The boat from Lombok drops off right in front of the hotel in Gili T (Trawangang). How convenient! Immediately we notice a totally different atmosphere compared to what we’ve seen in Indonesia so far. The majority of people on the street are western tourists, there is a strip of bars and restaurants and drunk youngsters think they ‘own this town’. Welcome to Gili T: Indonesia’s party island. If I didn’t know any better I would have believed I was in Ibiza.
Our hotel has a bar in the pool which makes it easy to gain new friends. Except for the fact that the people in the pool (undoubtedly influenced by alcohol) are picking a fight with each other a few minutes after we’ve made our entrance. A drunk English lady finds it necessary to announce that she hates all Germans. Not the smartest thing to say if there are a few Germans in the pool. Luckily it ends with name-calling and some looks. “Get out of the pool you f*ck#*g b*tch!” Koen and I look at each other and think the same: where did we end up? What a shit show! As the lady leaves the pool the dust settles and we meet Adam from London. “Not all English people are like her”, he assures us.
We picked a good day to arrive at Gili T as tonight it is a full moon, which means a Full Moon party in a lot of Asian tourist destinations. The streets are packed with people and there is mixture of bars with live music and bars with DJ’s. At 1AM all the bars close and everybody heads over to Sandy Bar, where the party continues on the beach.
The next morning Koen and I book a scuba diving trip. As I never got around to getting my certification I have to start in the pool with basic instructions. A bit annoying as I’ve dived a few times before, but I understand that safety is the school’s main concern. Perhaps next year I’ll find my way to a good diving spot to get certified.
Our group is small with only 5 people. We gear up and get into the boat which brings us to our diving location. We enter the water and start our descend. The whole cast of the movie Nemo is awaiting us. We see many different fish and a couple of sea turtles minding their own business. It so much fun to swim close to these beautiful colored creatures. Looking at an ocean you sometimes forget there is a whole world down there to explore!
When the dive is over we decide to do nothing but relax: a little bit of reading, a massage, enjoying food and drinks and playing on the ukulele. A perfect vacation day on a beautiful beach.
Our journey continues to Bali.
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