Day 6: Ubud to Gili T

Time to leave our room at Sapulidi Resort. It's a nice little spot, and I would come back, although the restaurant is pretty average and the wifi in our room didn't work (had to go out to the pool area which could be worse I suppose). The day before in Ubud we had booked ferry tickets for Gili Trawangan, a small island just off the coast of Lombok (about 50km east of Bali).

Our shuttle arrived promptly at 11am, we crammed into the back of the van and set off for the port at Padung Bai. The drive was a bit over an hour and was pretty uncomfortable since I couldn't move - jammed between Shandos, the window and the seat in front, but on the plus side if we'd crashed it wouldn't have mattered that I wasn't wearing a seatbelt - I couldn't go anywhere.

Waited around for about 90 minutes at the port since departure was 1:30, not 12:30 that the salesman had told us, but alas. The boat was away pretty quickly at 1:30 and everyone migrated immediately from the hold to the open top deck where speakers blasted an unusual mix of late 90s Eurodance (Vengaboys, Aqua etc) and classic rock (Beatles, Creedence etc).

Gili T is pretty well known on the backpacker circuit as a party island, and we both noted that almost everyone else aboard the ferry was under 25. Felt a little conspicuous as they were mostly Europeans as well - again I'm going to mention that I've been surprised how many Euros there are here. Seems like the Australians mainly just stick to Kuta and Denpasar in Bali and don't venture much further.

After a couple of stops on Lombok and Gili Air we arrived at Gili T around 4pm. This island is absolutely tiny - before commercialism happened there were only about 700 locals and you can walk the entire coastline in about 90 minutes. And as an added bonus, there are no motor vehicles here, just bicycles and horse-drawn carts (!!). Plus a couple of electric scooters, but so far mopeds or cars. We walked the 10 minutes up the coast to our hotel, checked in and took our requisite dip in the pool and a spot of afternoon tea, before freshening up and wandering back down to the main township.

Lots of bars that were mostly empty when we went past at 7pm - still a bit early for the party set. Had dinner in a large market square where vendors barbecue meats and fish right in front of you, (hopefully) today's catch served with noodles, rice etc. Felt a bit guilty eating since the sun had only just gone down and it was still Ramadan (there's a mosque on the island and the muezzin was still singing out the call to prayer while we were eating), but I think a lot of the workers are probably Hindus from Bali rather than local Muslims.

Had an amusing time eating at a communal bench - the local feral cat population were very interested in the seafood skewers and kept jumping up on the benches and tables next to us! A few shoves and hisses and they get the message, though it's always funny to see reactions of people from more uptight cultures than Australians.

Wandered back to the hotel and had a drink along the way, as Shandos wanted to try some Balinese wine (they have a single vineyard and it's rare to find venues selling it by the glass). She had a rose that was unsweetened which I wouldn't drink twice, so I entertained myself with a 500ml Bintang instead. They're becoming a habit!Read more