We have settled for a few days in the strange and delightful Gili islands, with Gili Trawagnan as our base.
It would be easy to dismiss this place on first glance as a party island and little more. There is the predictably busy main drag, with open air pizza joints and seafood barbecues and young men calling out to advertise cheap rooms. But honestly, you would have to be blind to let that first impression stand for more than an hour. Gili T, while no longer a hidden paradise, is compelling.
To start – Now that we have been traveling for almost two months, The Professor and I have this whole finding a room thing down to a routine. I am more picky, more distract-able and more patient, and more likely to be willing to take some time to shop around. So I go and find a room unencumbered while The Professor stays with the bags at a cafe, enjoying a cold drink and freed from the annoyance of my selection process.
Here is where Lonely Planet is useful – it is good for helping you pick in which neighborhood to look for a room. I could tell when I read it that the beach places would be bad value near the harbor, and too expensive for our backpacker budget on the more remote parts of the island. I rented a bike and headed a few blocks down a dirt road leading away from the shore and into the village. Soon enough, I found two good lodgings right next to each other. I was tempted by the reasonably cool fan room in a relaxed guesthouse with a charismatic innkeeper who spoke great English. But I went with the place next door, where the same price got us a bungalow with a pretty outdoor bathroom, a lounge with cushions and mood lighting underneath the bungalow, a tv and DVD player, and a big open hangout area where we could meet other travelers. And for an extra $3 a day, air conditioning, which is nice because we have been sleeping badly. We have been trying to patronize the bar at the first place to help that good-spirited innkeeper, but it turns out it is closed for the season.
Anyway, this all tells you nothing about Gili T. So, let me say that I learned on that first day that bikes yield to pony carts pretty much automatically. Pony cart is the fastest transport on the island, btw, because there are no motorized vehicles and sand drifts make the roads bad for bikes in some places.
We also learned that the coral is in much much worse shape here than in Amed when we went
snorkeling. Storms, ocean warming, coral-eating fish and turtles, and fish bombing up until 10 years ago have all done a number on the reef. There were lots of fish, however.
We have dived twice since our arrival, one at Talet Malang (sp?) and one at Shark Point. We saw a lot of good fish, one and two white-tipped sharks at the latter, which was awesome. Shark Point also had some great soft coral. However, that one was a pretty exciting dive – the current got so intense that keeping up with the other, bigger, more athletic divers had me blowing through my air from exertion. Eventually, I had to share air with the divemaster while the three of us crawled hand over hand across the ocean floor to reach a safe place to ascend, the current was so strong. The divemaster had a huge tank with a lot of air left, so I actually found the whole experience fun and educational rather than frightening, a sort of cross between diving and rock climbing. We all did everything you are supposed to do when things go wrong, and we arrived safely at the surface and then onto the boat, and on to shore.
On land, the most frequently encountered fauna are the aforementioned ponies and a plethora of young cats with naturally stubby tails, much like Manx cats but less pretty. A kitten cohort is apparently getting weaned right now, so there is a lot of feline whining.
Hmm. I feel like I am circling around the island but not really getting you into the charm of the place. Let me try. This island is only recently settled by anyone at all, so the juxtaposition of traditional Sasak people from Lombok and tourists is not galling. I like seeing the women in headscarves walking near the women in bikinis. At sunset, the muzzien calls the people to prayer over a loudspeaker. At night, along a string of beach bars, the beats call the people to dance. Lots of children fly kites impossibly high. The air is soporific.
There is a solar array on the hill. They grow coffee here, and keep brown cows and assorted goats. We were followed by a loose pony while biking through the interior. There is a simple cemetery with wooden headstones near a coconut orchard. One one coast, you watch the clouds pile over the Rinjani volcano in Lombok. On the other coast, you watch the sun set beyond Bali, the light turning the clouds and the sea into pastel castles and liquid gold. Everyone turns out to watch these colors, whether at the downtempo bar, the acoustic guitar bar, or just along the sand.
Indonesian food is comfort food, far less dazzling than Thai food but simply satisfying.
Today we are doing a an overnight trip to Gili Air, a smaller island with less going on, except for one beach bar playing music we like. Then it is back to Gili Trawagnan, where we will take care of some things with our good wifi connection, and make some decisions. We have one month exactly left in Asia. What shall we do with our time?
– the Private Eye
The Professor and the Private Eye: Adventures Abroad 