Andrea Hearts Traveling

I am not at all a beach kind of person but I had heard great things about the Gili islands that I just had to go and experience it myself!
Gili in indonesian means island so it's kind of funny when we, the tourists, say the "Gili Islands" which means the island islands!
There are "3 gilis" (well, in reality there are a ton of Gilis) but the main touristy ones are Gili Trawangan, Gili Air, and Gili Meno. There are all very different: Gili "T" is known as the party island with a lot of resorts and parties every night, Gili Air is more chill and relaxing, and Gili Meno is supposed to be the honeymoon island. I thought about staying at Gili T because there are more accommodations and people but at the end I decided that Gili Air fits my personality best.

My favorite part was walking around the island and just looking at all the restaurants, hotels, and bungalows by the beach! oh! and the horses!

Once you arrive at the island you notice that there are no cars or motorbikes, the only way to get around is by cicomo (a horse carriage) or by bycicle.

There are tons of diving schools in Gili T and Air, apparently it's one of the cheapest places to get your dive certification!

The only way you can get to your final destination is by reading the signs posted on trees giving you directions to your accommodation!

I loved walking and taking a look at all the random bars and restaurants around the island

So relaxing!!!

Beer is importanter! haha

My lunch place...

Welcome to Paradise Bungalow.... Maybe somebody else's paradise... sleeping in a hut with no AC, lots of bug and shared bathroom on the main road is far from my idea of paradise!

Another thing that makes Gili Air not a total paradise is the garbage on the side of the beach early in the morning. Since it is an island they have to ship all the garbage out and the smell is not good!

I bought a mango from this lady for Rp40,000 (like ~$3.50) which was super expensive but she did give me different options for the size of mangoes and I thought "$3.50 is not much for me, just get the mango without bargaining and make her day!"

She was so excited that she said "take another picture" haha

My side of the island had low tide in the afternoon so you would see many boats stuck there until the next day when tide was back to normal.

I found a star fish!

and a very weird looking animal...

The entrance to my "hotel" which happens to be on the sunset side of the island!!!

During sunset every day local people gathered by the low tide area and spent hours gathering something... I do not know exactly what! I tried many times to ask the staff at my hotel what the locals were doing but the staff was only trained to repeat what the guests said so most of our conversations went something like this:
Me: "what are people picking?"
Staff: "what are people picking" and a smile
Me: confused look "Yeah, what are they picking right there?"
Staff "picking right there" smile
Me: "Is it clams?"
Staff: "clams"
Me: "or is it shells?"
Staff: "shells"
Me: "oh great.. terimakasi"
Staff: "sama sama"

haha so at the end I just gave up on the idea of figuring out what they were doing! Although, I did try to go and ask or go see what they were doing but walking in the muck was harder than I thought!
Every time I tried to take a step my flip flops would get stuck and it felt like they would fall apart. Once I was able to take a step the flip flop would splash muck all over the back of my legs and get my outfit super dirty! Not worth the mess!

Sunset every night was so beautiful that I couldn't help myself but take pictures... and enjoy the moment!

Gili T

One day I took the local boat to Gili T.

From the moment you step into the island you see a big difference between Gili T and Gili Air. Gili T is definitely more developed and upscale.

I rented a bike and went around the island! Well, not quite! I rented a bike that 5 minutes into the ride broke! The rusty rear derailleur somehow ended up stuck between some of the spokes of the back wheel! I have no clue how it happened, the bike just suddenly stopped and wouldn't go anymore!
Thankfully a guy who was close by came to help me but couldn't do anything to fix it so I asked him if I could borrow his bike to get the guys from the shop and I am not sure he understood english but I took the bike and went to look for help!

After I was given a 2nd bike everything went smoothly, except for the time when the chain derailed and another guy came to my rescue! Thank goodness since I know nothing about bicycles!

The bike ride was a lot of fun and really pretty!

I was very impressed by the contrast in resorts compared to Gili Air.

For lunch I went to an amazing vegetarian/ vegan cafe that I found on trip advisor! This was the highlight of my trip to Gili T!

I read so many blogs on how to get to Gili and the whole process seemed very confusing so I decided to write about it because I know some of my friends will eventually ask me about it!

First of all you have to deal with all the people in Ubud trying to take advantage of you and selling fast boat tickets as high as Rp 500,000 (~$38) one way! I literally went to at least 15 booths all around Ubud to get the best price but since it is high season the sellers are stubborn because they know they can get more from the tourists.

Also, the problem with the booths around town is that you never know if they are legit and I was not going to give a stranger my money not knowing if they would actually come and pick me up and take me to Gili! (in order to book you have to pay first!)

