Asia | Bali Retreat 2013 | Indonesia

Bali Retreat 2013: Day 6 – Gili Trawangan

September 14, 2020

12 March 2013, Tuesday

Today is Nyepi, the Balinese Day of Silence. Nyepi is a day of fasting, silence and meditation and the following day is celebrated as New Year’s Day for the Balinese. It is a Hindu celebration mainly celebrated in Bali, which has a majority Hindu population, unlike the rest of Indonesia, which is predominantly Muslim.

On Nyepi, everything comes to a standstill on Bali – people are required to stay indoors, make as little noise as possible and keep the lights low. Even tourists are expected to abide by the rules. There is not much you can do if you’re in Bali on Nyepi, so most tourists will escape from Bali and head to the neighbouring Lombok, which is what we have done. Here on Gili Trawangan, everything operates as normal on Nyepi.

We started our day with breakfast at our hotel. It was a delicious and healthy meal with lots of fresh fruits, watermelon juice, a pot of tea and a jaffle, which is a toasted sandwich with cheese and tomato filling.

Breakfast for champions
Jaffle – a toasted sandwich with cheese and tomato filling

My sore throat had mostly subsided but flu had set in. Last night, I went to get medication from the only medical centre on Gili T. I got some flu medicine, multi-vitamins and lozenges. It really sucks to be sick while on vacation. I couldn’t go snorkelling or even take a dip in the sea, when the weather was perfect and the water was so inviting. As a result, we spent most of the day just chilling in our air-conditioned room, as if we were observing Nyepi here on Gili T!

This is what serenity looks like
Too bad that I was sick and under no condition to go under the sun
Idyllic
Besides bicycles, cidomos are the only other form of transport on Gili Trawangan

We did venture out to the restaurant nearby and had our lunch in a little hut by the water’s edge. We went back to our hotel for our complimentary afternoon tea, then stepped out again to the beach to see the sunset.

Lunch view
Sick face
Nasi goreng for lunch
These cats are hungry
Having afternoon tea safely esconced within the mosquito net
Sunset as seen from Gili Trawangan north coast, where Alam Gili is
Feeling slightly better by now
Shot with DSLR
The same scene shot on iPhone 5 – the clouds and shadows are more dramatic looking

For our dinner, we went to the main commercial area near the harbour and had some sashimi for a change. The sashimi platter was cheap but not as good as Japan’s for sure.

Sashimi platter
Salmon dish

We then adjourned to Sama-Sama Reggae Bar for post-dinner drinks and live music. After a day of resting, I had recovered sufficiently to be consuming alcohol again.

Sama-Sama Reggae Bar
Here for some live music

As we were enjoying the groovy reggae music by the house band, we saw a group of people entering the bar and they stood near the stage to listen to the band. I thought I saw Adam Lambert among them, but I only confirmed it after an ang moh lady sitting beside me leaned over and asked me, “Is that Adam Lambert?” in her thick accent.

Adam Lambert and his entourage at Sama-Sama

As it turned out, it was indeed Adam Lambert. He had performed a concert in Jakarta two days earlier (10 March), and he was vacationing here in Gili T with his entourage. We just let him enjoy his “anonymity”, and did not approach him for pictures. They didn’t stay for long though. With that, it was the end of Day 6. Back to Bali tomorrow!