Gili Trawangan Echo Tourist

Talking about tourism, one of the most popular tourist attractions today in the Lombok region is Gili Trawangan, an island located in the northwest of the island of Lombok, this place consists of 3 small islands called Gili by locals or the term for Lombok people to call for the small island, called Gili.

Consists of three Gili which are located in a row, including: the closest Gili from the mainland is Gili Air, then the smallest is Gili Meno whose position is on the slit and the last one is Gili Trawangan.

Gili Trawangan is the farthest and the largest of its land, among the three Gili that is most visited by tourists is Gili Trawangan, the largest of its land is between the three Gili, the area of ​​Gili Trawangan is approximately 360 km2 and the circumference is 8 km, then Gili Air and the smallest Gili Meno.

Gili Trawangan is protected from vehicle pollution because only bicycles and Cidomo can operate here, nor will you find pet dogs or stray dogs but what seems to be that many cats roam and breed have been prevented by being castrated by foreign NGOs which are very instrumental in maintaining and preserving Gili Trawangan, Gili Eco Trust, funded by donors involved in the diving business.

If you want to walk around the Gili Trawangan, it will take about 2 hours and if cycling is around 45 minutes, the length of the Gili Trawangan 8 km activity centers on the eastern part of the island, boats operating in Bangsal are very regular for the lane to Gili Trawangan.

While boats operated to Gili Meno and Gili Air are very rare even for people who want to cross to Gili Meno can wait for a full boat up to 2 hours but specifically Gili Meno there is a shuttle boat at 14:00 and 16:00 with price of Rp 25,000 / person.

Coastal beaches in Gili Trawangan are dominated by hotel buildings, especially the east coast which is the center of activity and crowds, on the west coast is still a beach that has no buildings yet only a few large hotels like Exile, 5 Element, Ombak Sunset, Aston Sunset , Le Pirate, Vila Julius and there are a number of villas that are still under construction.

To transport on Gili Trawangan can only use Cidomo or Andong  (in Java) the passenger capacity is limited to one Cidomo not more than 3 adults and is not permitted to use motorized vehicles, to order Cidomo is a bit complicated, you may not be stopped on the road but all has been set by the operator via radio orari.

Gili Trawangan is the only one among the 3 Gili that has a hill and is fixed by two telecommunication transmissions of Telkomsel and XL, there is a solar power plant that is managed by PLN to petrify the power plant located on the north end of Gili Trawangan island.

Every hotel especially star hotels has the power of a power plant from a generator engine to anticipate electricity from PLN to die. In the central part of Gili Trawangan Island there are still many coconut and sweet potato gardens.

Currently Gili Trawangan is very popular to be visited by domestic and foreign tourists, Gili Trawangan is the second destination in Asia after the Pataya beach in Thailand, the Gili people who used to live in poverty after the impact of economic tourist arrivals.

“The indigenous people of the Gili are increasing drastically many Gili people already have bungalows, restaurants, restaurants, bars, especially ownership of boat trips like glass bottom boat is very monopolized by not allowing outsiders to have such boats, the organization of Karang Taruna (Young Boy Association) plays a role in making awik-awik and making activities to hold musical performances, dance performances, Joget dances and others.

Don’t forget if you want to visit Gili Trawangan, make sure your arrival date is very important because in Gili Trawangan there is a high season, the season is quiet or balanced. If your arrival in the high season will be very difficult to find a place to stay and certainly the price of lodging will be doubled between two and three times.

Ff you come to use the private transportation of the vehicle you can leave at the port of Bangsal which is 30 m – 50 m from the beach.

I suggested that I drive the vehicle in the parking lot in “OJOLALI” the name of the owner of the place Pak Sahar, his wife, a Javanese and Pak Sahar, a native ward (Ojo Lali, stop by) sea ​​water which can cause rust on your vehicle later, with a tariff of around Rp 10,000 / day for motorbikes and Rp 25,000 / day for four-wheeled vehicles and tickets for crossing to three Gili can only be purchased at the Karya Bahari cooperative counter for Rp 15,000 / person Be careful not to buy on the road, it can be fake or you will be given a much more expensive price because this often happens, because around the port, many brokers aren’t clear.

Anything in Gili Trawangan prices must be expensive because it can be 2 times the price you have to buy in Lombok because for the operational costs of every business on Gili Trawangan is very expensive because the items that will be brought to Gili need a porter, need transport, have to pay more expensive employees even For places where rental is very expensive.

“Especially if you buy it in, a hotel or star-rated restaurant, you have to prepare a large budget, so it is not wrong if you say Gili Trawangan is a place for people to waste money, any ATM is already built except the BCA ATM that has not been seen yet.

Worry you can still withdraw cash at the Common Wealth ATM which is located close to the public port ticket counter but the condition of all ATMs on Gili Trawangan is often empty because the intensity of people withdrawing cash very often, especially foreign tourists often make large amounts of cash withdrawals for various kinds of needs, especially for trip payments and room payment for each hotel that does not accept payment with a transfer system.

