The Gili's

Pristine waters as clear as Boracay or El Nido made it pretty obvious that we were going to like The Gili's. Bad weather accompanied us on the 8 hour trip there, but not even this could mask the beauty the Gili's have to offer. Three islands off the coast of Lombok comprise what is known as The Gili's (Gili means island). Gili Air being the smallest, then Gili Meno, and the largest and most active as far as tourism goes is Gili Tawagan.

We chose to stay on Gili Air to get away from the crowds, and because it was so small we could walk around it in about 90 minutes which seemed appealing. Small restaurants lined the south eastern coast, each table had it's own little hut for a private dining experience with candle light and cushion seats. All had fresh fish, squid, and shrimp on display for the picking, and would then grill it up and serve with rice and sauteed vegetables.



We made it a goal of ours to try all the restaurants along the beach and I think we came pretty close. Most days included a few walks, lots of food, a trip to the west side of the island to photograph the sunset, and of course a few Arak Attacks. Arak is a Balinese rice wine that we grew fond of after our first taste of it in Sanur. Add Sprite, honey, and lime and you have an Arak Attack - delicious! (Murray did you enjoy it?)



Aside from that, we did a beautiful dive with amazing visibility which was perfect as we crossed paths with cuttle fish, turtles and a young manta ray. We did spend a few hours on Gili Tawagan before heading back to Bali, but overall we were happy in our choice of staying on Gili Air!



After a few tears we left The Gili's for another 8 hour trip back to Bali to catch our flight out of Indonesia and on to Malaysia.