Confidence is a weird thing; something of an anomaly. I’m sure many can relate to feelings of wanting to be seen, yet also wanting to be invisible. I’m a daydreamer, and often zone out and almost watch myself wandering about in a sort of outer body experience. In a place where you will likely never be remembered or seen by these people again, you could pretend to be whomever you want to be. Yet I work hard to be present and genuine.
Having said that, I made a friend! Ekatarina is a solo traveler of similar age from Moscow, who has been living in Italy for the past 7 years. We had lovely conversations over 3 days. She estimates that 70% of Russians have no idea what is really going on in Putin’s head. We also learnt that the Dutch are so tall due to a heavy diet of milk and cheese. We shared feelings about the difficulties that come with solo travel. We concluded that many people simply don’t have it in themselves to sit alone for a meal or make conversation with strangers. I miss her, but we are still in touch.
I took a long walk through the island interior. The contrast is quite something – with long dusty roads, broken shacks, abandoned horse carts, chickens being murdered, and an unbelievable amount of trash… What can be described as a garbage dump, lies right in the center of the island. This is what the tourists don’t see on Gili T. Come out the other end (the posher, west side) and classical music begins playing as lounging tourists get served another cocktail by smartly uniformed staff members.
I had two days left on Gili T. My money had been disappearing fast and I needed something to show for it besides a Bintang belly that has also been fed too much fried rice. Food options in general are not cheap on popular islands. You simply have to pay the prices that wealthier tourists have helped to set. The strength of the Rupiah has also been growing steadily after Covid. It was at its peak in March 2020 when lockdowns began. It has been recovering fast since tourism reopened and is set to break new records.
So I finally did a scuba dive. Some of my snorkels had been just as good, but I did see a Mantis Shrimp for the first time! Pound for pound, this is one of the strongest creatures in the animal kingdom. There are “spearers” and “bashers” – the latter of which stun their prey with the force of a bullet. Some scientists believe that their eyes might be able to detect cancer. They are wonderfully colourful too. My final day ended with the same tired songs, but one band had added a little twist to Let It Be by The Beatles: “Speaking words of Islam, let it be.” Loved that.
I had caught someone’s germs on Gili T and could feel my throat getting hairy, so I had an early night with lots of citrus liquids and Corenza C. I was not well during the long ferry ride back to Bali the next day, followed by a long shuttle bus to Sanur, but I made it to a lovely homestay that is close to the beach. A very relaxed vibe exists in sleepy Sanur, with lots of wrinkly seniors who I’m sure are retired expats. I have 5 days of taking it easy before flying back to Vietnam.
I’m feeling happy with my choices.
Next: Indonesia #12 – Sleepy Sanur
Previously: Indonesia #10 – Manta Rays & Monkeys
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