1-8 October 2010
Close your eyes. No, open them. No, close them again. Imagine you are on a small tropical island. Imagine turquoise waves breaking on white sand beaches. Imagine your drink of choice in hand. Imagine your favorite Bob Marley song playing somewhere in the distance. If you don’t have a favorite Bob Marley song, now may be the time to adopt one. “…Don’t worry, about a thing, cause every little thing is gonna be alright…”
We spent a week on Gili Trawangan (aka “Gili T”), one of the three “Gili Islands,” sandwiched between Lombok and Bali. In addition to spending a week in paradise, we were able to entice our good friend Kyle to visit for this hedonistic misadventure. The island exceeded all our expectations. We stayed in a three- bedroom villa with marble floors, a private pool, and “house boys” that would come at the ring of a bell. The house was gorgeous and probably the nicest place we will stay in during our ten month journey. Thank you Kyle!
Gili T has successfully melded its inherent beauty with a fun, party-ready atmosphere. It is a tiny island and takes less than three hours to circumnavigate on foot. This makes island exploration easy; until you try to find your way home late at night on the twisting trails that cover the island's interior. We found it best to stick to the coast where the ever present ocean keeps you on track and dreamy eyed with its blue, clear water and neighboring island vistas.
The more tropical islands I visit the more I love them. They offer a slowness and solitude that is sublime. This slow pace is especially evident on places like Gili T where motorized vehicles outlawed, and traffic jams consist of horse carriages and bicycles. There is no need to dodge speeding motor bikes and bemos belching diesel fumes in this small piece of paradise.
Our days were divided between long swims in our villas pool, lounging with cocktails or fresh juice, snorkeling alongside large schools of fish and graceful turtles off the beach, riding our bikes around the island, sitting in restaurants on the beach, dancing and drinking the night away, diving, listening to excellent live reggae, making great new friends, partying like we were 18 years old, and generally enjoying ourselves on a paradise island. We watched the sunset over Bali’s distant Mount Agung in beach bars specifically constructed for wasting away the last moments of daylight-bonfire and Bob Marley included. We ate lightly seared, freshly caught tuna steaks and giant prawns. And even I (the “vegetarian”) admit that these meals were delicious and irresistible.
Sounds exhausting, right?
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