I've been in Perth almost for four years now. Year one I explored WA and ventured on a short trip to Alice Springs with my parents, year two I went home to Cambridge to catch up with friends and family, Year three I met my parents in Adelaide, caught the train to Perth and then drove us all to Kalbarri.
Approaching my fourth year I decided I needed a tropical break. I went to Nusa Dua in Bali in February. It was a short break and I definitely craved more, so a few weeks ago my friend Callum and I agreed to travel to Bali together for a part trashy, part relaxing, part sightseeing tour. Callum suggested we visit one of the three Gili islands, so we booked a couple of nights on Gili Trawangan.
A quick and painless flight with Batik was a good start. Competitively priced with exceptional leg room and complimentary breakfast. I was impressed. See how the return leg turns out!
We arrived at Denpasar Airport and caught a taxi with some very tame haggling. Still cheaper than Perth. Our accommodation was at the city centre hotel The ONE Legian. Although we arrived early for the 3pm check-in, it wasn't until 4pm that both rooms were ready.
Bags dumped and two complimentary drinks later, we headed out, straight to Kuta Beach. Kuta Beach is vast, seemingly stretching from the south near the airport and as far as the eye can see in the north.
The beach was alive. Vendors everywhere, swimmers, surfers, stray dogs, walkers, joggers, kite fliers, everyone was there. Strangely there was a vendor selling bow and arrows. Towards dusk, instagram account holders swarmed to take a photo against the sunset backdrop. I'm guilty of this too, but I rarely make myself the subject.
After a pretty decent walk, in thongs, we decided we'd travelled far enough north to work up a decent appetite. We stopped at Sheppy's Bar & Restaurant. I enjoyed a beef sate with peanut sauce and a mandatory mound of rice. Good food, good service.
We went out that evening, first to the Simpang Inn to enjoy some Bintang Radlers and a cheeky banana pancake. No regrets and the start of a series of banana pancake meals.
At some stage in the evening we were corralled by a Michael Jackson look-a-like into the Bounty Bar. Sitting at the road facing bar we were barraged with pharmaceutical dealers and escorts - independently of each other. I was offered cannabis, mushrooms, cocaine, viagra and more than just company for the evening.
Towards midnight, I went to bed alone and without any drugs. I don't expect they would have helped me wake up for the 6am start to catch the boat to Gili Trawangan. The sleep deprivation did a good enough job of making the wake up process as difficult as possible.
Incidentally, I wrote this entire post on my mobile, while on the boat back from Gili T. Pretty impressive, but definitely not the preferred option.
