Stuck in Paradise

Gili Trawangan's Sunset Hammock

As the last post alluded to, I am still on Gili Trawangan waiting for my cards to arrive.  Luckily, though, it's a really pretty island to be stuck on and I've been having a great time!  I've spent my time snorkeling, laying on the beach, and generally just relaxing.  Yesterday, a group of 11 of us got a private boat for $9 each to take us around for 4 hours and stop at several snorkel spots, while we hung out and had a few beers on the boat!  There are so many turtles, fish, and coral here!  I've met lots of awesome people here and was told that I hold the record for the longest anyone stayed at this hostel!  There is a night market full of little food carts where you can get a large plate of rice and meat/veggies for $1.50-$2.

Our private snorkel boat party

I also mentioned last time that obviously the culture in Asia was quite different.  The island I'm on now is Muslim and it is Ramadan, meaning they don't eat or drink anything between sunrise and sunset.  I couldn't even imagine!  People are often begging you for everything, yelling "Yes Please" or "Buy Something" and sell anything from drugs to bracelets.  Also, you have to bargain everything.  For a bike rental they said 100,000idr ($10) for the day, but we ended up paying under $2!  Drivers are crazy as well, although apparently not as bad as other countries.  It seems like there are no rules.  At a 4 way intersection everyone just pulls in the middle and weaves in and out of each other.  Apparently if you honk you can do whatever you want, except everyone honks and does whatever they want!  While everything is cheap, you also have to pay for everything.  Going to see a waterfall cost $1 and using the toilet even costs 15 cents at tourist sites.  There septic systems are poor here, so they actually have little hose-like things in the toilets called "bum guns" that you use to clean, then dry with toilet paper, but put it in the rubbish, rather than toilet.  Indonesian food consists primarily of Nasi Goreng (fried rice), Mie Goreng (fried noodles), and Gado-Gado which is sauteed veges with peanut sauce and egg.  There are lots of fish around this island as well, but it's relatively expensive. Anyway, I think Indonesia is a good introduction to Asia, but I'll let ya know as I see more of it (not that I saw much of Indonesia...).  

On Tuesday I will have to head back to Bali and on Wednesday morning, fly to Bangkok!