Bring on the hammock
May 9, 2010
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Shed that urban stress on Indonesia's laidback Gili Islands
THE peeled-onion syndrome, whereby visitors instantly shed layers of stress along with their clothes, is a naturally occurring phenomenon on the tiny Indonesian island paradise of Gili Trawangan.
"People instinctively unwind here," says British expat Di Somerton, encapsulating the ethos of this tropical island off the coast of Lombok. Indeed, people seem to literally fall out of the boat (the only access to the island) into a hammock or on to the beach and stay there for a week or so. "People feel they have no need to do anything or go anywhere," says Somerton, co-owner of a couple of landmark restaurants and several villas on the island with her Australian partner, Matthew Blundell.
Access is via a two-hour boat ride from Bali or a 20-minute plane trip from Bali to Lombok; add another 30 minutes for the boat transfer and you are in heaven.
While Gili Air and Gili Meno (the smallest) are idyllic and largely undeveloped, offering some accommodation, Trawangan, with its urbane style, quaint character and community of about 900, transcends the picture-postcard island cliche. It's the most popular of the trio, with the feel of a miniature adult playground: palm trees, piercingly beautiful aqua water and fine white-sand beaches.
Gili T, as the locals call it, is a rare gem where motorised traffic, water sports and dogs (barking or not) are banned.
The pint-sized village boasts a colourful strip -- with the implausible label of Central -- consisting of six diving centres offering courses and certification, boutique accommodation, beachside bars and clubs, restaurants, shops, a market and an outdoor cinema. From the main stretch of beach, Goodheart, it's just a few steps to adjacent cafes.
A walk around the 3km long and 2km wide island, tree-lined and overgrown in places, is an adventure. But if the two-hour stroll or a bicycle ride is too arduous in the heat, you could taxi about in cidomos, horses and carts flaunting gaudy bells and whistles.
Prices vary according to the driver's perception of the size of your wallet and you should bargain. But be prepared for a rough ride: partly paved dirt tracks are badly potholed.
Good food is a preoccupation and local and foreign purveyors are ample. Indonesian warungs serving the ubiquitous nasi goreng (sticky fried rice), Italian, Indian and Japanese fare, Spanish tapas, pizza and even an Irish pub run the gamut from cheap and cheerful to trendy and swank.
Succulent seafood buffets and Australian steaks beachside are consistent crowd pleasers among an eclectic mixture of tourists, from backpackers and expats (many Australian) to a hip European set.
A local treat is barbecued whole snapper or mahi mahi cooked on the beach and served in thatched alang-alang grass bales amid starry skies and lapping water.
Your cook is likely to ask you to join a spirited local jam session on the beach around the fire after dinner.
Sinking into a bale's plump cushions with a good book and a fresh juice during the day is bliss, though you may not move for hours, especially if you order your meals there. The main attractions here, though, are the snorkelling and scuba diving, considered among the best in the world. Not to mention the crystal clear water. There is even good surf to the south in the right conditions.
While snorkelling off the beach is an easy stroll from your villa, marine life is far more diverse and rewarding out to sea. Boats ferry divers daily to top sites off Gili T and its smaller cousins, Gili Meno and particularly Gili Air, which provide a wonderworld of brightly coloured coral and marine life, including pygmy seahorses, green sea turtles, bumphead parrot-fish, frogfish, manta rays and reef sharks.
The predominantly Muslim locals on the Gilis are relaxed and coexist happily with tourists.
Alcohol is served throughout the islands (even during Ramadan) and female tourists wear bikinis but topless sunbathing is 2lconsidered disrespectful and is ill-advised.
Gili T was uninhabited 50 years ago until the Bugis fisherfolk from Sulawesi settled. Now the islands have grown so popular, the local diving centres and fishermen have banded together to protect the ecosystems. The Gili Eco Trust, supported by local businesses, was formed in 2002, implementing reef programs and, last year, land projects, including recycling.
