After the cultural tour at Sasak Sade Village, the bus took us through Senggigi heading to Teluk Kodek/Nare. Teluk Kodek is also known as Blue Water. In between we had the spicy ayam taliwang, a local cuisine of Lombok at RM Taliwang Raya and went shopping at cheap and spoilt for choices Sasaku. Trust me, there are hundred of t-shirts with really nice design and small pouch selling at IDR10,000-50,000. If you are looking for souvenirs to bring home, look no further than Sasaku.
Day 1 – The journey to Gili Trawangan
Gili Trawangan is one of the islands forming an archipelago of three islands, located the northwest coast of Lombok, Indonesia. The journey was a scenic coastal view and at times, we were on the cliff overlooking the vast ocean. How beautiful. It does not matter whether you sit on the right side or on the left side of the bus because everyone get their photo opportunity. Once we reached Teluk Kodek, I hurriedly went to have a toilet break before our 30 minutes boat ride. There are two ways to travel to Gili Trawangan from Lombok. The first is from Teluk Kodek/Nare, the expensive boat ride than Bangsal Port which ferries you to Gili islands for a cheap price.
Since we travelled as a big group, taking the private boat to Gili Trawangan seemed to be a better option. There were about 20 of us excluding the boatman in the boat. It was an open end boat, so our faces got splashed by the sea water. There was nothing incidental about the boat ride which proffered the sunset view of Lombok island.
Picture credit to Marul from Geek in White
A stay at Villa Ombak, Gili Trawangan
We reached the shore earlier than what I initially thought. My first impression of Gili Trawangan was a quiet luxurious island. Quiet because there is no motor vehicle on the road except for bicycles and cidomo, the horse drawn carts. Later it occurred to me that Villa Ombak is one of the largest resorts in Gili Trawangan and quite on a high end market as compared to the thriving backpackers area just 15 minutes away. I went straight to my room which was at the end of the resort to rest.
But first, I needed to explore the room. The room was really huge for one pax.
My bed
The corner hang out area.
The bathroom occupies a quarter of the room size with open air shower.
Here, I sent my clothes for laundry. I find it interesting that Villa Ombak actually sent the laundry to Lombok island. Kudos for effort to keep clean the island.
Villa Ombak is a nice place to stay in Gili Trawangan. Tell me it is not when you look at these pictures!
Dinner at Scallywags
All I can say about Scalliwags Gili Trawangan is that they serve the best island food ever. By island, I mean small little island like Gili Trawangan. Since I did not foot the bill myself, I have no idea as to the price. I remember a friend of mine telling me it’s the standard island price. If you want to secure the best seats, you need to be there early because more often than not, there is no empty seats at Scalliwags. Yes, the food is that good.
We started with a buffet of salads and everything vegetarian. Pay extra attention to the many sambal/ sauces at the side of the buffet table. Look for Scalliwag BBQ sauce and they are to die for.
I was left to wonder why was I reduced to a vegetarian when on a beach vacation and this arrived on the table I shared with Lily Riani, Govit from Itongtogo and Barry Kusuma.
Venturing the night life of Gili Trawangan
The main pathway near Villa Ombak was bustling with activities. Shops, restaurants, spas and souvenir shops were on their full force. Lily, Kelly and I decided to go for a walk to venture the night life of Gili Trawangan. As it was time for dinner, some waiters were calling us to dine in their restaurants. They returned our decline with smile. What a hospitality.
Because Gili Trawangan is near to Bali, there are many shops selling brand like Rip Curl, Hurley and Billabong. Each shop showed a sign of sale. I have a feeling that they have the sale throughout the year.
Look what I found!
Walking further, we found a food court which resembles a food festive. It was really happening around the food court area. Too bad, I got tired from the travelling and wanted to sleep early for the snorkelling trip the next day.
This trip to Gili Trawangan is part of #tripofwonders campaign by Ministry of Tourism Indonesia.