Paradise: a very beautiful, pleasant, or peaceful place that seems to be perfect. : a place that is perfect for a particular activity or for a person who enjoys that activity.

Landing on Gili, only one way to do it

I think we found the perfect setting, at least for us.  An Island, crystal clear water, marine life, great weather, just enough amenities, inexpensive, off the beaten path, no bug bites, small town that’s chill but can turn it up with some live reggae music and last but not least island locals as nice as can be.  Check please!   The place must be special if after the first hour of arriving we started fantasizing about moving here.

Sitting in the middle of the Indian Ocean two hours by boat north of Bali is Gili Island.  A circular island walkable on the beach in about two hours with no motorized vehicles to be seen.  You walk, bicycle or jump in a horse/donkey driven cart.  You are definitely off the grid here, a few two-story villas speckle the beachfront and the rest of the buildings are basically shacks.

Time to chill out

One dirt road circles the island with occasional breaks in the dirt where the road turns into the beach.  There are over 20 dive sites within a 10-minute boat ride so dive shops are everywhere.  Day 1 we sat on the beach, in the shade, swam and napped so it didn’t take long to get on island time.  Day 2 we were woken up by some hammering next to us, they are building another shack next door.  No big deal since it allowed us to catch a sunrise.  A stunning setting with the ocean glistening from the rays and off into the distance is another island or volcano that is dead center in front of the sun.

Sunset Bike Ride

For $5 dollars we rented bikes and spent the day riding around the island, jumping in the water on stretches of deserted beach whenever we got to hot.  Every so often we come across a small resort in the middle of nowhere, if you want solitude this is your place.

Our days have been spent lying in a bamboo oversized cough on the beach, making the 1.5 hour walking loop of the island, snorkeling with sea turtles, drinking banana smoothies, synchronized reading of a book and rotating between three different bathing suits that are always wet.  We both read the same book over the last week, kinda like synchronized swimming and yes we are that tied together at the hip these days.  707 pages later we both finished the Nelson DeMille gold coast thriller within one minute of each other.  Making your way to the west part of the island is a mini pilgrimage each day around 6 PM, you pass a few hundred hippies and older well dressed tourists along the way.

Sunset on the west side

A few beach bars which are basically shacks that have beer delivered to them daily provide the food and beverages needed to make the sunset an event we only missed a few days.  To watch a sunrise or sunset any day is a natural gift, I might start booking an appointment with myself for this each day.  It never gets old, unlike us.

Each night we walk the five minutes into the shack filled town and decide on a place to eat based on what is on display along the road; fresh fish caught daily is the norm however rotisserie chicken or wood burning ovens make chicken and pizza an easy substitute.

Doesn’t get any fresher or better looking:)

The pizza night is a good example of the simplicity on the island as well as an example of how ones life could be simple.  The no named spot had a few chairs and tables, a few thatched bungalows to lie down in and a brick oven burning some wood and coals.  A handheld cooler kept the ingredients cold and wala, a pippin hot pizza shows up.   The type of place where you order a bottle of a wine and a little kid hops on his bike and rides down the street to another store and gets the bottle. Some nights he never returned and we moved on to the beer.   All the meals were excellent, all the places were on the beach, shorts and t-shirt was the dress code since each establishment just a thatched roof to beat away the sun and heat.  As you walked down the beach, the chair color and style was different in each side by side restaurant which was the only way you could tell who would be serving and cooking your food.

Prior to arriving we felt the one thing we had been missing on this adventure was an island just like gili, a place almost lost in time.  Unfortunately it won’t last for long, after a week we can see the flow of commerce right before our eyes.  A new fancy Italian restaurant is about to open and building supplies from nearby islands arrive daily.  This didn’t stop me from inquiring about making a business out of this vacation spot that would give us a reason to visit every year.  I befriended a villa manager who gave me the scoop. For about $500,000 you can buy the beachfront land and build a 10-15 room villa resort and make your money back in under two years.  Shhhhhh, he told me not to talk to anyone else on the island about it so he and I can go into business together.   He also told me to stop traveling and save my money so we can open a resort together.  Maybe, just maybe one day.   I remember the quote by Richard Branson and it applies perfectly to this scenario, “life is much better when you say yes”.  I can hear the “for sales” signs being pounded in the ground in Maryland as I type.

Everyone walks around in bathing suites showing off their freshly inked artwork and carrying snorkel masks and flippers.  At almost any point along the coast you can jump in and swim a few feet and see amazing coral and sea life.  We soon looked like everyone else carrying our gear down the beach or an alternative look was riding a bike with the snorkel gear in the basket.  We now looked like everyone else, we just don’t have the tattoos, and we may seriously be the only ones on the island without any ink.  No big deal just interesting to see how a group of obviously like-minded people all do the same things.  I guess no different then business people wearing suites with freshly cropped hair and newly polished wing tips, everyone in that class of people all fall into line.  How about showing up to work one day in shorts and flops, why is there a dress code anyways? As long as your private parts are covered is anything really inappropriate anymore?

After a week on the island we felt like locals, we knew everyone at the villa and a few people in town. Maybe we got to comfortable, as I turned to hop on our bikes I realized they were missing.  I thought no one would steal on an island like this and I was right.  Our bikes in effect had been repossessed, just like the towing reality shows on TV.  We paid for six days and it was day seven, a good business lesson to be had.  You can be chill and relaxed but your customers still need to pay on time.

No bikes, no hi ho silver since the horses are all attached to carts so on foot we travelled.   Just like Cain, walking the earth or maybe just the five minutes to town to catch a boat back to Bali.  A little depressed because we really loved this place, probably enough to come back if someone we know twisted our arm and wanted to visit paradise.

Lost in time, just the way we like it

Ground hogs day here we come, please!

PHOTOS – Indonesia – Gili Island