We took the ferry over to Gilli Trawangan after having carried Markus’ big trolley over the sand roads for 10 minutes on Gilli Air. Once on Trawangan, we could notice a big difference in infrastructure. The roads were mainly rigid asphalt/stone and not made out of sand. There were alot more ATMs to withdraw money from, and many more stores - some of them even had a modern look with air conditioning. My first assertion was that this place was nicer than Gilli Air, as there were also more people and life to it; making it less of a honeymoon island.

We went to our hostel, Good Vibes Bungalows, which was supposed to be a party hostel. This was supposed to be a party island, and we wanted to really get the feel for that. Having installed ourselves, we went for a walk around the island on its main road that goes close to the shore, and could see a lot of restaurants snorkelling rental places and street shops. We started out on its east coast and walked around half the island until we decided to grab a beer at a restaurant on the island’s north western shore. On the way here, I tried out some asian conical hats and bought a cap!

Walking for a little bit more around the island, we decided it was time to head back to the hostel and took a road that cross-sects the island. Taking this road, we could see a huge difference between the inner parts of the island and the outer parts of it. The outer parts are very touristy, whereas the middle parts had a lot of trash on it with farm animals strolling around in this mess. It was a sad sight, as you can see. We had really delicious banana pancakes at Longi’s restaurant, though!

We eventually made it back to the hostel and then had dinner at Warung Sasak after a recommendation from the Hostel owner. I cannot, however, recommend this, as there are many more, better places, to eat at on Trawangan. We wanted local food and got it, but we soon found out that Trawangan has a really nice street food market with lots of local foods that I highly recommend you to try out. This is the sad dish I got at the restaurant:

Anyways, after dinner, I bought ice cream from a local ice cream cart, and it melted almost immediately. Trying to eat it up as quickly as possible, I dropped half of it on the ground. Markus made the better decision to grab a snack from the street food market that was very close to us.

We then strolled around, took a drink by the beach and went for a free flow bar; a bar in which you get as much alcohol you want between 20.30-23.30. I unfortunately do not remember the name of the bar, but it had a good vibe with a beer pong tournament the same night and a boat trip next day. Unfortunately, it seemed as though even Trawangan was a honeymoon/couples island, as most people we saw were couples - even in this bar. We had a good time, though, and ended up second in the beer pong tournament. It was a fun night, and we moved on to an outdoor club for a little bit before we decided to go back home.

Next day, we decided to chill out at the beach - curing some of us’ hangover. It was one of the only days on this trip we took it easy and relaxed. The water was clear and warm, but the current was very strong - making you drift 20 meters in 30 seconds. It was a nice day, and we took a coffee at one of very few restaurants with a tropical vibe to it (reggae live music).

Later on, we went to the western shore to take a drink whilst watching the sunset. It was a very memorable sunset, and I look back at it with awe. Once again, however, the honeymoon vibe came back - even on Trawangan, that is supposed to be a party place.

After the sunset, we walked around the island’s southern shore and saw people sitting by a bonfire, as well as more romantic places. Finishing the walk, we had arrived at the streetfood market, where we ate local food for 220,000 Rupiah per person (ca 15 EUR) including main course food, beer and quite a big desert made out of hand plucked pieces of sweets.

We strolled around for a little bit, went to the mosque, grabbed a few beers, watched live performances by a local reggae band at a restaurant, and then went back home. No partying tonight.

Next day, we got some of the included breakfast from the hostel, chilled out at the beach again, and then went to Longi’s restaurant again, where I had some delicious fried banana with chocolate. Lastly, we took the ferry to Lombok.

Reviewing Gilli Trawangan, I have mixed feelings about the island. As previously said, the island had a honeymoon vibe to it, which is probably quite nice if you are on your honeymoon, but not if you want to party. Even though the island had quite many parties, it felt like most people were couples, which ruined the party vibe a bit. The hostel we stayed at also gave me mixed feelings, as it was a party hostel with no parties, but had quite nice people and atmosphere to it. Then again, it did not have a nice bathroom.

The island was a nice contrast to Gilli Air, though, as it had more life and infrastructure to it. It was also quite surreal to see a 3:1 westerners to locals ratio - making it feel like a mediterranean island. All in all, I am happy with only having spent 2 days here, as it felt like there was not much more to discover or do here.

Now it was time for the last part of the trip, with surfing, scooter riding, rice field visits and more interesting stories. It was time for Lombok!