Snorkeling in Gili

After having breakfast about 9 AM I and Rian went for snorkeling. It is better to go snorkeling in the morning because the sunlight is bright and it will make good visibility in the water. The hotel provided glass-bottom boat and snorkeling equipments for Rp.650.000. The boat will take us to the snorkeling point with the best coral reef view in Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno, and Gili Air. From the hotel we were taken to the snorkeling point...on the way there we could already see the coral reefs from the glass-bottom boat! Very nice.....! and I saw....sea turtle !!!! Exciting!
So, I put up my snorkeling equipments and jumped to the water. The coral reefs....very very nice and awsome.....and I saw a sea turtles in front of me.

Journey to The Gilis

Well.....Morning had came and we prepared ourselves for the next journey to Lombok. We checked out from the hotel and picked up by a taxi to Ngurah Rai airport. The flight was at 9 AM. We checked in and waited in the executive lounge (yay, free breakfast !! ). when the time was almost 9 AM we went out and waited near the Gate we were supposed to go through to our plane. I was so excited and this imagination of beautiful Lombok appeared in my mind....I really couldn't wait to get there! and couldn't wait to see The Gilis which the pictures I always saw on the internet. While imagining so excitedly, suddenly there's an announcement that the plane to Lombok was delayed until 2 AM ! Oh nooo....what should we do in the airport for 4 hours !!! It was so boringggg.....we just did boring stuff walking around the airport, looking for food, windowshopping. Ahhh so boringgg....
Finally the plane arrived and we could board on the plane now. The pilot spoke to the passengers to say sorry about the delay and the duration of the journey. He said the journey would take 15 minutes!!! Lol....5 hours waiting for 15 minutes journey?? Perhaps if we took the boat from Bali to Lombok we would already in Lombok by that time coz going by the boat take 6 hours.
15 minutes in the plane....I was about to sleep....but the pilot said that the plane was ready to land. LOL.
So here we were in Selaparang airport in Lombok!
We directly headed to the north of Lombok to Tanjung for the boat to Gili. The journey took 45 minutes.We passed the forest way called Pusuk (The monkey forest). Because it was raining, the monkey won't show up.
So, 45 minutes journey...and we were in Tanjung!

On the north of Lombok there are 3 little islands called The Gilis. Gili means island. The Gilis name are Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno, and Gili Air. Gili Air is the closest island to the main island of Lombok. Gili Meno is the second farther from the main island. Gili Trawangan is the farthest from the main island, but it is the biggest island of all the Gilis. The Villa Ombak Hotel I was going to was located Gili Trawangan.

Arriving in Gili Trawangan I was amazed that there's no car or motorcycle on the road. The people ride on bike or Cidomo (local traditional vehicle) as daily transportation. Gili Trawangan can be explored 2 hours by bike and 1 hour by cidomo. But never ever try exploring the island at noon when the sun is at its highest, you'll burn your skin, the sand is very hot that you'll burn your feet, and riding bike on the sand is really heavy. It's much better if you do it before sunset...you can relax and enjoy the sea breeze without worrying about burning skin.


The hotel room we were staying was a cottage. The cottage was made to look like Sasak (local Lombok people) traditional house and it's called Lumbung Hut. Lumbung is a place where Sasak people store their harvested crop. The cottage looks very unique, it has 2-level floors. The upper floor is the room, and the lower floor is an open space such as "bale-bale" (used for relaxing) and behind the "bale-bale" is the bathroom.

The water from the shower is salty water. It is because of the difficulty getting fresh water in the island. Fresh water has to be stored from the main island of Lombok, but because the distance is far, Gili Trawangan can not get fresh water. People in Gili Trawangan take a bath with the salty water. It feels very sticky on the skin. The taste is even more weird when the salt water is mixed with toothpaste in the mouth. But luckily the hotel provides fresh water in a bucket next to the shower though the amount is limited, at least we can wash away the sticky salt after showering with salt water.


GILI TRAWANGAN AT NIGHT

Gili Trawangan at night is very festive. There are bars and cafes with loud music along the streets. The food offered is mainly european food and seafood. I was really hoping to see Ayam Taliwang (Lombok traditional food) in the menu, but I couldn't find any. I and Rian stopped by to a cafe where they have more Indonesian food. I ordered Ayam Plecingan (it looks like Lombok traditional food from its name, lol).


