Gili & Bali

Next up our journey took us to one of the three small islands off the coast of Lombok, the Gili Islands, specifically, Gili Air. This island is known for being the "quiet" one of the three, while the other two are often described as the "party island" (Gili T) and the "honeymoon island" (Gili Meno).

The trip was not without its challenges. Our shuttle bus that was supposed to pick us up at 9.30am was nowhere to be seen even 30 minutes after the scheduled pickup time. Within this waiting time, at least a good dozen taxi drivers honked and pushed their services onto us, a few determined ones even stopped in the middle of the street just to give a more personal approach.

Luckily, eventually we got picked up by a car that took us to the bus, because the latter was already so late that it didn't have time to actually pick us up. The bus took us to the harbor where we hopped on a boat that took us on a cruise to our destination of Gili Air.

Gili Air is known for its quiet and slow lifestyle, pristine beaches, clear water, and its abundant and colorful marine world. The island itself is also tiny, it has a circumference of only ~3km, so walking from its northern most point to its southern most point takes around 20-25 minutes. Because of its small size, any vehicles running on gasoline are banned from the island, and bicycles, electric scooters and horse carts take their place.

Our accommodation was a humble homestay-style bungalow, including a little terrace and a hammock. Due to the up-and-coming infrastructure on the island, the tap water (including shower) was slightly salty, and in general the level of development felt quite a bit lower than that of Bali. The bathroom was not completely sealed (there was a small uncovered spot in the mosquito net), which allowed an uninvited cockroach to make its way into our lives in the middle of the night. Luckily we managed to get it inside a glass, and didn't have any more visitors of its kind during our stay.

All that aside, our experience on the island was nothing short of amazing. It's a paradise for relaxing and de-stressing, forgetting the everyday worries. The timing (once again) couldn't have been more perfect. In the middle of the low season we had the choice to try anything we wanted, grab a fresh fruit juice at any stall without any waiting, and enjoy some sun on any of the infinitely many empty sun beds.

The highlight of our stay was definitely the half-day long snorkeling trip that took us to all the best spots around the three Gilis. The waters of the Gilis are famous for being home to a great number of sea turtles that can be spotted with snorkels, you just need to know where to look. And indeed, we saw close to 10 turtles during our trip (lost count at some point). They were just going about their lives, not really being bothered by a group of 15 tourists staring at them. Some of the were eating, some sleeping, and occasionally coming up to the surface for a breath of fresh air. The trip gave Ola an answer to the age-old question "What is your favorite animal?"... Small turtles 🥰 Hoping to see some more during our next snorkeling opportunity in Thailand.

Other activities we did was a biking adventure all over the island, discovering the different faces it has, as well as trying out different culinary experiences that we were curious about. Ola had her first Smoothie bowl, we tried different Balinese and Indonesian dishes, but our favorite spot was an Anime-inspired eatery called Optimiz Prime. They were clearly big fans of the "One Piece" anime. It was featured in their menu, and the whole staff was dressed up as One Piece characters. Our first experience was so good we decided to go again the next day, even though the options were endless.

After our Gili adventures, we made our way back to Bali. On arrival at the harbor, the desperate taxi drivers were persistently breathing down our necks as soon as we stepped foor on the ground, and wouldn't get off our trail until we had walked a good 5 minutes away from the pier. Never have I ever experienced having to turn down someone selling me something twice every five seconds.

After fighting our way through the taxi driver jungle, we made our way to a village called Sidemen, a very large but rural village in the mountains. Here we learned how difficult it is getting anywhere without a scooter. Feels like walking is not even a means of transportation in this part of the world, because everyone has a scooter, almost as if it was attached to their bodies as an extra limb. On the streets, children as young as 6 are driving around with them as if they were born with the ability to drive.

We spent most of our arrival day exploring the neighborhood, and signed ourselves up for a traditional Balinese/Indonesian cooking class the following day. It was the first cooking class I've ever done, but it was completely worth it. Experiencing the creation of the local flavors first hand, and learning about the ingredients and methods is fascinating. With only minor modifications in the spices and seasoning, you enter a completely different cuisine, but a very delicious one. We ended up making five different traditional dishes, that we feasted on afterwards as our lunch.

Once we gathered ourselves from the food coma, we took a walk to the local rice fields and explored the trekking path through the fields. The path took us first through the irrigation channels where the locals were washing laundry, taking baths, and children were splashing around. The we ventured into the fields, walking through rice plantations in different phases of their growth, not really encountering many foreigners during the process. The fields felt more authentic and raw compared to the ones we visited earlier in Ubud. This really was a showcase of how the locals live their day-to-day lives in this part of the island.

The following morning Ola took part in a silver-making class, learning and participating in the process of creating a beautiful silver ring from what was initially just a few nuggets of silver. A very nice souvenir from to remember this part of the trip.

We then took a short drive to Kuta, the southern part of Bali, where tourists are easier to find than locals. Even during the low season the restaurants and bars had plenty of customers serving food at prices double or triple as high as in the more remote parts. We decided that it would be an interesting experience to also see this part of Bali, even though neither of us really enjoys the "touristy" side of travelling.

Kuta is the complete opposite of Sidemen where we just came from. A long sandy beach with someone wanting to sell you a spot on their overpriced sunbed every second. Two shopping malls only a 10 minute walk apart from each other. Streets buzzing with tourists and street vendors wanting to sell you something every 10 meters.

One funny moment was when we were looking for a place to sit on the beach. We bought a drink in order to be able to sit down on the chairs of one of the vendors. He had normal plastic chairs, as well as sunbeds. At the time we didn't know whether he had sunbeds we could use, and if he did, whether he'd be fine with us using them without paying extra. So we asked him if he has sunbeds. Within one second, as if out of nowhere, before he could even answer, the neighboring vendor overheard our question and instantly appeared with an enthusiastic smile saying "I have sunbeds". Both of us were caught so off guard by the whole situation we were struggling not to burst out laughing right then and there. Definitely one of the highlights of the day.

We stayed at the beach for the sunset hoping to have a nice view for our final Bali-evening. Unfortunately the clouds and fog made the view quite underwhelming, but still vibey. For dinner we tried out the local McDonald's, which to our surprise was way overpriced compared to what you could get at smaller restaurants. For reference, a double cheeseburger costs the equivalent of ~2,5€ which is the price of a main course in many places.

On our last day we explored the city a bit more, visited a small restaurant that offered great smoothie bowls, and as our goodbye meal we had the most traditional Indonesian dish, nasi goreng - fried rice. After that it was time for the airport and onwards to the next destination... Hanoi, Vietnam.

Stay tuned for more updates...