Gili T, he pity the fool
Trip Start
Mar 19, 2008
1
25
31
Trip End
Jun 05, 2008
Gili Trawangan, Lombok,
Indonesia
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Unfortunately, however, flight prices and the sheer mania leading up to the wedding meant that we'd have to go somewhere more practical for our first few days of relaxation. And so, instead of starting in Balikana in Indonesia, we've ended up nearly finishing here. The trip has taken on a completely different route as a result of this decision. So it was a bit weird to arrive on the island, and stay in the resort, that we'd thought we'd start this big mad adventure at
Balikana pool
.We weren't disappointed. Although quite hard to get to (it's a long way north of the little town that is the main thorough-fare on Gili T), especially walking in midday heat, Balikana is a beautiful little spot, quite like we'd always expected it to be. Janis the owner, who we'd had contact with when we first thought of coming this way, was certainly a bit different. Basically, she's a blonde ball of Canadian manic good-spirited worry. She seemed very eager to tell us of all the travails of running a resort in the middle of no-where Indonesia. Each of the many power cuts on Gili T seemed to take years off her.
She has a kind of well-meaning Basil Fawlty aspect to her - constantly chastising the staff whenever they served us the simplest of things, or telling us which member of staff was useless at what - that made our few days at Balikana great fun. We actually met one of the staff one night when at a local bar and he was all smiles and how-are-yous. We had to ask him, "So what's it like working for Janis?" He gave us a pained long-suffering look, rolled his eyes and give a yak-yak-yak hand signal. Poor man. Although, see pays well, as she kept telling us.
So we spent a lot of time making sure she didn't know if one of the staff had served us or over-exaggerating how great the service had been (it was rare if they managed to get out of her sight long enough to serve us anyhow)
Full moon party
. All this aside, we had a wonderful time at Balikana. The first two days we spent getting used to the idea that we didn't need to pack and look for our next locations accommodation. It's been over a month since we last stayed somewhere longer than 3 nights. Once we got into the gist of doing nothing, we proved very good at it. Lisa sunned by the pool and read I played lots of solo scrabble (more fun then you can imagine - okay, only if you cheat). We spent evenings walking on the beach and taking in more superb sunsets, as well as heading down to central Gili T to sample the relaxed bar atmosphere on "The Strip". Gili T has the reputation as the party island of all Lombok's Gili's. And while it is lively and has good bars, it's not exactly Temple Bar.
We also landed in Gili T a few nights before the Full Moon Party. The party was a bit of fun, after a few hours hanging around in the Tir Na Og (drinking the wonderful local whiskey, Arak) we headed down with a few new friends to the party on the beach. Magic mushroom are the local delicacy around here- especially at full moon parties - so people weren't particularly conversational. We bumped into a couple of local lads who were painting at Balikana and had good fun dancing and chatting with them.
Gili T sunset
On the way home we encountered what I believe is the most dedicated salesman I've ever seen. It must have been 3 in the morning and pitch black. Me and Lisa were having a heated debate about something and passing locals asleep on their porches when one raised his head, still half asleep, and said "Snorkel?" Personally, I'm not a huge fan of 3am snorkelling, but fair play to the guy for trying.
So we enjoyed the rest of our days in Gili T, kicking back and taking it easy. We had planned to spend the rest our trip (the remaining 10 days or so) doing just the same when suddenly one of those mad impulses hit, and before we knew it, we were handing over a small fortune for flights into deepest darkest Indonesia - or Flores, as it's known - for one last bit of adventure.
We've heard the Flores island is breathtaking but facilities are basic. I can only imagine how poor Janis would cope with what we're about to encounter.
