Activity Summary
Monday 14th November - Day 74
Travel to Gili Air
Tuesday 15th November - Day 75
Turtle, fish & coral snorkel tour
Wednesday 16th November - Day 76
Pool morning
Travel to Gili Trawangan
Gili T snorkelling
Thursday 17th November - Day 77
Gili T cycle tour
Snorkelling & beach chill
Summary
Gili Air
A very small island where the bicycle is the most dangerous form of transport. Pretty refreshing.
The beaches are lovely, the snorkel tour was immense and there are decent bars and restaurants throughout. In terms of a post Lombok recovery it was perfect.
Gili Trawangan
Basically similar things to do as Gili Air, just bigger with a more chaotic feel about it that didn’t bring the chill (but apparently good partying). It was a nice island however and shits all over Bali.
Luke’s vote is Gili Air all day but he’s basically given up boozing by this point so that has swayed the decision quite significantly.
Accommodation
Gili Air
Banana Cottages - 2 nights - £6.25/n/p
Great place to chill post Lombok. Pool was nice to chill in on the day of check out and the outside shower attached to the room had a cool feel to it. Otherwise pretty comfortable and affordable.
Gili Trawangan
Rice Homestay - 2 nights - £4.70/n/p
Simple accommodation with the softest bed known to man. Nicola hated that aspect of it but Luke really enjoyed it. The beached cockroach on its back that somehow died and made it onto its front we were both watching religiously for 2 days without either of us actioning its removal. The cats that frequented the homestay were loud and demanding little fuckers so that combined with the mosque prayers at 3am really did have a nice little crescendo hell bent on destroying any attempt at sleep. But that’s Indonesia for you.
A simple accommodation package as expected with the price really. Served a decent banana pancake and coffee breakfast but the lack of hot water was slightly annoying.
Travel
Gili Air
Kuta Lombok hostel -> [shuttle bus] -> Bangsal port -> [public boat] -> Gili Air port -> [walk] -> Gili Air villa
Gili Trawangan
Gili Air villa -> [walk] -> Gili Air port -> [speedboat] -> Gili Trawangan port -> [walk] -> Gili T homestay
Diary
[continued from Lombok]
Luke, now at the port, began the charade of trying to work out where the actual ticket office was for the public boat to Gili Air. The Indonesian people at these places are the least helpful dickheads. After being sent around the ringer, talking to a clear tour operator which is not what was wanted, getting pissed off with rando’s parroting word for word what the ticket ladies were saying he eventually found the correct booth. FYI, as you look at the pier/beach it's a small ticket booth to the very right past all the tour operators and next to the beach.
After raging from exhaustion and just sheer ineptitude of the local population he sat next to some friendly Canadian tourists and casually chatted to them for the 1 or 2 hours he had to wait until the taxi boat was full enough to depart - this is far more frequent in the morning than the afternoon.
After successfully preserving the battery on his phone due to losing his power bank, we were reunited for the first time in 4 days on the beach in Gili Air. The cottage was a short walk away from the pier (although was a slow one as Luke’s legs now realising there was no more walking required began the DOM seizing up process) where a much needed shower washed around the grime of the last 3 days and we wandered down to the beach for a few beers and a catch up.
In the evening we opted for a decent Italian place (although pricier and the spiral staircase to the top floor was a daunting task for Luke’s crippled knee) and sorted a snorkel tour for the next day.
The first night in a bed after sleeping on a roll mat for 2 nights was bliss for Luke. His legs didn’t work all that well however but was adamant that lying on a beach all day to recover (the Gili beaches are lovely) was not required much to the joy of Nicola who had spent the last 4 days doing very little and was itching to achieve with her day.
The snorkel tour was a perfect option, allowing Luke to use as little or as much of his legs as he could while effortlessly floating face down in the sea. We went to the departure point for 9am and lo and behold were left there waiting uncomfortably in the heat for over half an hour for something to happen. Eventually a larger group of people turned up and we all boarded the speedboat.
Nicola had absolutely no problems at all with seasickness on this tour. The water was wonderfully calm, the sun was shining, visibility was crystal clear and the boat did not aggressively move at all. Perfect conditions for a snorkel.
