Indo Island Hop

View of the Gili's with Lombok in the background

Since arriving back to Indonesia after our visa run, Jess and I have had a great time exploring some of the smaller islands around Bali. It was interesting to see how each island is so different, despite their close proximity to each other. We visited three islands, Nusa Lembongan, Gili Air and Lombok. There are various fast boats and ferries that can take you from island to island, and if anyone has been to Asia (I'm sure other developing places in the world as well) and used these types of ferries to get around you know the experience can be comical at times and even quite frustrating. While I was living in Phuket I had many experiences with traveling between islands, but had forgotten how the system works. Allow me to elaborate...

Ferry route map - makes it all look pretty direct

Lembongan was the first island we visited and it is easy to reach from Bali, you take a direct ferry that is around 30 minutes. That trip was seamless. The second island we decided to visit was Gili Air so we spoke to our hotel about arranging a ferry over there. They brought us to the booking office the morning of our departure and we paid for a ticket to the Gili ferry. There was no mention of the itinerary of the boat, we assumed we would just hop on and it would take us to our destination. Wrong! We get on the boat and take our seats at the back (thank you to Jess's friend for telling us that is the best place to be - it can get quite hot inside the ferry) and get ready to make the crossing to our next island. Once we sit, a lovely gal that works on the boat comes to the back and tells us the "itinerary" for the trip. She mentions that first we would travel over to Lombok for a drop off, mind you Lombok is past the Gili Islands, then we would head to Gili Trawangan which is the largest of the Gili island chain. Once we arrive at Gili T we would then get off the ferry and get on another boat headed to Gili Air. Basically making a trip that would have taken one and a half hour turn into more of a four hour ordeal. None of these places have actual docks, so you are getting on and off from the beach in about knee deep water. The icing on the cake is after sharing this news they hand us these little snack packs of local sweets that look incredibly unappetizing as a consolation prize, and offer you beer (for a price of course). You just have to laugh in these types of moments, as really you are at the mercy of the situation. We had a chuckle then settled in for the ride.

The ferry "dock"

All passengers welcome :)

As we got underway the weather became pretty bad and the sea was quite rough, we started rocking about and getting soaked by the splashing waves as the captain (local dude looking less than official in a t-shirt and flip flops with his sunglasses wrapped around the back of his head) forged onwards without slowing his pace. As I found out from my yachting experience I do not get seasick and Jess seemed to also be able to handle the sea state quite well, however some passengers were not so lucky. Slowly a few passengers trickled out onto the back deck, which was not a large space, and one girl in particular got ushered out and was literally green in the face and looked completely out of it. Jess and I quickly offered up our seats, mainly for fear of being puked on, and were able to go upstairs to the crew area as there were no other seats open. We rode out the rest of the trip laughing at the whole situation, really that was all we could do. A reminder that often in these parts of the world logic is not something you can rely on and you have to accept a different way of things operating.

Letting the party-goers off at Gili Trawangan

The islands are all beautiful in their own right, white sandy beaches and crystal blue waters. There is said to be a geographical divide between Bali/Lembongan and the Gilis/Lombok referred to as Wallace's line, where basically the Bali side is said to have flora/fauna inline with Asia and the Lombok side more closely resembles the flora/fauna of Australia. We did notice the Lombok side having a more desert like feel, and Lembongan having a more lush green tropical feel. However, it was clear that their infrastructure for all these islands was under immense pressure due to the effects of tourism on their delicate ecosystem. I felt these islands are in a catch-22 of sorts, where they rely on tourism to bring in financial support for their livelihoods but that same tourism that is bringing people to their paradise is also destroying their home over time. Natural resources such as fresh water are not abundant, so everywhere you go you can see piles of empty plastic water bottles with nowhere to go. The amount of people traveling through the islands is bound to create waste, and that waste is increasing at a faster rate then the island is able to manage it. Trash on the beaches, in the ocean and around the streets is common place and while the islands are still breathtaking it is something difficult to look past. Bless her heart, Jess was constantly picking up rubbish and trying to find the nearest receptacle to dispose of it, with the unfortunate knowledge that once it made it into a trash can it would just be placed in a larger trash pile elsewhere on the island. There is also a ton of coral washed up on the beaches, perhaps signaling the destruction of the reefs in these heavily visited areas.

So much trash with nowhere to go...

Nusa Lembongan:
Nusa Lembongan is considered part of Bali, and is a small (~3.1 sq. mi) and quaint island that still reflects the Hindu culture and spirituality you see on the main island. The islands main mode of transportation is motorbikes, however there are a few pick-up truck type vehicles that transport visitors and their luggage to accommodation around the island. We really loved this island, it had a certain charm with its quieter vibe and well paved winding roads through mangroves and palm forests. We rented scooters and explored the land, you can get around the island in maybe an hour or so, longer if you stop to take photos. There are some restaurants on a few main strips, but it is certainly less developed then Bali and the amount of hawkers and people trying to hustle you to buy things was much less common here. We went on a snorkel trip while we were here which was fun, however I did notice a lot of the coral looked damaged and even saw some fellow snorkelers stepping directly onto the coral which was infuriating. Growing up on the coast I learned a lot about the importance of marine health and certain no-nos like touching coral, but apparently others have not received the same type of education. Sadly none of the local boat guides seem to explain this to their passengers which is a shame. All in all I would definitely return to this island, it had a nice laid back vibe and beautiful scenery that was fun and easy to explore with a scooter.

