The first time we were in Bali in 2009, we kept hearing stories about the Gili islands just a quick boat ride away. There are 3 of them and they are just off the coast of Bali’s neighboring island, Lombok. We got a ride to Padang Bai in Bali and boarded a fast boat to Lombok before continuing to Gili Trawangan.

Here’s the route we took

There are no motorized vehicles allowed on Gili T, only bicycles and horse drawn carriages are there.

Bali was very unique from the rest of Indonesia – especially its religion, which is a Hindu-animism synthesis. Gili T is just like the rest of Indonesia – predominantly Muslim.

Here’s the town mosque, which plays the call to prayer throughout the day on its loudspeakers.

We made our way through Gili’s mud streets to Mozaic Bungalows, which is a small property with only about 12 bungalows located a 5 minute walk from the beach.

Our room was cozy and cost us $20 per night. The open air bathroom was rather pleasant despite our first impression where the man who worked there told us not to turn the nozzle all the way on.

We unloaded our stuff and headed back to the beach for some food, swimming and sunset drinks.

We found a beach bar called Flush, which would become our preferred hangout on the island. Delicious happy hour drinks, beanbags on the sand and Eddie Cash were a combination that brought us back again and again.