States of Southeast Asia, notably Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia (153Cong.Rec.S8306) Continued

Gili Air

From Singapore, we escaped to an island almost its opposite in terms of size and culture. Gili Air, one of the three Gili Islands north of mainland Lombok in Indonesia, is so small that you can walk its dirt-road perimeter in less than an hour. Of course, that doesn't mean there aren't lazy people, so some entrepreneurs pilot horsecarts to move tourists -- and their luggage -- around the island (left). It must've been a bit of a feat to get the horses to the island. The presence of cows is even more peculiar, considering that at least part of the island population is Hindu, so the sacred beasts wander untethered (right); then again, the Muslim part of the population clearly raises cattle for food, so it's hard to determine which animals are property and which aren't. 

 

No matter the religion, the livelihood of the island residents is based around the beach. Most of the accommodation, including ours at Omah Gili, consists of lumbungs, or cabana structures based on traditional rice barns (left). A few lucky hotels have their lumbungs right on the ocean, but mostly, the sand is stocked with restaurants related to hotel/dive operations, whose boats offer resortside pick-ups and drop-offs for their guests (right).  

 

Diving is probably the main attraction on the islands, but for short-timers like us, snorkelling was the best option. We went on a half-day tour that took us to various sites around the islands with healthy reefs and therefore good marine life. If you are afraid or simply afraid of the water, the ocean is so clear that you can just look at the fish through the boat's glass bottom (left). During the tour, we stopped for lunch on Gili Meno, where many people, including a camera crew filming a beer commercial (we think), were taking advantage of the crystal-clear water (right). 

 

The highlight of snorkelling was seeing -- and swimming alongside -- sea turtles, which are valued throughout the islands. On Gili Meno, Bolong's Turtle Sanctuary assists babies whose hatching in the sand and scuttling to the sea might be disturbed by busy beach traffic (left). At Oceans 5 Dive Resort on Gili Air, staff members have rescued turtles that they found injured or abandoned during dive excursions (right).

 

During the break on Gili Meno, I tried the Sasak specialty Plecing Kangkung, water spinach fried with coconut and chilis (left). Back on Gili Air, during a different lunch at Warung Sasak, we had another delicious vegetarian dish (whose name unfortunately I cannot remember) made with beans, carrots, and other vegetables fried in dark soy sauce and served with rice. However, the more recent culinary tradition on the island apparently is beachside barbeques. For dinner one night at Chill Out Bar, I had parrotfish and prawn from the grill, which was paid for by the pound (right). For another dinner, TJ and I shared an upscale appetizer of tuna sashimi and prawn-avocado cocktail at Scallywags Beach Club before we returned to the more customary curries.

 

Langkawi

In Malaysia, we got our island fix on Langkawi, on the north end of the country close to Thailand. Like Lombok, Langkawi has its own brand of beach cabana, much like a traditional stilted house, complete with the bed on the floor (left). We didn't see a lot of horses or cows on Langkawi, but we saw plenty of monkeys at TStar Cottages, where they would wake us every morning as they scampered across our roof to get to the balconies where people had left trash out (right). 

 

Langkawi is much bigger than Gili Air, so we rented a motorbike in order to get a glimpse of all its beaches. Pantai Pasir Hitam, a black sand beach, is promoted as a natural phenomenon and therefore a tourist destination (top left). But we were more intrigued by what was taking place at Tanjung Rhu, which was the finish line for a stage of the Raid Amazones, a weeklong team adventure race for women; during this stage, the trios were kayaking in the ocean (top right). I didn't set foot in the ocean, with a kayak or otherwise, because of the presence of jellyfish, which were the size of car tires (bottom left). TJ braved the waters for a little while, but I was content to bask in the shoreline's beauty (bottom right).

 

 

The locals had no qualms about getting in the water. One morning, we found a collection of motorbikes abandoned on the beach (left). Their drivers and passengers had waded out to a nearby island, Pulau Rebak Besar, collecting some kind of shellfish, which they brought back to their bikes in bagfuls (right). Emboldened, TJ went in waist-high, but I still was content to have viewed the island from beachside establishments like the Yellow Cafe and The Cliff Bar.

   

During our motorbike beach tour, we stumbled upon some other sights, including the Panorama Langkawi SkyCab, which carts people across two of the highest peaks on the island (top). At the main town of Kuah, we visited Dataran Lang, or Eagle Square, featuring a huge sculpture of a reddish-brown eagle, which is a rough translation of the name Langkawi (bottom left). We also found less well-known attractions, such as Lembong village, mainly a canal to the ocean lined with fishing boats and makeshift shelters (bottom right).

 

One sight that turned out less spectacular than we had hoped was Air Hangat Village. The park -- at the base of the island's mountains, whose evergreen hues match the spa's pools (left) -- was not fully open for the season. But we were able to dip our toes in the one hot spring that was left operational while workers readied the rest of the village for the impending onslaught of tourists (right).

 

Just down the road, a stop that started out as an afterthought turned out to be quite rewarding. Walking to the top of the Durian Perangin waterfall was a bit of a hike (left). And after all the climbing and not swimming in the ocean, the basins carved among the rocks down the hill from the cascade did look inviting (right). Still, we obeyed the signs stating that the water possibly could be contaminated by disease-causing creatures worse than jellyfish.

 

Like Gili Air, Langkawi has a mixed cultural heritage which influences its cuisine. For our first dinner, we dined on Turkish food at Istanbul Restaurant; we shared Ezme with Pide, then TJ had a gigantic lamb shank, and I ate Ali Nazik, or ground meat over baba ganoush. Multicultural diner Tomato Nasi Kandar could satisy a range of cravings: TJ sampled the buffet of mostly Muslim halal food, but then also ordered Malaysian laksa as well as Indian/Pakistani naan and daal; I had Bihun Goreng, or Indonesian fried rice noodles (left). At another streetside nasi, related to Green Village, I tried beef Murtabak, an Indian stuffed pancake, while TJ ordered sardine Roti Canai, an Indian-influenced type of Malaysian crepe; the dough for both is the same, but the cooking method is slightly different. Fat Cupid, perhaps the fanciest restaurant we patronized during our trip, is known for Nyonya fusion dishes, such as Sambal Udang, or spicy prawns, which I picked for my main course; TJ opted for one of the specials, Tenggiri Masak Lemak, a mackerel coconut curry (right). To start, we shared a lamb satay appetizer, while TJ quaffed a lemongrass mojito, and I sipped a unique blackberry-shiraz caipirinha.