Gili Air

If you are a regular blog reader, you might have noticed that the hubby and I are ALL about active vacations/holidays. While that statement is true, we can also appreciate spending a few days lying around on a beach doing nothing. Just as Zanzibar was the perfect end to our Africa travels, Gili Air was the perfect way to end our trip to Indonesia. The Gili Islands are 3 small islands just off the coast of Lombok, and they are commonly known as Gili Air, Gili T, and Gili Nemo. I thought Gili Air would suit us nicely, as Gili T is known for wild parties, Gili Nemo is known for being really quiet, and Gili Air lies somewhere between those two in terms of island activites.

Our first views from Gili Air, looking back towards Lombok.

Rudy arranged for a speed boat transfer from Bengsal to Gili Air, and that transport was included in the cost of our Mount Rinjani trek. Within 10 minutes we had arrived on Gili Air, where the clouds of Lombok were left behind and it was warm and sunny. There are no cars on any of the Gili Islands, which is part of the appeal. In Bali and on the mainland of Lombok there were people on motorbikes everywhere, so the absence of traffic and tooting horns was welcome. The methods of transport on Gili Air are walking, biking, or horse cart (cidomo), and we were happy to walk. 

Near the main boat landing on Gili Air. Bali's volcano, Mount Agung is in the distance.

A cidomo, one method of transport on the island.

The "road" around Gili Air

We chose to stay on the east side of the island, where there was more "action", and I was really happy with that choice. It gave us options for bars and restaurants, and the best snorkeling reef is right off of the east coast. I waited really late to book our accommodation for the island, and there weren't many choices when I finally got around to booking. We ended up at Omah Gili, which was not my first choice, but I was pleasantly surprised when we arrived. The location was good, just off of the main walkway, and the "lumbung" was a cool spot to rest our heads for a few nights. 

Our "lumbung"

Nice landscaping on the Omah Gili grounds

Our lumbung at night!

Our first night on Gili Air. Happy hour views of the mountain we had just climbed!

We pretty much spent our three days on Gili eating, drinking, and swimming. We tried a few different bars, all of which had good happy hour specials, but our favorite bar/restaurant on the island was "Chill Out". Chill Out had delicious drinks and awesome wood fired pizzas, not to mention a sweet view from the dinner table. All of the bars and restaurants have cozy beach furniture complete with big bean bags, so it's easy to spend an entire day at one of the places along the beach.

Crazy clouds over Lombok

A good spot for dinner and drinks!

Wood fired pizzas are all the rage on the Gili Islands, apparently!

One day we went diving with Gili Air Divers to Coral Fan Garden. The visibility was great and the conditions were calm, which made for good diving. However, we were put in a random group and one of the guys sucked down his tank, so the dive was a little shorter than we had hoped. We also rented a snorkel and mask and used that at the reef just off of the coast. There were heaps of fish and we spent about 30 minutes swimming around with a sea turtle!

On the last morning we were up before sunrise. Below are a series of photos taken during the sunrise over Mount Rinjani. It would have been a great morning for those hikers on the summit!

Originally we had planned to fly out of Lombok, but when we realized how much more time we would have to spend in a car to get to Lomok's airport, which is not at all near the coast, we decided to cancel our flights and booked tickets on a ferry to Sanur, Bali. Our "ferry" stopped at Gili T to pick up passengers before heading to Nusa Lembongan, an island off of Bali's coast. If we ever go back to Indonesia, I think Nusa Lembongan would be on my list. The accommodation dotted along the cliffs looked amazing, along with the swell of the waves and the waterpark apparatus out in the middle of the ocean. How cool is that?

Our "ferry" back to Bali

Seems that clouds love to form over Lombok!

A waterslide in the middle of the ocean?!

Another cool structure off of Nusa Lembongan

Once we left Nusa Lembongan, I seriously thought we were going to die. The sea was really rough, and we were going very fast. It was actually quite scary. Fortunately we made it back to Bali in one piece, though maybe a little wet from boat spray!

When we arrived in Sanur there were many locals hanging out in the water. We went for one last swim before eating dinner at a restaurant along the beach and catching a taxi to the airport for our late night flight back to Melbourne. Indonesia is a place that we may have never gotten the chance to visit if we had not moved to Australia, seeing as it is a long way from the US of A. Now that we have had an opportunity to experience a little bit of what Indonesia has to offer, we understand why it is such a popular destination for Aussies, and I am already thinking about where else in Indonesia we should visit if we get the chance to go back!

Busy Sunday on the beach in Sanur

Sunrise and the Melbourne CBD in the background!