Gili Air – Lombok, Indonesia

After four full days in Amed, I was ready to move on. Though I had enjoyed the rhythm of late mornings and long, early lunches spent writing, afternoons scootering around to different beaches and late nights looking for food and listening to the soft ocean ripples meet the beach. 

My first few days in Amed consisted of lots of adjustments. Even though I had been in Bali for a week already, I was staying at a retreat center and besides a few afternoon trips the whole crew took together, we didn’t venture out much into Jasri. So when I arrived in Amed, it was my first exposure of Bali and to travelling in a third world country for that matter. I definitely made lots of indecisive circles on the scooter those first days. 

My last day in Amed was the most settled. I think I relaxed knowing it was my last day. I woke up early to go scuba diving at the USS Liberty ship wreck just off the beach in Amed and had a magical underwater experience. The wreck was a short swim off the beach and having never dived before, I was speechless (and not just because I couldn’t speak underwater)! It was like exploring a tiny city and it got my weirdly in the mood to watch Finding Nemo. The colors of the fish were so vibrant and explosive. I had been staring out at the water for days and so much was bustling just under the surface. 

From diving, I went and got a tattoo. I couldn’t resist after being shown the studio and introduced to the artist by a friend I made while relaxing at the Rasta Bar the night before. His talent for fine detail was some of the best work I had seen and I felt like I would miss a serendipitous experience if I walked away.

I now have a Canang Sari adorning my shoulder — a Balinese daily offering for protection and good karma. 

That night I went with a couple of the guys from the studio to a local bar with live music and we spent the night drinking, dancing, and laughing our asses off. It was the send off I needed. Amed was beautiful and relaxing but I felt content with what I had experienced and was ready for a fresh landscape. 

In my immersion I had heard whisperings of a small string of three islands called the Gili Islands and after asking around discovered it was only about an hour by boat and the ticket was a mere 250,000 IDR (about $17)! I couldnt resist hopping on Airbnb to at least scope it out. I found a “Utopia” (literally what the homestay is called) for just $17 a night. There is just one boat a day and I only had one night left in Amed before I was supposed to head to Sidemen. If I stayed for just a night I would arrive around 11am and have to leave the next day around 11am. 

I quickly pushed that reservation in Sidemen back a day and as soon as I touched down on Gili Air, the quietest of the three islands, I was so grateful to have followed that intuition. 

This is truly a paradise island that asked for nothing and greets you with no expectation. With less the 20 streets and made of mostly beach, there is nothing to do here but walk, eat, and be. I found my homestay and dropped my things off before renting a bike to get the lay of the land. I have had a scooter until today but this island has no cars or motorbikes so I was to adventure on a rickety mountain bike with a little basket. 

The restaurants line the beach and I found a place to eat with lounge chairs right in the sand, about five feet from the small waves washing up. I order a cold pasta veggie salad and finally found the food my body had been yearning for! Balinese food is so hot and heavy with rice in almost every dish. It’s all delicious but at home I eat mostly small, raw meals with little grain. Some raw veggies and cold pasta with olive oil hit the spot and once I was fat and happy, I laid back and fell asleep listening to the water. I woke up once after about an hour, took a quick dip in the shallow, crystal clear water, then went back to sleep. 

After about two and a half hours I left the cafe and just walked along the water in search of a good place to watch the sun set. And boy did I find it. 

I looked up at one point and saw a small tree about ten feet tall with a little treehouse platform wedged at the top. The small, broken sign on the front read: 

“Sunset Point”

I got the message. I climbed the slightly sketchy ladder (kind of a ladder, it did only have one rung to step up) and sat myself at the top to watch the sky burst into flames as the sun began making its way down to the water. I started getting quite emotional really as I reflected on everything that brought me here. 

In that moment, I felt as vibrant and strong as the sun. 

With an exhale,

sarah