The Gili Islands are a short (two hour) ferry ride from Bali but provide much needed tranquillity after the chaos of Bali (especially the traffic!). There are three islands: Gili Trawangan is the backpacker haven with plenty of nightlife, Gili Meno is the ultra tranquil and very simple hideaway whilst Gili Air (our choice) fits somewhere nicely between the two with plenty of places to eat, drink and relax but with a quiet and humble charm.
We had four nights on the island in May 2017. Without a doubt the most adventurous part of our time was the ferry ride to and from the island. We deliberately picked a very reputable ferry company as we had read the trip can be pretty rough. Even with one of the better companies, Blue Water Express, the ferry ride felt more like a speedboat joyride than a ferry transfer. We expected this so had dosed up on some travel sickness tablets that meant we were half asleep through the journey.
Once there, Gili Air is extremely chilled. There are no cars or other motorised transport so the only way to get around is by bicycle or walking. The island is small and can be crossed by foot in less than an hour. There are horses on the island which are used for pretty hard labour including hauling around goods and rubbish. The horses looked pretty poorly treated and I’d encourage any tourists who consider using the horse and cart option to get around to either walk the short distance to your hotel or stay at home (harsh maybe but nicer than the way the animals are treated)!
The Gili Islands offer some really good scuba diving and after having done our discover dive in Trincomalee Sri Lanka we were keen to follow on and do our PADI certificate but didn’t quite have enough time so stuck to snorkelling, SUPing and lazing around on the beach. For those who are keen to do diving there are dive shops on every corner of Gili Air – it looks like a great spot to learn, we probably missed a trick on this one.
The more populated and popular areas of the island are down the east coast but a walk across to the north west side offers awesome sunset views. There are a few restaurants and bars around but a good torch is needed for the 45 minute walk back across the island through some pretty deserted areas.
We stayed at Scallywags Smugglers Hideaway which was inland (about a 15 minute walk to the beach) but for about $60 a night offers comfortable accommodation, free access to the Scalleywags Beach Club (with reserved front row sun loungers where we spent almost all of our time) and a good breakfast (served at the beach club). Staying closer to the beach would be nice but considering how lazy we were once we got to the beach the 15 minute walk was probably good for us!
I wouldn’t describe Gili Air as a gastronomy paradise but we didn’t struggle to find decent food that was reasonably priced (though quite a bit more expensive than most of SE Asia). We stumbled on a fantastic Italian restaurant only a few steps away from our hotel called Classico Italiano. An expat Italian couple serve up awesome, authentic Italian pizzas and (probably) the best tirisimsu we’ve ever eaten! We ate here on two of our four nights and were tempted by a third visit.
This is the last of our backlog of posts from the Asia leg of our travels. We finished Asia with some time in Australia and Singapore then spent some time in the UK and Canary Islands but the blog resumes in Bolivia where we kick off the second part of our trip!
