The next day, we went to the Gili Trawangan. If we had a laid back experience in Gili Air, Gili Trawangan offers a different experience. We stayed in Hotel Ombak Sunset, a posh and luxury resort hotel located at the western side of the island.
I had the chance to have a perfect photo in one of their ocean swings or
Datu Swing while watching the sunset. When you research Gili Islands, the swing photo is the popular image that will surely pop up. Our hotel was around 20-30 minutes away from the “party area”. But I have no complains as it is the best resort in the island.
Unlike Gili Air and Gili Meno, this island’s center is a bit loud yet very alive specially at night when all the bars are already open. I called this “party island” as most of the tourist flocks there to eat, drink and dance. There are many bars and restaurants that cater every traveler’s cravings. Oh hey, there’s also a night market that sells good food at a very affordable price.
There were so many interesting things I noticed when we went out. Some restaurants and resorts offered an outdoor movie viewing. Aside from souvenir shops, I also found a bookstore that buy and sells preloved books. And since there are no motorized-wheeled in the island, there are bikes for rent or you can hire a horse taxi.
After we had some beer and shisha at XL, one of the famous bar in the island, we walked towards the party area. There, we had more rounds of beer while dancing the night away with other travelers from different parts of the world. It was a challenge to get a horse taxi going back to the hotel. Good thing that we already rented a bike.
It was around 3 AM when we went back to the hotel. And I was “drunk
driving biking”.
*This is part of our Indonesia trip last March, 2016 together with my friends.