All roads lead to Gili Trawangan

All roads lead to Gili Trawangan-

In Indonesia there is a tiny little treasure called Gili Trawangan. (There are actually 3 Gili islands, but Trawangan is most popular for travelers and the other 2 islands more for honeymooners.) It’s 30 minutes from the larger island of Lombok, which is 2 hours by speed boat from Bali. If you’re from the US you may have never heard of the Gili’s, but from talking with other travelers the past 8 months it became the priority of my Indonesia travels. Particularly for the diving.

On the speed boat from Bali there was a group of maybe 20 of us sitting on the roof deck. It took probably 3 minutes to realize sitting up top was a bad idea. Sprays of water were coming from every direction like firehouses holding back a riot crowd. The boat was flying though and there was no chance to move down. We were all stuck up there gripping the side rails and laying flat on our backs or sides to minimize the impact. (Come to find out later that even if we could have gotten up it wouldn’t have mattered anyway because all the sets downstairs were taken. Safety first and all that). I huddled next to a group of Brazilians and we came out of the mutual misery as friends, bonded by the effects of water torture. Once docked on the beach the boat had a narrow side deck you had to shimmy down to get off. I got off first and turn around to everyone yelling and pointing to the guy that fell into the water with all his bags. It ended up being my Brazilian homey Marco. Since we were already soaking wet anyway I was trying to make light of it, to help him laugh it off, and raised my hand overhead for a high five. I was stuck doing one of those embarrassing and awkward wave at the air motions when someone leaves you hanging. He said that someone pushed him and was fuming about it to the point of tears and shakes from adrenaline. His iphone, along with one of the girls phones and camera were in the bag. I felt like a jerkoff for trying to high five him and changed my consoling tactics to “let’s have a drink”. His drink of choice was tequila, which suited me fine. We day drank, evening drank, and drank a bunch more into the early morning. By the end of the night there was no memory of being pushed off the boat. There was no memory of quite a bit.

The day I got there I recognize a Spanish guy named Daniel walking by that I met 2 months ago in the Perhentian Islands of Malaysia. We did a quick 5 minute catchup and went on our ways cheered by the randomness. The next day I see a German girl named Marie that I also recognize from Malaysia. We first shared a guesthouse and hung out in Langkawi Island (west cost of Malaysia) then met back up in the Perhentian Islands (east cost of Malaysia). I remembered seeing the Spanish guy with her in the Perhentian’s so assumed they must be together, but she had no idea he was there in the Gili’s. She told me of another complete separate random encounter she had with someone else a few days ago on the same island. It’s common to run into people in the same country, it happens all the time really. However this was a first, as we met each other over 2 months before on a non bordering country (Vietnam to Laos wouldn’t be that surprising for example). Marie and I hung out that night with a mix of people (Dutch, German and Uruguayan) from her hostel and my Brazilian crew, that had since quadrupled in size to about 12 (they flock together). As usual I was the sole American, but I represent. Again I stay out late and wake up late. Total count of dives (my reason for visiting the Gili’s) after 4 days is zero.

On my final day on the island, before boarding my 4 day boat trip through the Indonesian archipelago, bound for Komodo Island to check out some dragons. I’m determined to get some dives in. I have a, much needed, mellow night and hit the dive shop early with a full day planned at three of the best dive sites in the area. In my first dive group are an older British couple, two Irish guys and a German guy named Michael. This one takes the cake. Michael and I were on the same dive boat together over SIX months ago in Poor Knights Island of New Zealand! I’m now convinced of two things; A) it’s a small world after all, and 2) Gili Trawangan, which is small enough to bike the circumference of in an hour, is the secret rekindling rendezvous point for wayward travelers. My 4 day boat trip leaves at 7am tomorrow. I got my fingers crossed on that hot chick from Melbourne being on board. Either way I’m showing up early enough to make sure I’m not stuck on the roof.

Bob