Sydney Morning Herald, January 14, 2010

Lema Samandar goes beyond Indonesia's popular tourist island to experience some of the country's other attractions.

Bali is the only Indonesian island most Australians know. But my first visit to our northerly neighbour involved only a couple of hours at the airport in Denpasar before heading off to explore the culture and history of other parts of the world's biggest archipelago.

GILI TRAWANGAN

Lombok has several islands known as gilis with the most largest and most developed being Gili Trawangan.

After a couple of long flights, a 45-minutes drive from the airport and a 15-minute speedboat ride from the mainland, arriving at Gili Trawangan was like a dream. As soon as we stepped off the boat we were greeted by the friendly staff of Vila Ombak with a fruit drink at their restaurant and bar right on a beautiful clear-water beach.

The Vila is the most luxurious of the hotels on the island but still affordable with the rooms $US300 ($A337) per night. I was only on the island for a day but there was so much to do and see that someone could easily spend weeks there and still not be satisfied.

There are no motorised vehicles on the island, and the main means of transportation is bicycles and cidomo, a traditional horse cart. On a cidomo ride around the island we saw hordes of restaurants, several pubs, a movie theatre, a turtle and reef conservation, shops, internet cafes and a diving school.

Some claim that Gili Trawangan is the smallest island in the world with an Irish pub.

We were served with the freshest seafood at the hotel's restaurant and at night the island could almost be mistaken for somewhere in Europe, given the amount of tourists from the continent. Gili Trawangan is most popular among young European honeymooners and adventurous types who can easily afford a cheap hostel and spend all their time diving, swimming and sunbaking.

The island also has about 1,000 friendly locals who run businesses or work in the various hotels. Hotel staff assured us they have their own rules to maintain order in such a densely tourist-populated island. For example, if a local stole from a tourist, they would be punished by having to wear a sign around their neck stating the law they broke. They would then have to circle the island wearing the sign before being banished to the mainland.

I might have only been there for one day, but I couldn't help but miss Gili Trawangan and how relaxed it had made me feel.

BALI

A three-hour ferry ride took us from Gili Trawangan back to Bali. The scene in Bali is more festive than Yogya and Gili yet there is much more to this popular destination than the notorious partying tourists.

An amazing glimpse into Balinese culture was a trip to Uluwatu Temple at sunset for a traditional Kecak Dance. The dance is famous for the fact that it doesn't contain musical accompaniment. Instead a chorus of 150 men chant in synchronisation to create a rhythm and tell a story.

The writer was a guest of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Republic of Indonesia.