If you have ever ridden a fast boat from Bali to the Gili Islands, you know what I am referring to when I say the ride is hell and I don’t care how brave you think you are. Unless by some grace of God you had a smooth day at sea on this route. The ride to Gili Trawangan from Bali wasn’t nearly as horrific as the way back to Bali because I had just gotten back from the hospital with strep throat (story for another day), but I honestly felt so terrible I didn’t pay attention to my life being in danger. One of my favorite female bloggers, Adventurous Kate (Click here to see her post and to follow her blog), wrote about her experience being shipwrecked in Indonesia off the coast of Komodo Island and I only wish I read it before my ride. I hate flying and maybe I am just a baby, but I would have totally felt safer in a plane… Never thought I’d say that!
I was with my cousin and we had just enjoyed a relaxing week on Gili Trawangan and decided to take a small boat to Lombak for a couple of days. That ride was short and no problem at all. After some more relaxation (basically the only thing I did in Bali), we booked our ride back to Bali on a fast boat. The boat was packed with people resulting in no empty seats. I had to separate from my cousin since there were no seats together, it caused some internal panic but the real terror didn’t begin until we set sail into the choppy waters off the coast of Bali where I was certain I’d meet death.
The waters were so rough it hurt your body. The brave people who started out sitting on the top of the boat began to slowly pile into the cabin when they realized how extreme the waters were. What shocks me the most is that no one from the crew suggested they sit in seats, the passengers on the top of the boat only came in at their own will. I had an aisle seat but I was being continuously sprayed by the port hole every time the boat crashed into another huge wave. All I remember doing is looking behind me at my cousin who just kept mouthing, it’s okay, even though I knew she was only keeping it together because she knew if she showed fear, I would fall apart. It helps to have a travel buddy who understands you.
About 45 min into the ride is when I would say 25% of the passengers began to get sea sick from the extreme bouncing and tossing. Guess who was the lucky girl sitting under the barf bags? Me. There I was passing out barf bags while silently coaching myself on options for my evacuation plan.
I checked my phone obsessively to see how much time we had left in the torture chamber they call a fast boat. The first time I actually took a breath that wasn’t through gritted teeth was when we arrived on land and I don’t think I have ever moved faster in my life to get off of something. As a budget backpacker myself, I understand wanting to find the cheapest mode of transportation possible, but sometimes safety and quality should be the most important thing you look for. I can honestly say that the way the crew was acting did not make me feel safe at all. It was almost like they were blindly driving the boat since the nose spent much of the time crashing through water. Apparently if you do the research that I didn’t do, you’d learn that the waters between Bali and Lombak are known to be dangerous. Sometimes is okay to not be a fearless backpacker and make sure you’re safe. It sounds dramatic but I do feel lucky to not have had something bad happen on that boat ride because the chance of it happening seems so plausible.
Do I regret my trip to Gili Trawangan? Hell no. I could live there I loved it so much. I will just be avoiding fast boats for the remainder of my time on earth.
The life on Gili Trawangan
there goes gypsy 