Gili Trawangan

Gili Trawangan is part of 3 islands known in Indonesia as the Gili Islands. The translation of this is the Island Islands, hmmm. Gili Trawangan is the largest of the 3. Although this time of year it is probably just as quiet as any since it is the off season. The island is known for great diving and snorkeling, as well as selling "magic mushrooms" at almost every restaurant and store. We'll have to save that trip for another trip - Scott, there's a good pun for you.

Our hotel bungalow was very nice with an outdoor shower, traditional thatched roof construction, and a large balcony/hammock area. Our days included snorkeling on the coral just outside our hotel, eating at one of the many roadside seafood barbecues, and relaxing both pool and oceanside. We needed the relaxing after our recent mountain trek. Our pool had a mini waterfall to sit under, a jacuzzi with water the same temperature as the pool, and a swim up bar.


The remainder of our island time had some rain, some sun, as well as our first blisters of the trip. Throughout the trip we had been on plenty of all day walks in our sandals. It ended up being a 2 hour walk around the island with the wetness and sand around the sandal thongs that did us in. This little walk also had Trevor stubbing his toe on a piece of coral the size of Cheddar on the middle of the beach. How he missed that one will remain a mystery?

After a long day at the beach, nothing was better than a nice salt water shower. Oh yeah, all ground water on the island is salty. During our first shower after our mountain trek, we were stunned by how much salty sweat was running off ourselves until we realized the difference in the water.

We also tried lots of new drinks. Some that used brown sugar, and others that included a local rice liquor called Arak. Our favorite was the Arak Attack. We ended up purchasing a bottle of this duty free in Bali. We are excited to try out our new food and drink recipes on others back home.