The tour itself went around 5 different snorkel spots around the Gili islands (Air, Meno & Trawangan) although most seemed to be around Gili Meno. It was a great tour, spending about 4 or 5 hours snorkelling with tons of turtles, fish and coral. The fish & coral were more impressive in Nusa Penida but it was still spectacular. We had lunch on Gili Meno and one last snorkelling spot before heading back to Gili Air.
We had a chill afternoon and went to a local Warung (restaurant) for food. Nicola was fuming with the worst curry she’d ever eaten and it was so spicy she couldn’t finish it. The local equivalent of fish and chips for Luke was alright. She rage quit and had to settle for an ice cream to soothe the inferno in her mouth.
The next morning we had a relaxing pool morning at the cottage with an all inclusive banana pancake before heading over to the port around 11am. We got our tickets from the counter then and there, had a short wait at the port for the speedboat to arrive and then had a very eventless voyage to Gili T (via Gili Meno).
Once at the island we were pretty hungry so hit up google for decent restaurants nearby and by fluke went to a pizza place that did the best wood fired pizza’s Luke had had all trip. He then insisted we must go here again the next day.
Incredibly satisfied and full, we waddled over to our homestay. The half dead cockroach on the bathroom floor wasn’t an overly appealing introduction to the place so we left it beached on its back like Shamu the whale as neither of us wanted to touch it. It eventually stopped twitching but we continued to tiptoe around it.
Given the journey was pretty painless and short we had a fair amount of energy so decided to head up north of the island to the beach where there was decent snorkelling. Everyone either walks, cycles or gets pulled around by horse and cart so we opted for the bikes available from the homestay. Once at the beach we rented some masks from a local (overpaid but wasn’t in the mood to argue) and spent a few hours floating around before the weather changed and the seas started getting proper chops. Plenty more coral, fish and turtles added to our visual repertoire.
We managed to just miss the downpours when we arrived back at our accommodation but in the few hours indoors we had, the streets got absolutely wrecked with surface water flooding. The local warung we opted for dinner was easily walkable but we ended up needing to use the bikes to avoid wading through the mud rain water concoction. Fortunately the rain had died down so we didn't get soaked and the food was cheap and decent.
Again we were treated to a 5 star banana pancake and coffee breakfast with our homestay (slight exaggeration) and decided on a self navigating bike tour of the Gili T island. The surface water flooding was pretty quick to evaporate in the intense island heat and the main road around the island had far better roads than our local mud track.
Our first stop on our tour was to try to sort out the Ekajaya ferry to Bali (ended up being cheaper on 12go so booked online), had a look for a fridge magnet and came away with turtle inspired friendship bracelets. Adorbs.
It didn't take overly long to cycle around the island, occasionally stopping to see where we were and potential chill spots for later. As the weather seemed to be playing ball and we weren’t sure whether it would hold we decided to settle at a beach bar in the north and rent more snorkels. The bar staff greeted and communicated with Luke exclusively as Pique and then tried to have a conversation about Barcelona as if by having some resemblance to the footballer means he knew everything about the football club. Turns out he knows a lot more than the local Indonesian bar staff who either didn't know how to talk about it in English or knew nothing about Barcelona. After that they would just shout “Pique” at him whenever they saw him or walked by.
After haggling a reasonable price for some snorkels and having a refreshing ice lemon tea, we left our stuff at the loungers at the bar and waded into the sea, which was a recommended spot from the bar staff. It was terrible (and the waste water pipe runoff wasn’t appreciated) so after 10 minutes we got out and walked round the north side of the island to get back to where we were yesterday. A bit of a long journey but much more fun.
Now pretty hungry we took off from the bar and smashed another Francesco's pizza.
Having completed what felt like most of what the island had to offer during the day we found a quiet beach near one of the fancy resorts to relax, drink a beer and watch the afternoon go by.
We frequented another local warung near our homestay for dinner and then went over to the main beach area for a beer. Gili T is supposed to be pretty good for a party but in sticking true to our old person scrouge persona’s had one drink and sacked it.
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