Sunday Funday

...was actually spent in the car. We woke up around 4:30 (probably because of the rooster) and Wayan, our host, said we could shoot to take the 11am shuttle instead of the 1pm since we were up early. Needed to leave at 8:30 in case of traffic. Boy was he right about the traffic. We spent 2hrs 45 mins driving to Padangbai, the harbor from which our boat departed. We obviously did not make the 11am, so then we had to either fend off people selling bracelets and sarongs and sunglasses for a few hours while we waited for the 1pm or go to the bar. Can you guess which we chose?

The fast boat to Gili Trawangan was air conditioned and had a terrible/awesome movie playing, Monster Truck. It was about this giant squishy squid monster thing that was living in deep oil wells til industry found it. The oil company caught two of them and were doing tests on them, but a third escaped and befriended a boy. Think ET meets Free Willy and you've got the right idea. Again, amazing. Unfortunately, depending on your perspective, the boat landed before we could find out if the industry-paid scientist who turned to the good guy's side had successfully helped the two captive creatures to escape. Will obviously have to check that one out at home to find out!

We got to Gili Trawangan around 3pm and found our place right away. It's only a 5 minute walk from where the ferry plopped us down on the beach. There aren't motor bikes at all here, you travel by bicycle or horse drawn cart or by foot! We decided to walk to the other side of the island to watch the sunset from the West and it was absolutely breathtaking. We took turns helping other tourist couples take photos so they could both be in them. Let me tell you, drinking a  cold Bintang (Indonesian beer) while watching the sun set over a volcanic island is nothing to sneer at.

The downside of watching the sunset on the Western side of the island was that we had to walk back "home" in the dark. Sunday nights are apparently big for partying in the Gilis, so we passed many bars and dance floors that were welcoming patrons. Us, still in bathing suits and smelling of sunscreen weren't the ideal clientele, so we got some weird looks. We managed to navigate the darkness successfully (in fairness, large stretches of the dirt road were lit), and even managed to stay awake past 9pm for the first time this vacation! This Airbnb had blessed, blessed air conditioning, and we were so grateful for it; not only does Gili Trawangan have lots of roosters, but we were only a half block away from the local mosque and the first morning prayer is started with a call to worship that is projected via speakers... At 5am. So the AC helped us to successfully sleep through that (mostly).

This place was every bit as nice as the last one, in an entirely different way. It's beachfront, located above a jewelry shop, and has this amazing balcony overlooking the beach. They left us welcome Bintangs, plus the bathroom was designed as a wet room so I didn't have to worry about traipsing water all over. It was a really lovely space. First day's impression was all good!