The Gilli Islands

Gili Air is an island of the side of Lombok.. it is one of three islands.  Gili Trawangan, or Gili T, is the party island, Gili Meno is the quiet island and Gili Air has the reputation of being the family island.  I visited Gili Air for three days, after our visit to Lombok.

The only way to get to the island is by public small boat or the fast boat from Bali. My friends and I chose to take the public boat from Bangsal Harbour, along with a boat full of produce and people.

A quick walk up the beach, and we were at our hotel.  Cool dark thatched rooms greeted us, which is good because it was damn hot.  After a rest and lots of drinks, we set off to explore. The island takes about an hour to walk around.  There are no cars and motorbikes, the only transport is pushbikes and cidomos (horse and cart).

All around the small coastal track are many small bars and restaurants, where tourists are enticed with happy hour drinks, reggae music, and yummy seafood. It is quite cheap to eat on the island and the food is delicious with lots and lots of choices.  Manyrestaurants have raised platforms with cushions where we sat tofeel the ocean breeze while sipping very cold beer.  The locals are friendly and always up for a chat. Such a welcoming place.

Unfortunately, it’s hot, damn hot!  Thankfully, there’s a gorgeous saltwater pool where we were staying and it was beautiful floating around all hours of the day and night.

Apart from eating and drinking, another activity I love on Gili Airis circling the island in a cidomo, a horse and cart. We went around in the cool of sunset and watched the sun go down over Gili T as the sky turned soft and the clouds pink.

Our driver told us about Komodo dragons who live in a swamp in the middle of the island. we stopped to look and saw three possiblyteenage lizards stomping around. They looked scary and fierce, especially as they weren't in a cage. The cidomo was a great way to get around though a little cramped with the three of us squashed in!

The other thing to do on the Gilis is to snorkel and dive. We went out for the day on a boat, with several other people from all over the world. We had five opportunities to snorkel off all three of the islands. We saw amazing fish and turtles as well as huge,extraordinary coral. The lovely warm, smooth sea just made this a perfect day.

Relaxing and fun times were had on Gili Air.  I was so glad that I’d bought my friends over to explore this special place.  Can’t wait to come back!