Gili Tralala
Lili @ Gili Trawangan
Back in november 2012 I met this nice Brazilian girl Lilian ‘slash’ Lili in Philae, Assouan, Egypt. She was on a worldtrip back than and was still travelling, for more than 1 year now! She arrived 15 days ago in Uluwatu, Indonesia. Today she would sail to Gili Trawangan, a tropical jewel and one of the three Gili Islands, northwest of Lombok. The word ‘Gili’ means actually ‘small island’. I decided to join Lili & she introduced me to Soul, a local friend of her who worked for ‘Gili Getaway Fast Boats’ He was so kind to organize the whole thing! After 3h on the bus and a 1h fast boat ride, I finally made it to this exquisit tropical island.
Streets of Gili Trawangan
Floating in the sparkling turquoise waters just off the northwest coast of Lombok, you’ll find those three perfect coral islands – Gili Meno, Gili Air & Gili Trawangan – fringed with swaying palmtrees, & white sand beaches while the hill on Gili Trawangan form a perfect backdrop to this idyllic setting. Gili Trawangan is the most popular island and the furthest from the mainland. The nice part is that you don’t find cars here nor motorbikes! Only horses & carriage and a relaxed atmosphere. Also a lively bar scene at night and a nightmarket with a wide range of local dishes at local prices. The whole setting reminded me a lot to Caye Caulker, a small coral island in Belize, Central America. Seem to be twin islands! Imagine white sand beaches, huge palmtrees, reggae music and a delicious cocktails… Welcome to Gili Tralala, paradise island (as our buddy Soul would say)
Warm welcome from Soul & Lili
And so there he was with his amazing smile and a big sign with my name on it as if Lili wouldn’t recognize me. Great feeling to have such a genuine, warm welcome. ‘Sama sama’ (welcome) to paradise! We strolled in the colourful, authentic backstreets of the island & Soul invited us right away for Gado Gado, a local ‘not spicy’ lunch as he called it. This spicy, as I call it, noodle dish with peanut butter was simply delicious and even if I was burning inside, I couldn’t resist to finish the whole thing! Proud of myself by this progress! Back in India, at the beginning of my trip, I couldn’t finish such home made dishes although they were delicious as well!
Soul, me, Iwan & Mbier @ Pondok Sederhana homestay
Soul brought us afterwards to Pondok Sederhana, a small homestay runned by his friends Jo, Adi ‘Brocolli’ & Aldi, 3 friendly fellahs. Fabulous quiet place away from the hustle & the bustle from the mainstreet with spacy rooms, fan, private bathroom, a terrace with garden, a hammock,… for the humble price of 100.000RP (8€) a night including breakfast. The guys welcomed us right away in the straw patio in the small exotic garden for some local palmwine, mie & meatballs along with their friends Irin & Iwan while Soul played his guitar to entertain his audience. Great laughs when Lili tried the ‘mie’. Irin asked her ‘Do you like ‘mie’ ? Lili answered… ‘Of course I like you, but I prefer this’ pointing at the ‘mie’. Haha… I can recommend this place if you’re into meeting locals, relaxing and enjoying the small local things this island has to offer.
Magda, Louise & Connie on a Gili snorkeling trip
The next few days were simply about relaxing on the beach, swimming, beautiful sunsets, delicious food, live music & pubs at night, enjoying the relaxed atmosphere on the island, meetin’ new people, … I went on a snorkeltrip as well around the Gili’s where I met Louise & Connie, 2 girls from Germany who were on a 2 1/2 week trip around Bali. Magda, a girl from Brazil joined us on the trip as well. Lili & me had met her the night before in Sama Sama reggae bar.
During our stay we also got the visit of Azis Gagap & Nunung, 2 famous Indonesian actors. Soul was very delighted to meet them…
I planned to stay 2-3 days but this island and it’s relaxed atmosphere worked just so addictive and that I ended up spending quite few more days here… Great memories!
Didier Van Bellinghen
Backpacking Around The Globe - 2013 
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