Lord of the Rings

I’ve been accused of being a tad too negative with my posts, so this one comes at just the right time. Gili Trawangan, an island off the west coast of the island of Lombak, is perfection. It’s tiny, so you can walk around the whole thing in about 90 minutes, and the walk is on the one real main road, which is sometimes stone/brick, sometimes dirt, sometimes standing water, sometimes sand, and sometimes all of the above. No motorized vehicles are allowed, and the only vehicles are bikes and carts pulled by small horses. Horses!

It’s an island of rings: the outer is warm, snorkel/scuba-friendly, coral-filled, turquoise water filled with oodles of aquarium-ready fish; then a clean white sandy beach filled with beach chairs and sunbathers; then glorious trees that provide relief from the punishing heat; then stilted beach huts with pillows and low tables; then beach bars/restaurants with fresh fish BBQ fires burning all day, heaps of cold beers and live music you could hear whilst snorkeling; then the one road (the loosen-your-beltway?); and finally, bungalows with thatched roofs, natural wood galore, A/C & outside bathrooms. The “town” has an awesome point-and-eat food cart night market, and, since it’s Indonesia, it’s all cheap – you can eat, drink, sleep & be merry for less than $50 a day.

And, at the risk again angering my cousin Jay, getting to Gili Trawangan from Ubud was wonderfully difficult – a 12 hour journey by beemo (a type of van), ferry, beemo and then a packed, totally unsafe, local boat. Perfection! (!)