Honeymoon Part IV: Hopping Around the Gili Islands
Having thoroughly enjoyed the cultural and physically active adventures that Bali has to offer, we are off to four days of solitude and relaxation on the Gili Islands. The Gilis are a set of three small islands that are technically part of Lombok. You have Gili Trawangan, or Gili T, which is the most developed of the three islands. Here there is a good number of restaurant and nightlife options, and even some luxury resorts. Then you have Gili Meno, which is the most secluded of the three islands with only a handful of establishments. Finally, there is Gili Air, which I have heard be compared to the porridge Goldilocks chose. We have elected to stay on Gili Air the first three nights and finish our island experience on Gili T.
We hop on a fast boat that has us from Bali to Gili T. in just under three hours. Although it is the most populated of the three Gilis, it is pure tranquility in comparison to the bustling streets of Kuta and Seminyak. There are no motorized vehicles on the Gilis, which is also a stark difference from our former destination, so packed with cabs and mopeds that I begun to miss D.C. traffic.
We also quickly find out that there is only one public island hopping boat a day, so we have until 4:00PM to explore Gili T. Most of this time we spend sitting on beanbags looking out onto the beach. The beaches and the sunsets are truly phenomenal, which is a good thing since we spent much of the next four days taking in both. Gili Air might be Goldilock’s porridge, but during the off season, it’s a pretty quiet island. After a bumpy “cab ride” during which our driver tried to bring us to a different hotel than we had reservations, for commission and the horse tried to buck me off the cart, we arrive at our bungalow at Manta Dive. It’s a small but cute bungalow and the folks there are friendly. The outdoor shower is lovely, albeit only producing salt water. Lucky the dreadlocks I’m beginning to develop fit in pretty well.
We arrive just in time for happy hour, snag some Bintangs and explore the island for a bit picking up some homemade tapioca wine from some kids down the beach and finally heading to Zipp’s for some fantastic fruit cocktails. The seafood BBQ next door had caught our eye, and we head over there to pick out the fresh seafood and vegetable kabobs we want cooked up for us and settle into a loft seat overlooking the ocean. It’s amazingly fresh and for a very small fee we have enough to fill us up and share with the feral kitties. Then we head back to Zipp’s for some more delicious cocktails.
The next day we set out to walk the circle the island on foot. It’s not really that much of an endeavor. In fact it takes us about three hours, including the break to read on a completely isolated seaside loft. The “other” side of the island is completely vacant but offers up some beautiful views, particularly as the afternoon storm rolls in. Gili Air is actually the most populated of the three islands, but the tourism industry hasn’t developed as much as it has on Gili T.
Although both Courtney and I took a semester of scuba at Oxford, neither of us did the dives to get certified, so our only option is a guided dive. We refresh our skills in the pool and head out for a dive with Anna, who has been traveling the world as a dive instructor for years and another girl from Switzerland who is on a two month vacation. Perhaps I caught “the travel bug” from them. The dive is awesome — we meet all sorts of fish and creatures and coral, including a giant sea turtle just chillin’. My ears are “snap’ cracklin’ and poppin'” at that point and I’m relatively sure that I am facing impending death due to dead explosion, when severe ear pain assures me that I’ve just over-equalized (as it continues to remind me for several weeks after our return). Courtney is itching to get certified when we get home.
