Island Life

After we left Kuta we headed to the Gili Islands. The Gili’s are three islands set off the coast of Lombok, Indonesia. We decided to go by plane, which was the cheapest and easiest. The flight was thirty minutes long. Once we landed in Lombok a taxi driver was waiting for us with a sign that read Mr. Brandy, not the first time I’ve been called mister. The driver thought Brandy sounded like a guy’s name. Autum and I thought it was awesome and of course took a picture even though the cab driver was really embarrassed. The taxi ride was suppose to be two hours but apparently because of the New Year celebrations there was a huge party going on or just ending and it took us three hours to get to our boat. The road was closed off so we sat in the same spot for forty-five minutes. Once we started moving we basically had a police escort to get through the traffic. I think we only started moving because Autum and I got out to go to the bathroom and then we were looking around and the police at that point said okay okay let’s go.

That’s us!

Autum on the boat to the island.

After we got through the traffic jam we still had about an hour of driving in the pitch black. The taxi brought us to a “harbor”. I use the word harbor loosely because really it was just the shore with many boats. Once there we boarded the boat and took about a twenty minute ride across to the Gili Meno. We docked at the harbor, again the shore, and Waylan the manager or owner of the resort met us and took our bags to our room. We ate dinner and then went to bed. I’ve never taken so many forms of transportation to get to one place, but the view in the morning was well worth it.

The “harbor”.

Our bungalow

The view from our bungalow.

We stayed on the island for the next three days. Here is a rough schedule of what we did each day.

8-9 a.m.

Wake up and eat breakfast.

Sunrise.

9 – 12 p.m

Explore the island. The first day we walked around the entire island in about an hour and half. The moment we came back to our place was magical as I was tired and didn’t see it coming! Other days we snorkeled, laid on the beach, read books, did homework, typed this blog, played games, or just sat and did nothing else. We attempted to snorkel. The wind was really strong most days so the waves were huge and snorkeling was not very good. Trust me, Autum tried. Our last day on the island we wanted to take the boat out that took you to different snorkeling spots but it wasn’t running that day. I’m not sure if it was too rough out or because it was Sunday. So instead we both walked along the beach and tried to snorkel off the shore. Autum lasted much longer than I did. She found some really cools shells and found parts of the shore that were much calmer.

Noon

Lunch

1-3/4 p.m.

Afternoon naps – these were necessary to have energy to keep us going. This was also usually when it rained so it worked out perfect for naps and just chilling at the bungalow.

Storm rolling in.

4-6 p.m.

Walk to the “village”. The village was comprised of an internet café, a school, a few little shops and lots of huts. Our purpose in the village was to go to the internet café so I could post some homework. For a half hour of wi-fi it cost me 12,000 rph which is equivalent to $.97. Play some more card games and watch movies on my laptop.

6-7 p.m.

Dinner

Sunset at dinner.

7-10 p.m.

More card games, movies, reading, and writing.

10 p.m. – Midnight

Sleep

Ouch…

Last day sunburns…

A few things that I did not like about island living life:

Sand – it’s everywhere! Yes there is sand in Egypt but we were living on the ocean pretty much and it was just everywhere and it stuck to you because you were always moist. It didn’t just rinse off easily it took a while to become sand free, well for the most part.

Salt water showers – being an island there was a freshwater mix which was salt water mixed with fresh water. It wasn’t as salty as the ocean but still salty. So when it rained yes were outside rinsing our hair and rinsing off and it was great.

Being wet – like I said about Bali it rained everyday here too. The humidity was worse here, although Autum thinks it was the same. You never really felt dry you were always damp. Even at night or when you were cold you were still sticky.

Even with the few things I didn’t like this trip was pretty epic. Spending my 35^th birthday in Indonesia is something that I will always remember. This was my first time to visit this side of the world and anything below the equator so it was a whole new experience all around.