THE GILI ISLANDS – A WEEK ON GILI AIR

ARRIVING IN INDONESIA

Leaving Malaysia, we flew to Lombok on our way to the Gili Islands, as instructed by the dice.

We arrived in Lombok and were instantly swamped with taxi drivers wanting our business. We agreed a price and went on our way to our hotel – Nalaya homestay, in Mataram.

The driver persisted for the whole journey to try and pin us down to using his services to take us around the next day. I said that we were heading to Gili Air and he said that we could use his friend’s boat and would get us a cheap price. The cheap price he mentioned wasn’t cheap.

After several attempts to shut him up by saying that we didn’t know what we were doing and didn’t want him to help us, he took us to an alternative accommodation and said that we should stay there instead. I was starting to lose my rag a bit and told him we’d already paid at the other place and he needed to just take us there immediately.

We arrived at the hotel and he came inside with us, looked at a map and started showing me all the places he could take me to. He wasn’t giving up without a fight.

I shook his hand and ushered him to the door. The international sign of ‘we’re done here’.

The accommodation in Lombok was really basic, but we were only going to be there for a few hours, before heading to Gili Air, so it was all we needed.

GETTING TO GILI AIR

Gili means ‘small island’ in Indonesian and there are three Gili Islands, north of Lombok. Gili Air, Gili Meno and Gili Trawangan.

Gili Meno is the smallest of the three and the least developed, Gili Trawangan (known as ‘Gili T’ to the gap year traveller), is the party island and Gili Air is somewhere in between the two. We settled on Gili Air as our destination.

The next morning, we packed up our things, hailed an Uber and made our way to Lombok harbour.

We’d been tipped off that people would be trying to scam us there with fake or overpriced tickets, but we didn’t have too much trouble.

There’s two options for the boat to Gili Air, the scheduled boat which costs 85k Rupiah (approx. £5) or the considerably cheaper ‘public’ option, but for this you have to wait until they have 40 people ready to take the boat.

The ticket office was pretty basic

We opted for the scheduled boat, which was due to depart in 15 minutes and hopped aboard.

The boat ride was quick and comfortable, taking only around 10 or 15 minutes to reach the island.

SETTLING IN TO GILI AIR

Arriving on Gili Air, we walked to our accommodation – Tapada bungalows.

This place was lovely. A little bungalow, with an open air en-suite, a huge bedroom and a little patio area out front, with seating and a hammock.

Just what was needed!

As this was busy season on the island, we ended up staying at 3 different accommodations, due to places being booked up, all of which were very similarly idyllic.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

One of the first things I noticed on Gili Air, was that there were no motorised vehicles. No cars, no scooters. Only e-bikes, cycles and, the most predominant – horses and carts!

Another thing we kept noticing was that there were no dogs here and the cats seemed to have shorter tails than normal. We were told that they were born this way, but I wasn’t so sure. They looked like they had been amputated, for reasons that I can’t fathom though, and were of varying lengths. We also saw a few with full length tails, so I wasn’t buying it.

LUSH FOOD

During our time on Gili Air we ate really well. There’s a multitude of cuisines and everything that we had was of really good quality.

There were a number of places which pride themselves on organic produce and vegan and vegetarian friendly options. A few of our favourites were Pachamama, Mowie’s, Classico Italiano and Good Earth Cafe. Check them out!

The spicy corn cobs at Pachamama were a triumph

NO POLICE PRESENCE

One thing I found out while on the island was that there is absolutely no police presence on Gili Air. Partly because of this and partly because of the hippy vibe of the place, there is easy access to weed and magic mushrooms.

Mushroom shakes being advertised throughout the island.

“Never try never know”

The feel of the island generally was one of relaxed, peaceful people and happy tourists, so it was obviously working for them.

THE BEACHES AND BEACH BARS

The highlight of the island. The beaches and the views over the sea are fantastic.

White sand and light blue, clear waters.

Because the sea is full of coral it’s not much of an island for swimming unfortunately, as it’s so shallow and you risk stepping on sharp coral or sea urchins, but it is beautiful to look at and wade into.

Or just relax in a swing in the shallow waters.

As the tide rolls away, the coral is exposed and this gives a great opportunity for a spot of rock-pooling and spying on the marine life.

Beach bars and restaurants line the shore of the island and these places are great spots to grab a drink or bite to eat and look out at the sea or catch the beautiful sunset.

SNORKELLING

While on the island we decided to take a snorkelling trip, which takes you to several snorkelling spots around the three Gili Islands.

As we’d not seen the other islands during our time here, it would also gives us a chance to see them from afar.

The cost of the trip was 100k Rupiah per person (approx. £6) and lasted for around 7 hours.

The boat was full of dozens of tourists and we made our way through four separate dive spots, including a lunch stop on Gili Meno.

Most of the dive spots really in really clear, relatively shallow waters.

The coral wasn’t teeming with life by any means and we didn’t see loads of marine life, but we did see lots of sea turtles!

A good little day out and one worth embarking on if you’re on the island. It’s hard to miss the opportunity as this trip is advertised everywhere on the island.

Here’s a video of the snorkelling trip in more detail:

SOME MORE FROM GILI AIR

We spent an amazing seven nights on Gili Air and I’m glad we chose that island above the other two.

Fantastic food, friendly locals, comfortable accommodation, beautiful beaches and even a perfect 5km running route around the circumference of the island.

Here’s a few more random snaps from our time there.

TIME TO GET MY SEA LEGS

After a week on Gili Air we were heading off to the island of Flores on a four day boat trip.

Read on for the next post covering these adventures.