times a week! The local teenage boys who sell you drinks at the top, do this route every single day!!!
The guides made sure to hold onto the girls for most of the way up and we took a few breathers along the way which we were all happy to see. For me personally it was the first bit of cardio that I’ve done in nearly 9 weeks due to the injury I sustained back in April, so I found it a little bit taxing near the end. Florence and Aileen were well able for it as well and they enjoyed the challenge big time.
At about 6am we finally reached the top and had about 20 minutes to wait until sunrise.

There were quite a few other tour groups at the top already when we arrived so we got ourselves a good spot to watch the sunrise which surly arrived at 6:21am!

I tried to get creative with the limited time available so we tried out the following few shots….


However my favourite photo of the day was this one which was kindly taking by Miss Aileen O Donnell who has an untapped talent she reckons for taking photographs

As part of the tour, we were served a simple breakfast after sunrise which consisted of banana sandwiches and hard boiled eggs which were cooked from the steam of the volcano….

I forgot to mention that the volcano itself is an active one, which has erupted numerous times over the past 100 years with the most recent explosion been in 2000.
After stuffing the eggs down my neck the guide then brought us to the crater and gave us a brief history of the volcano which was in very hard to understand broken English. Still though we gained enough info the get the bones of what he was saying so that was good enough.

The trek back down was a very steep decline at first until we reached an easily route, which would be a very easy walk back the rest of the way. It only took an hour on the way down and much of that time was consumed on the initial decent as it was very awkward footing. Good trekking shoes came in handy for this tour for sure!


When we reached the bottom we all felt totally shattered. Apart from the actual trek we all having been sleeping in what you would call a regular sleep pattern and therefore that combined with the 2:30am start, it really did flake us out.
Looking back at the volcano from below it re ally did look a huge beast in fairness. And since it was our first trek of this trip, hopefully it will stand to us for future treks along the way. The tour cost just $25 per person which was originally priced at $35, but with a bit of haggling we knocked a tenner off it. Excellent value and yet another example of how cheap it is over here.

We got back to our room around 11:30am that morning and just crashed out for a few hours. But before long we were up and on the net getting info for our trip to the Gili Trawangan island off the coast of Lombok. We booked our boat transfer there from Bali and so we are off to the stunning tropical islands Sunday morning with an open return ticket back to Bali! The next update will be from Gili so catch ye all then

Ciao!