What is often in the spotlight on Gili Trawangan today is a waste problem whose accumulation is at the threshold so that the TPA (Final Disposal Site) is very mountainous located in the center of the island which has always been the topic of discussion among community leaders.

Who join hands with foreign NGOs Gili Eco Trust to guard the development of Gili Trawangan and also discuss the future of Gili Trawangan. For this reason, there are officers who are very swift in carrying garbage – garbage that has been stacked in front of hotel corners to bring to the landfill using horse drawn carts and for this activity is funded from fees that are adjusted to the size of the business each months there are those who come to collect fees by providing receipts of proof of payment of garbage contributions.

Water problems have also become a problem in Gili Trawangan because groundwater has been polluted by so many “septic tanks” that are embedded in the soil until in certain seasons this ground water when used for bathing water has caused odors in the water so many people now use water distillation from sea water for bathing, which every month has to pay dearly to the business manager, like the PDAM water that we use in the city and almost all hotels, especially big hotels, use the services of distilled water for bathing water in the hotel as well as for irrigating hotel pools.

Recently, more and more problems have emerged on Gili Trawangan, but the most important and the most transparent is the problem of illegal development on the coast, of course this is like a time bomb if this is not immediately handled, Gili Trawangan will be abandoned little by tourists because it is not beautiful again.

Therefore from the results of the many coordination meetings between the North Lombok district government (KLU) and prominent figures and entrepreneurs in Gili Trawangan who issued a decision that every building located on the beach must be demolished so as not to disturb the aesthetics of beauty beach.

In the end the execution carried out in March 2017 is still not optimally arranged, but now there are no constructing buildings on the beach, except there are still restaurant chairs and tables that are considered valid according to the agreement.

Culinary problems have many choices, ranging from rice packets to food menus in hotels or restaurants which are star-rated, rice packets you can still get at a price of Rp 10,000 to Rp 15,000. There are vendors walking around selling on the main beach road. , then there are many food stalls scattered at a slightly more expensive price but you can sit in the Warung

There are also stalls that are a little more classy, ​​so you have to be Rp 25,000 in comparison to the price of rice wrap, there is also a food market that is open only at night which is located in the art market area near the harbor.

The price ranges from Rp more if you order grilled fish in front of the stall while still on ice cubes, there are also restaurants that have medium budget for a standard price of Rp 60,000, there are also snacks which can be seen from the menu, up to Rp 250,000 for one portion, even up to millions if you order lobster.

The role of the security problem in Gili Trawangan is “island security” or the security guard of Gili Trawangan island which looks a bit more executive than the security guard in general because they dress like the presidential guard.

Well that’s my judgment because there are no symbol symbols attached to their uniforms and use shoes like office shoes. The security guard on Gili Trawangan has an office right next to the ticket window of the public ferry port to Bangsal under pine trees.

One time you have a security problem, you can go to his office to ask for help, it happens that my chairman knows Mr. Panjano, but among his friends, he is more often called “Long Pak”. He is very influential before his men. Security issues on Gili Trawangan are already conducive even though they have existed but have never arrived at a murder incident.

The most common problem is the theft of small items at the level between employees – employees who work in hotels or bungalows caught in action on CCTV footage, even very many are caught doing criminal thefts among foreign tourists (Caucasians) who steal handicrafts in an art shop, steal restourant guest bags when eating their meals, steal boutique display items and many others.

If they have been caught by these security guards, the perpetrators must be ready to be shaved and paraded around the island with their bare chest and will be hung up according to their actions like “MY THIEVES” or if foreigners “I TEFT A BAG” and will be a spectacle of the Gili people Trawangan.

This is done before being processed by the police but if this crime cannot proceed to the police level because it is classified as a minor criminal the perpetrator will be given a penalty for not being allowed to enter Gili Trawangan for a period of 3 years. Besides that, the duty of the island’s security guards in each party turn event in each pub must be under his supervision to maintain the commotion that will threaten the tranquility of other tourists visiting Gili Trawanagan.

Besides narcotics problems are also often heard buzzing on Gili Trawangan because many dealers assume that Gili Trawangan is a safe place to transact drugs and consider addicts very easy to get money to buy it.

Maybe all of that is true, but make no mistake because in Gili Trawangan there are also a lot of undercover intelpolis trailing dealers so they have to be caught red-handed while doing drug-buying transactions, many of the perpetrators have been caught until there are also some who have been freed after serving imprisonment.

For those of you who want to visit Gili Trawangan you should stay away from things like that, why do I say that because there are some visitors who have asked me directly where to buy marijuana? Wow, this person is really easy to say without any fear or worry or maybe because they consider Gili Trawangan is a free place to conduct drug transactions.