The main road in Lembongan

Hindu holiday decorations - made mostly from dried palm leaves

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Entry to our hotel

Most of the hotels on the islands have lovely pools

Clear blue water with Bali in the background

Lembongan from the water

Ready to explore!

Adventuring around the island with this silly goose - this is the "Yellow Bridge" and it was like a cute mini golden gate bridge connecting Lembongan to its neighbor, Nusa Penida

Loving Lembongan

 
Gili Air:
The Gili's are a chain of three islands consisting of Gili Trawangan, Gili Air and Gili Meno (Gili means island). These islands are considered a part of Bali's neighbor, Lombok, so they are mainly Muslim which gives them another type of atmosphere. They don't have the blessings everywhere and often times during the day you could hear the call to prayer around the island. Gili T is considered a real party island, with lots of bars and action it has been described as having an Ibiza type vibe. Gili Meno is the quietest of the chain, mainly attracting couples and honeymooners looking for a relaxed mellow vibe. Gili Air is considered to be in the middle of these two types of atmospheres, with bars and parties if you want them and quieter areas if you want to unwind. We figured this would be the perfect balance for us, and it ended up being a really fun place to visit. While Lembongan seemed fairly small, the size of Gili Air was small in an entirely different way (~2 sq. mi) and was unlike any island I have ever been to. The island has no motorized vehicles and the circumference can be walked in about two and a half hours. While there are no cars or motorbikes, the island has an abundance of horse drawn carriages called Cidomos that locals use as the main mode of transit in addition to bicycles. We had so much fun cruising around this island and got to go to a music festival while we were here as well which was cool. We also stumbled upon some old friends of mine from Phuket that I had not seen or spoken to in years which was pretty incredible. Another island I would go back to in a heart beat.

 Welcome to Gili Air - That is Lombok in the background

Turquoise waters on a sunny day

Horse drawn carriages?!

The Gili Air Cidomos

All the roads around the island are dirt like this one and we were basically barefoot the entire time in Gili Air

Posting up for sunset

Hanging out at the "Smile Bar" it was easy to see how this place got its name

Gili Air Music Festival decor

My friends from Phuket...Silviya and Ivan - was so great to run into them!

There were cats everywhere on the island - we "adopted" this little guy for our visit and named him Bintang (Balinese beer)

Beautiful day spent at the Smile Bar to close out our time in Gili Air

This place was magical

Lombok:
At 1,824 sq miles, Lombok was the largest island we visited apart from Bali, which measures 2,232 sq miles. They have an airport on the island so we decided to book our flight to Thailand straight from here. My original plan was to head to Lombok to trek Mt. Rinjani, which is the second highest peak in Indonesia measuring 12,224 feet. It is an active volcano and supposed to be a beautiful climb with a lake and hot springs at the top. Unfortunately the weather took a turn, and due to heavy rains I was told it was too dangerous to do the climb. I was pretty heartbroken, but found a lovely little beach front eco-resort run by a sweet Frenchman to post up and enjoy the last couple days in Indo. Jess had decided to go back to Lembongan for a couple days to enjoy some down time, so we parted ways to enjoy some solo travel. We had made a friend in Gili Air that had planned to go to Lombok as well, so we grabbed a boat over together and hung out on the island for a couple days which was fun. It was cool to see the Gili's from the beaches of Lombok, as we had been enjoying the view of Lombok from the Gili's during our stay there. Overall I did not love the feel of Lombok, however being such a large island I did not really get to explore it much and never saw any of the actual destination beach towns only local villages that were not super enticing to me. The culture is quite different here being a less traveled island, the locals don't speak much English and I just found overall they did not seem as friendly to foreigners or tourism in general. I probably would not revisit Lombok, but glad I got to check it out.

Rinjani Eco Lodge - Made entirely of sustainable Bamboo

Inside the little bungalow at the Eco Lodge

Traditional Indonesian boat we took for snorkeling in Lombok

Enjoying the view from Lombok looking over at Gili Air

Reunited and it feels so good - our last night in Indonesia

These sweet local boys asked to take a photo with me as I was swinging on the beach - they barely spoke English but I had a very friendly and playful interaction with them :)

After roughly six weeks in Indonesia we depart tomorrow for Phuket. It has been a great trip so far, but I am SO READY for Thailand. I know I am biased having lived in Thailand as it holds such a special place in my heart, but overall I find the food and people much more appealing. I am looking forward to showing Jess my old stomping grounds and starting another phase of our adventure.