Gili T's bustling, vibrant centre has attracted a recent boom of largely foreign-owned up-market bungalows, cabins and hotels, sparking some environmental concern. Biorock, a coral reef conservation initiative, has introduced 40 artificial reefs around the Gilis to attract marine life and encourage coral regeneration of reefs damaged after explosives were used illegally for fishing. Gili T also has a turtle sanctuary.
A sacrosanct part of the day is sunset when the heat is more forgiving and people stake out chairs in the sand in church-like reverence to marvel at the changing spectacle. Pre-dinner drinks on the beach watching the incandescent sky are an obligatory evening ritual.
Gili T is where Bob Marley still rules. Most nights of the week musicians sporting dreadlocks thump out Marley's stock-in-trade reggae, drawing enamoured tourists until the wee hours. There are also rotating party venues during peak season from May until August, but persistent comparisons with Ibiza are somewhat wide of the mark. While Gili T is known as a party island -- it has no police and numerous signs advertising magic mushrooms or "bloody fresh magic mushroom" shakes -- it is just too laid-back for a real party culture. Its neighbour Bali is much more like Ibiza.
A great lunchtime perch is Ko-ko-mo, one of the island's newest up-market eateries, owned by Somerton and Blundell, who also own the Beach House villas and restaurant.
Tables decked in white linen and good cutlery sit a stone's throw from the water's edge at Ko-ko-mo, with a view to the neighbouring ranges of Lombok's Mt Rinjani and Bali's Mt Agung. We eat there on a perfectly clement day, but the calm weather makes way within 30 minutes for a raging tropical storm.
As it starts brewing and land and seascape morph into bewitching shades and contours, we munch our way through Tahitian-style tuna with coconut, avocado, ginger, coriander and lime, a sashimi plate, Peking duck wrapped in a herb crepe, lightly fried calamari, ravioli filled with mud crab and coconut, all washed down with a bottle of chilled Astrolabe pinot gris from New Zealand's Marlborough region. The bonus is the monsoonal downpour, which provides a kaleidoscope of scenery changes. As rain pelts down, waiters hastily erect a canopy and a cacophonic roar drowns out all vestiges of conversation. Forced to stay in our seats and regard the theatre of Mother Nature, we could not be stuck in a more congenial place.
Then, as abruptly as it started, the storm blows over.
Lombok and Bali, which had vanished, re-emerge, silver light slithers across the ocean and the sun shines benignly.
As I walk back to my villa, the island is awash with puddles and remains so for days, making cidomo taxi rides a hairy exercise.
Accommodation on Gili T varies from budget hotels and bungalows to luxury, including the four-star Villa Ombak (which has the only ATM on the island); most accommodation is in Central, on the eastern side. Some prefer to stay outside Central, avoiding any late night party hullabaloo and early-morning calls to prayer from the mosque.
I stay a 15-minute walk northeast of Central, where accommodation is not so dense; it's quiet and the snorkelling is better. My choice is the new Villa Kokita with four oversized rooms, huge ensuite bathrooms, half under open skies; it's perfect for groups of friends or families. All rooms spill out to a central pool overlooking the beach, providing a clear view of sunrises and sunsets. A spacious family room equipped with couches and cable television seamlessly merges with the pool.
If you are after pure indulgence, the Oberoi Lombok, on a secluded beach outcrop at Medana Bay, takes guests snorkelling and diving daily to the Gilis. The five-star resort has a PADI certified diving centre and its own reef. "But guests usually don't want to hang about for lunch on Gili T," says the Oberoi skipper. It's too boisterous and too small. They can't wait to get back to the Oberoi." Well, who wouldn't? A superb resort sanctuary, the Oberoi has been open for 13 years but is still one of Lombok's best-kept secrets.
What to take to Gili Trewangan? Several page-turners and little else. You will live in your swimmers and a hat. You'll be impelled to peel back to the bare essentials, and you'll curse yourself if you take a large suitcase.
TERIMA KASIH ATAS KUNJUNGAN SAUDARA
Judul: Bring on the hammock
Ditulis oleh Hikarivoucher.com
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