I woke up early to take a taxi out to the Perama Boat Tours office in Senggigi where I picked up my boat tickets and caught the shuttle bus out to the harbor. The drive was beautiful as we drove along the winding coastal road, flanked by palm trees on the right and the ocean to the left. At many points I feared that we would all have to get out and push the dilapidated bus up the next hill, but as usual, our Indonesian driver was able to overcome the minor issue of a lack of horsepower.
(I think I can, I think I can...)
Once at the harbor, it was only an 30 minute boat ride out to Gili Trawangan. Gili T is the biggest of the three Gili Isles but it only takes about 3 hours to wander around its circumference, so it's still a pretty small island. As there aren't any docks, the boat pulled right up on the shore and I hopped out onto the beach to go in search of my homestay.
The first of many beach photos
I quickly found Padanta Homestay and was greeted by Gunta, the German man who owns the place and Mahson, the Indonesian guy who runs the show. For a mere 150,000 rupiah/night ($15 USD) I got a private room with a fan, hot water, and breakfast! After settling in, I went for a walk to become oriented with my surroundings and decided to rent a bike to ride out and find a quiet spot on the beach to relax. This seemed like the perfect plan until the wheels of my bike became mired in sand and I ended up having paid $5 to PUSH a bike around the island. Either way I found a nice spot and spent the rest of the day swimming and sunbathing. C'est la vie!
My private beach for the afternoon
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