Gili Trawanga (Gili T), Bali

Day 5 of our trip was an early morning and an adventure to the Gili Islands, Lombok, Indonesia. It took us about an hour by bus to get to the other side of Bali where we had some breakfast then hopped on a boat that took us the rest of the way. Emma and I sat on the roof of the boat and soaked in the scenery, what bliss! Not only did we see the beautiful shores of Bali and had the wind whipping wildly through our hair but we also saw two pods of dolphins!!

Once we arrived on the island we did a little bit of walking before finding our beautiful private villa (my word we lucked out with our bookings throughout this trip). We stayed at the Exotic Private Villas and I would stay there again in a heartbeat! The people were sweet, the place was gorgeous and the included breakfast was delicious. Oh, we also had a private pool; we knew when we arrived that we were in for a rough week…

 We were booked to stay in our luxurious villa for 3 nights and then move on to a cheaper place but after moving we quickly decided that we couldn’t stay. It was after a day of snorkeling around the 3 islands that the sun got the best of me (not enough water/shade). I got to our new place and passed out on the floor after a cold shower in front of the one fan in the room. Let’s just saw the one fan was far from sufficient! I went to get the girls and we were out of there as fast as possible!

We arrived on a Tuesday and left on a Tuesday. When people heard that we were staying on the 3km island that we could bike around in less than an hour they looked at us like we were crazy and the common question was “Why?! What will you do here for that amount of time??” We would quickly reply, “We plan on Living The Dream!!” The three of us adored our little island of Gili Trawanga (Gili T)! Our week was spent waking up when we were ready, having a delicious breakfast, getting our bikes, filling our baskets with snorkel gear and water and heading to the beach. I read three books. That is something my mom or Dax would do, not me (but I loved it…uhoh!) Hahaha We spent our days lying on the beach, snorkeling, biking (ps: there are no cars on the island, only bikes and horse drawn buggies), walking, eating and drinking liters of water in an attempt to stay hydrated. 

Our evenings were spent at the Night Market where we ate the most delicious foods for the equivalent of $3 CAN and meeting fantastic people from all over the world (Australia, England, France and Norway mainly). For the first bit of the trip we were so content and relaxed that we even lost our desire to drink. 

Of course this wore off by Thursday and we decided to have some drinks at the Night Market and go out. It was that faitful night that we met the best bunch of girls from Norway! After they explained to us that on the island people go out Monday, Wednesday and Fridays and take it easy on Tuesdays and Thursdays we explained to them that this simply meant we had to create our own party. Did I mentioned it was Valentines Day and it was pouring rain? After drowning Big Mama’s chicken (I lifted the tent above us and All of the water was dumped into the woman’s food…oops!). As karma the next big dump of water landed square on my head. Needless to say I could not have been any more wet. From the Night Market we danced in the rain toward the Irish Pub, which at the time was quiet and romantic for the couples. 

As we bought drinks and had some Joss Shots (not ok) we slowly began building the party mood. Eventually we were standing on chairs and the dj was taking all of our requests. By the end of the night all tables had been cleared and we had started a huge party!! Dancing the night away we were! It was the next day that the Norwegians joined us on the big snorkeling trip around the 3 islands along with some others we had met the day before. My word we had fun! I have never snorkeled in such a beautiful place – I swam with thousands of fish and Sea Turtles!!

Our last day on Gili T was dedicated to the beginning of my birthday celebrations. The three of us went paddle boarding, something that I have wanted to do for a long time!! Patricia treated me for my birthday, which was such a treat. It takes a great deal of balance and I can see how it would be a wonderful workout, I would love to buy one this summer!! I could paddleboard to Kredl’s for an ice cream on a hot day? 

It’s difficult to write about this leg of our journey because words and even pictures really can’t do it justice. It was phenomenal, relaxing, energizing, and everything that the three of us needed it to be. 

It was wonderful to be on our own clock, to be in a place that we could bike/walk anywhere in no time without any stoplights or vehicles for that matter. It was so peaceful and enjoyable. I was very sad to leave such a lovely place where I could walk barefoot all day but alas, we had to get on the boat and head back to Kuta for our last night of our wonderful two week adventure.