On my 4th day I finally found somebody that would do Rp500,000 return and then my home stay said they could reserve it for me at that price but somehow I was still a little hesitant.

Friday night I went out for dinner with Liz and some friends and they said that they found an office with a German guy that was helping them out with tours and Gili fast boat tickets. After dinner we all went to the office and he offered the Gili fast boat for Rp450,000 ( ~$34) with return To Kuta and could pay with credit card!

The staff was so helpful, and most importantly sincere! The owner advised me not to get some tours from him/ Ubud because it was too far away but instead after Gili go to Kuta and do the tours there since it was way closer and therefore cheaper. After dealing with all the street vendors and not knowing if they were taking advantage of me it felt like a breath of fresh air to be talking to somebody who was actually trying to help and make a huge profit off of me!

Since then I literally told everybody about him and encouraged them to get the tickets from him.

http://www.baliomtours.com

... Going to Gili!

I booked a ticket with Wahana Gili Ocean and it was great!

They picked me up at exactly 7am in a comfortable Van and then started picking up other people until the van was full and drove to Pandangbai for about an hour or so.

When we arrived at the port there were literally thousands of people trying to get to their boat. Do not get a ticket here because they know you will pay a high price for it! I saw a one-way fast boat advertised for Rp660,000!!

We were dropped off in front of a restaurant and once they got the luggage out of the van we had to pick up our luggage and get a tag for the Gili you are traveling to.

Then you go upstairs to check in and get a sticker, put it on your shirt and wait for the boat!

While waiting I found the nice couple who gave me a lift back to Ubud from rice field… I had to go and say Hi!... Funny thing, after that I saw them randomly twice in my trip: at the Gili T boat harbor and then again at the airport when we were both leaving Bali! How Funny!

I then waited by the beach with the workers and started talking to them. They asked me about the flags in my bag and taught me a little bit more of Balinese and we talked about their families, how many kids each one had, their work at the pier, etc. I really enjoy to get to know the local people and learn a little bit more about their life. We were in the middle of a conversation when the next bus with tourists came and one of the guys said to me “excuse me, work, wait here" and tapped me on the knee so I waited there and kept talking until it was time for me to go and line up by the harbour.

At the harbour there are many different boat companies taking people to Gili so you have to make sure to stay with your company and wait for the guys to call the name of your boat.

While waiting there are many women selling snacks, some of them carried big containers with fruit on their heads.

Once the boat was close they called the name and we all were allowed to walk in the harbour to wait. Before getting into the boat we had to make sure to hand our bag to the crew and do not go in until you see your bag on the top of the boat!

Of course it’s Bali and they oversell everything! People did not fit on the seating part of the boat so once we started to go people were allowed to go and see on the roof of the boat!

We spent the next 2 hours in a very bouncy boat. People got sea sick so I was really glad I took my sea sickness pills an hour before we left.

At 11:55am we finally made it into Gili Air! Yeay

It is really easy to overpay for everything in Ubud so here are some of the tips that I learned from my week there.

1. DO NOT book any tours or boats to the islands from the booths on the streets. They like to bargain and trick tourists!

Instead go to Bali Om, a tourist information office right in the middle of Ubud.

Everybody here is super nice, helpful, and honest about prices.

They advised me not to take a tour with them because they would charge me 700,000Rp and I would spend 6 hours in the car; instead he said to stay in Kuta on my way back from Gili before heading to the airport and could do the tour for less than half that amount.

Got my Gili return ticket for Rp450,000… the best deal around Ubud during high season!

http://www.baliomtours.com

2. DO NOT BOOK ACCOMODATION!

Ok, book one night so you are safe and you know where to go when you get to town. There are hundreds of home stays all around Ubud so it is fun to go inside different courtyards and ask them to take a look at the rooms.

Balinese love to bargain, you can get rooms for cheaper than their asking price.

3. TOURS

Find people to take a day tour with and share the cost.

Bali is cheap, a full day tour for up to 5 people is about Rp700,000 (~$53).

Be nice and invite the driver for lunch and give him a tip. Once again, book through Bali Om!

4. EXCHANGING MONEY

My ATM card did not work in Bali so I had to rely on Money Exchange places.

In Ubud there are hundreds of them but be careful… some will trick you, take money from you, get a commission or confuse you with the bills!

Make sure to go to an authorized and one that says “No Commission.” These are usually air conditioned and look nice. They will give you a receipt and do the math with you in the calculator.

The Rupiah is a very tricky currency due to all the zeros so double triple check that you got the right amount. My first time I counted it at least 3 times and then saw a counting machine and asked the guy to put the my bills in it just to make sure it was the right amount.

