Lombok and Gili Trawangan

Bali has been pretty busy. All those traffic, all those sellers at the beach and in the streets, all those tourists and the fancy prices. We went to the ferry to Lombok early in the morning and caught one at 10 am. Unfortunately it leaves when it is full enough to make the crossing worth. So we waited almost an hour to leave the harbor in Padang Bay. The sea was calm and the sun was shining, so no sickness or rain could harm us for the 5 hour trip to the next destination. After arrival it took us another hour to make it up to Senggigi and we didn’t hesitate to book in the first reasonable accommodation we found. We pretty much want to get this travel day over. The room was nice and clean and Senggigi was a tourist place on the leash. It will get busy within the next years and there are several high standard hotels already. A lot of bars and restaurants queue at the main road and if you want to go dance at night, there is always a live band playing, no matter how many people are listening. Unfortunately the music could be heard from our room all night long and it was just the heat and my surf sessions that made us fall asleep exhausted. We had to walk just about 5 minutes to the beach and maybe 10 to the only but fun reef break for surfing. The scenery was often breathtaking, especially at sunset. Right in the back of the village rise mountains up to 1000 m and if you see across the sea there is Bali shining as a shadow in the setting sun. The volcano on Bali was like a pinnacle rising right from the sea and was surrounded by clouds all the time.

 

 

The surf was really fun, although the reef was sometimes shallow. It is amazing how good just the tiniest waves can be, if they get pushed up the reef and peel down nicely and consistently. It is not like in France where you have to paddle really hard to stay at the peak or the waves is breaking differently every single time. Sure, over here every waves is different too, but you actually just have to wait in the lineup for the waves of your choice and just take it. The waves break so consistently, it is just amazing and actually easier to surf than on a beachbreak. Just don’t fall in front of your board or try to run across the reef and you are gonna be fine. The waves got smaller during the week, but it was surfable until the last day. The Indonesian seem to be a little lazy. When I got out in the morning there was no one out there. Only a few fisherman stood at the shore, tired and bored. In the afternoon there are maybe 15 guys out, at the age of 10 to whatever. Everybody is relaxed and friendly.

 

 

We took a taxi to Bangsal to get on a ferry to the Gili Islands. One week of Senggigi was enough. It was the same scenario like our first boattrip. The ferry leaves when it is fully booked. That can take a while from time to time. We want to go to Gili Air, the closest one and had to wait a little. But we realized that we had to get to Gili Trawangan anyway to catch the Fastboat to Bali later the week, so to don’t wait and not having another crossing, we went straight to Gili Tranwangan, known as the party island of the three Gilis. There are no cars or motorcycles on the island. The only transports are bikes and horse powered taxis. The island itself is so small that we walked all the way south to find an accommodation. Thanks to Romy it was close to the surfspot too. We didn’t want to stay at the main ‘street’ that looks like a pedestrian’s way. One week of loud music at night was enough.

 

 

 

Gili Trawangan is amazing. Everybody is laid back and mostly stoned or drunk. The locals way more often than the travelers. So no hassle, no stress, no busy salesman or tourists. It was again another week in a paradise holiday destination. The sand is white and the water mostly mix of crystal clear green and blue. You can see all the other Gilis being really close and you have an awesome view to Lombok and its Volcano in the centre. Evan the prices are really reasonable, especially because they have to ship everything to the island. There is not much to do besides surfing, eating, swimming or laying at the beach. But what else do you want to do here? That’s is why everybody came here. Party at night and chilling during daytime.

Time flies by and another week is gone. There is only 10 more days left on the entire trip and that’s it. But no heart feelings, everything has to end and it was worth every day so far. It is also a strange feeling too. You like being here and travelling around, but in the end you are looking forward to go home in the end, because you get a little sick of doing nothing and chilling every day. It makes you get lazy and your mind gets bored. But I adore every day and will until the end.