Gili Trawangan also has electricity problem. Electricity shut down is usual in daily life. That is why each hotels and restaurant has its own generator, so that they can continue night activities normally. The generator is provided by the government.
Such an exciting experience staying in small island and know more about locals daily life.
The next day I'd got to go snorkeling! The story is to be continue...

Journey to Bali

Hai readers! This is my first journey blog of me and my husband. We really love travelling and we always want to travel to many places. This first post is telling about my first journey of me and my husband (actually it was a honeymoon). The journey was planned well by Rian (my husband) who is a very good planner (two thumbs up for him!). Our first journey was to Bali, Lombok, and Gili Trawangan. It was an amazing journey though it was only 5 days, it seemed like 10 days ! and here's the journey story...

BALI

The journey to Bali was by plane from Husein Sastranegara airport,Bandung to Ngurah Rai airport, Bandung. It was a 2 hours flight and an evening flight so we experienced sunset on the plane ! It was really beautiful, Subhanallah !
Ngurah Rai Airport. Finally we arrived in Bali. We headed to our hotel in Sanur Beach, rested for a while and took a walk around outside for dinner. It was not as crowded as I thought to be. Along the street there are bars with loud music and cafes...most of them are european food restaurants. I was amazed of that coz it's kinda hard to find Indonesian food and most of them served pork. As we walked we saw this Indian restaurant...well kinda weird among the european cafes and bars...but at least the place is more calm with soft music and no pork in the menu. That's it....I was sooo hungry after the the long walk. We ordered lamb and Indian tea. It was sooo good, very tasty, and rich of garlics! Indian food in Bali...kinda weird but delicious !!!
The garlic taste remained in my tongue though I already brushed my teeth ! LoL !

The next day, I and Rian were picked up in the hotel by Bali Hai Cruises driver. From our hotel in Sanur it ony took 30 minutes by car to Benoa Port.
When we arrived there, we could see the boat ! Exciting ! The name of the boat is "Bali Hai II". The passengers were mostly tourists from abroad, usually Australia and Japan. I and Rian were the only Indonesian passenger on board.
Before getting into the boat we were served a traditional dance and in the boat we were served breakfast. The boat journey was so exciting....the sea...the islands...the live music on the boat. The boat journey to Bali Hai pontoon in Lembongan Bay took about 30 minutes. During raining season though the weather is sunny, the wave is kind of big it can make you sick, so always prepare the medicine.
Finally we arrived in the pontoon, it looks fun ! I can't get the photo from above so I got it from the Bali Hai Cruises website. Here is the pic.
We could do snorkling, banana boat, slide on 35 meters long water slide and ends by thrown to the sea (I tried this! and you should try this too!), reef submarine, Nusa Lembongan village tour, all day long.....very nice! We also had lunch on the pontoon, and again no traditional food served...only european food...and seafood :'( but the seafood is delicious though, salty raw fish fillet just like sushi...yummyy...
The village tour was to see the villagers daily activity. The people in Nusa Lembongan earn living by harvesting sea weeds.
During rainy season (November, December, January) with high sea tide, they only get small amount of sea weed so that they also sell hand made craft made by them self. The guide took us to the community facility in the village such as public school, medical center, temples, and cemetry. Because I'm Indonesian it didn't look very weird to me but for the tourists from Korea, Australia, and India, it's very attracting. The villager also showed their ability of climbing coconut tree...I thought I've seen that a lot of times before. At the end of the tour, we were served coconut drink from coconut tree. It healed my dehydration of the sun heat. After the drink we went back to the pontoon and prepared ourselves for the return journey to Bali.
The cruise activity ended at 15:00. We went back to Bali by the same boat and driven to our hotel in Sanur by Bali Hai driver. Such a fun experience....the weather was so hot too that my skin burned!
At night, I and Rian went for dinner. The dinner was at Blue Marlin Restaurant at Jimbaran Beach. A lot of tourists eating there on Jimbaran beach. There are about 20s restaurants along Jimbaran Beach. Don't ever miss eating at Jimbaran Beach if you go to Bali...it serves beach view, traditional performance, traditional food (finally...), and fun!
This is my last night in Bali (and my skin was already burned...), the next day I and Rian had to catch up the plane to Lombok.