ATM- I tried to use them but I was warned that there are a lot of fake ones so just be extra cautious and play around with it to make sure its legit.

5. GET A SIM CARD

It is super cheap. I got Simpati for Rp25,000 (~$2) and then less than $5 of data that lasted for 2 weeks.

6. DOWNLOAD Go-jek OR RENT A SCOOTER

Go-Jek is the Uber of motorbikes! They will come and pick you up, give you a helmet and a mask (if you want it) and take you pretty much anywhere for a dollar or two!

In order to get a Go-Jek you will need data and a phone number.

Also, Go-Jek is perfect for a lazy day when you just can’t get out of bed! They have a food delivery service and from the app you chose a restaurant, the food and then it’s delivered to your hotel room door! Awesome!

Rent a Scooter… I didn’t but everybody does! It only costs Rp50,000/ a day (~$4) but you need an international license and know how to ride a scooter!

7. BARTER

Balinese love to barter so you better start practicing before you get here! They will ask you more than 3X the prices most of the time so don’t be afraid to go super low and then work your way to the middle.

For bartering don’t be cheap, be fair!

Traveling has become a lot easier for me since the invention of the smart phone and all the apps one can use while on the road. I made a list of my top apps since I get a lot of questions regarding organization while traveling!

Trail Wallet

This is like the best invention EVER for a traveler! It helps you keep yourself in budget all the time. It is super easy to use and will make your life so much easier! Say goodbye to keeping all the receipts and trying to write down your spendings at the end of the night (for me the writing down expenses phase lasted about 2 days). With this app it takes you less than 10 seconds to record your purchases right when they happen.

In the trip summary it gives you the total up to now of how much you have spent, how much you have left for the day and for the trip.

The features that I love:

TRIPS:

You can create different trips if they have different budgets or currencies.

You set up your daily budget or trip budget for each trip!

TAGS

I have created Tags to keep track of how I am paying for things. For example, I have United CC, Chase Sapphire, AMEX, Cash and this way I know exactly how much I owe in each credit card or if I need to go to the ATM and get some more cash.

TRACKING in your currency:

The app does automatic conversion to US$ (or whatever currency you set as your primary). For example, I had dinner for 100,000 Indonesian Rupiah and the app shows me how much that was in US$. On the main screen you can tap on the total and it will then change to the other currency you have set up… such a good feature!

In Indonesian Rupiah

In US Dollars

Trip it

Another app that makes my life 100% easier. This is my 3rd trip using it and it is just FABULOUS. I have it to sync with my email account so it automatically adds all my flights, hostel/hotel bookings once I receive an email confirmation.

Last summer I was managing flights and hotel reservations for 4 people and this app just made everything so much easier. This time around I do not know how I would have survived without it!

I do so much research about all my destinations and transportation that I end up forgetting what flights or hotels I have booked and this app beautifully arranges all of the info chronologically.

To be honest I have not really spent much time playing with it but I bet it has some cool features. If you want you can buy the pro version so you can get check-in reminders, flight status alerts, and it even tracks your reward program points!

OANDA Currency Converter

The feature that I love the most about this app is that you don’t have to have wifi or data for it to work and be accurate! It literally has every single currency from around the world!

Amazon Photos

If you are an amazon prime customer you get free unlimited photo storage with Amazon!!! You can set up the app to automatically upload on wi-fi or use your data.

The nice thing about it is that it’s FREE and unlimited… IF you are a prime customer, which comes down to like $99/year. This, to me, seems like a way better deal that buying more storage with iCloud or Dropbox and you get free shipping!

The app is super easy to use and since it will upload photos automatically there is a very small chance that you will loose a lot of pictures if something happens to your phone.

Also, the app can be installed to your ipad and there is a software for your computer.

The app is super user friendly and it allows you to create albums to help you keep the photos organized. If at any time you decide to cancel your amazon prime membership the photos can be easily dowloaded to your computer.

Scans automatically when you open app on wifi (or data if you allow it)

Super easy to create albums

Uber

This is just common sense… Uber! … Dowload it!… Use it (almost) all over the world!!!

Google Maps

The great thing about the google maps app is the offline feature and how it lets you download maps of different cities and you can use them without data.

This is especially nice when you don’t have a local sim card with data but it still gives you walking and driving directions as well as the ability to look up restaurants etc.

Hostel World/ Airbnb

These two (maybe along with couchsurfing) are a must for budget accommodation all around the world!

My favorite thing about hostel world is the $1 flexible booking, meaning that if you pay an extra dollar per booking in case you cancel you will get back your deposit back in form of credit.

