Gili Trawangan: The desert island getaway

Bali visitors looking for a relaxing change (Bali not relaxing enough for you?), or adventurous folks on a short time-line, looking for a cool place to hang for a few days, ought to consider Gili Trawangan. Located off of the NW coast of Lombok, its a little bit of western culture, on a white sand island surrounded by turquoise water. Here are the nuts & bolts on travelling in Gili Trawangan. The deal with the Gili’s is that you can choose your level of intensity. Gili Trawangan has good hotels, pools and an Irish pub, Gili Air has a selection of guest-houses and Gili Meno has not much going on.

Gili Trawangan scene:
Westerners dream of visiting an island paradise, but if the food isn’t good and you can’t get a cold drink ,how long are you going to stay there? Gili Trawangan may not be unspoilt and traditional, but it certainly is a great place to relax, complete with creature comforts. Gili Trawangan has the reputation as the ‘party island’ but most of the island is undeveloped, even for farming and the strip of wall to wall bars and restaurants was originally set up for scuba divers, not the low budget beer swilling crowd. Learning to dive here is part of the enjoyment.

Getting around:
To get from the north end of the island to the main strip would cost around 20,000rp on a cidomo (horse drawn carriage). This seems a little expensive considering a cheap room might cost 40,000rp. The cidomo’s have a monopoly so you may factor this in when selecting a place to stay.

Salt water showers:
Visiting Gili Trawangan you will learn the art of the salt water shower. Since the island has no
lakes, rivers or wells you have to buy bottled drinking water and also a large water jug of river
water from the reception for around 5,000rp.

Exploring Gili Trawangan:
Its possible to walk the whole way around the island. Apart from small patches of road paved with bricks the whole way is a sandy track. It actually feels like walking in the desert, so don’t forget to bring a liter of water along. To walk around Gili Trawangan takes about 2 hours. At the southern end of the island is a hill fairly close to the beach. This is the highest point of the island. Visitors often grab a bottle of arak and a few Sprites and stroll down there for the sunset.

Food & entertainment:
As far as food goes in Gili Trawangan, the scuba diving infrastructure provides a wide selection of western food, some of it pretty decent. One of the most popular places is the Irish pub, Tir Na Nog. Some people recoil at the mention of an Irish pub, especially on a quiet part of Indonesia, but I have to say this place was cool. Located downtown on the inland side of the beach road its was large with high ceilings, large screen showing Premiership soccer on Saturday night. Outside were many bale structures each with it’s own DVD player. Across the street was the beach-side part of the pub where people can sit up at the bar. A nice atmosphere and not 200 drunks going crazy.

Accommodation:
Accommodation varies greatly on Gili Trawangan. The 2 most luxurious places on the island are Vila Ombak on the southern coast and Villa Almarik, which is on the eastern coast. Villa Almarik is Italian owned and serves good food. As you head north along the east coast you will find some more budget accommodation option including Nusa Tiga on the north east coast. Nusa Tiga is located on a quiet stretch of the coast and in the mornings when the tide is in its really pleasant to go for a soak in the ocean. The coral shelf extends about 40 meters to a drop off which you would do if you wanted to snorkel. Dive boats hover offshore which is great if you are thinking of snorkeling alone. Sitting in one of the many bales next to the beach and drinking some tea, you just have to wonder why you haven’t made it out to Gili Trawangan before.

Internet access:
There are 4 internet cafes in Gili Trawangan. The price 2 years ago was around 25,000rp per hour.

Gili Trawangan locals:
The Gili’s are part of Lombok and the population is Muslim. People seem quiet and respectful and are used to westerners in bathing suits. If you need more privacy it’s not hard, you simply move around the coast a little way and another nice thing is that the locals will leave you alone. Tourists have commented that the people in the Gili’s are nice because they don’t make saucy comments unlike some of the Bali locals. Gili Trawangan locals are more reserved than people in Bali in general, many of them originating from mainland Lombok.

Getting to Gili Trawangan:
Gili Trawangan is just a 30 minute flight from Bali to Mataram, an hour by taxi (maybe 70,000rp) to Bangsal and 45 minutes by local ferry to Gili Trawangan’s south coast. After that little adventure you’re cruising!

Island hoping in the Gili’s:
Getting from Gili Trawangan to the other 2 Gili islands (Gili Meno and Gili Air) is simple also using the local ferries.