Trip Advisor

Trip Advisor is my #1 go to app to research for restaurants and what to do once I get to a new city! I literally check everything first on trip advisor and make sure to also review and help my fellow travelers.

One super cool feature is the offline downloading. Before heading to your next city just download the city from the app and then you can use it without wi-fi or data!

So many things to do in Bali!!! Sight seeing, walking around rice paddies, the market, eating amazing food, yoga, and.., SPAS! Like thousands of them!

In reality they do use the name “spa” very loosely and they all vary in quality and services.

In Ubud if you walk for 10 mins in one of the main streets, let’s say on monkey forest road, you will probably end up with 25 brochures from all the places handing their price lists for massages, mani, pedi, hair cut, waxing, and so so so so many other services. The prices vary greatly and you can get an hour massage for as low as $5-$6! or you can get a pretty good bikini wax for $6! haha

One day I decided to go with my friend Jessie to a “spa” right next door to our homestay. The spa consisted of two massage tables separated by curtains and two ladies.

I am super picky with cleanliness and this place didn’t look like they cared much about it. I don’t even think they changed the sarong that they used with the person before me… Ahhh!!!

I think I was kind of freaking out inside because it was dirty and not up to my standards like AT ALL! Then, I started breathing and thinking about an exercise I had to do in group therapy where the therapist asked the group to interview our close friends and asked them some very personal and revealing questions about what they thought of me. One of the questions I asked my best friends was “What keeps you from connecting with me more deeply” and 3 out of my 4 friends said that I have very high standards for everything and that they feel pressured to meet my high standards and that I also have a very black and white mindset. After hearing that I thought about it and they are right, I have such high standards for myself and the way I act that over the years these standards have evolve and have been reflected onto other people and have affected my relationships. On the bright side, my high standards have also helped me a great deal, I always give 120% on everything (except exercising! haha) and I make sure that everything and everybody around me is taken care of and it actually makes me happy to know that in a small way I am making other people’s life easier. I do also see that this behavioral pattern is tied up with control and me always wanting to have control over things because I am extremely uncomfortable with the unknown. So there I was in the massage table, that was probably dirty, extremely uncomfortable about to get a Balinese massage!!

Oh my! I should have googled what a Balinese massage was before getting one. I like a lot of pressure when I get massages but this one was a little over the top. It all started by the woman jumping on the table and using her elbows all over my body! This was far from being relaxing, and she was massaging parts that shouldn’t be massaged! Then she started putting oil on my tummy and I just had to stop her… I didn’t want any internal bleeding! So she went back to my shoulders and neck. After an hour of uncomfortable touching I have learned my lesson: 1. never ever have a Balinese massage, 2. Go to a proper spa!

Now… the proper Spa… Bali Botanica recommended by my friend Charlotte!

I booked a massage, a body scrub, and a facial… 3 hours in the spa sounds like heaven to me :)

"Wellcome"

I arrived to the spa and the lady let me know that I booked a Balinese massage! This was before I knew what a Balinese massage was so I changed it to a relaxing one instead.

Heaven :)

The treatment started with a very nice and relaxing massage. I love how here in Indonesia under the table they put a basket of flowers so when you lay face down you get to see them instead of the floor.

After my 65 minutes massage came the scrub. I picked coffee so the masseuse scrub it all over and let it sit for 5 minutes then she poured blended papaya all over my body as a moisturizer! It was soooo nice!

Blended Papaya and coffee scrub!

Then came the flower bath which was soooo good.

Ended with a facial and all of this for only $35!!!!
When I came out a woman asked what I had since I looked "glowing and so relaxed!" haha I think I'm ready to move to Bali!

Yoga Yoga Yoga

There are literally hundreds of different studios in Ubud and you will constantly see people walking with their yoga mat around town.

A friend had recommended yoga barn so I went to check it out!

It is one of the most "expensive" studios at $10.19 for drop in classes and they offer different packages including unlimited classes for a month for almost $200.. Ouch!

The yoga barn makes you feel like you are in the middle of a jungle. There are huge coconut trees, bananas trees, and bamboo trees all over it. Super relaxing!

I took two restorative yoga classes and they were super! After so much walking it was nice to go to a relaxing class.

In my first restorative yoga class the teacher made us hold poses for a very long time, we were in one pose for 25 mins… I think I felt asleep!

The second class had a different teacher who kept saying things like “take a sweet delicious breath” or “delicious honey breathing”… I could barely keep a straight face!

Anyway... when in Bali one must do yoga... Namaste!

That time in Gili Air

Fast boat to Gili!

Tips for Ubud on a budget

My MUST HAVE apps

Relax in Bali

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