Gili Islands

As some of you know I am part of several travelling family Facebook groups...I have mentioned before, these groups have been a wealth of information and very helpful throughout this whole trip. About a year before we left, someone posted
"Best food, cheap, nice people, beautiful beaches, good snorkeling- GO"

Hundreds (I mean it, hundreds) of people responded, and time after time I kept seeing the same place- Gili Islands. I knew we had to go. I have been looking forward to this part of the trip for a long time.  The Gili Islands are made up of 3 small islands off the coast of Lombok. Gili T is the most popular, Gili Meno is very small (they call this the honeymoon island, as there is really not a lot going on) and finally Gili Air which is a little combo of both islands.

Gili T

                                     
As you may remember, we kind of like a lot of action so we opted to stay on Gili T. We learned our lesson with the Mosques on Lombok, so we chose our hotel based on the proximity to the nearest one. The whole island has one main "road"  that runs around the perimeter, (I use the term loosely as it is dirt road, and very narrow, (guess what? There are no cars on the Gilis only bicycles and horse drawn carts). There are small little back roads that all crisscross making up the interior, also full of neat little shops, guest houses and restaurants. The east side of the island is where all the action is, that was where we stayed, (that said the island is so small wherever you stay your're never too far from anything). As soon as we arrived we all LOVED IT!

The road that runs along the island, full of bikes, pedestrians and horses

Another view of the main road, it runs right around the island

The Mosque was so pretty at night, this was one of the little side roads off the main road

The Mosque is also lovely in the day

There are no shortage of BEAUTIFUL lodgings, all for cheap prices (we stayed at a place called BDV, amazing, two luxury, king size rooms for $22/each room a night- CRAZY!). Some people avoid Gili T as it is known as the "party Island" maybe because it was low season (and the fact that we go to bed every night by 9 at the latest) but we definitely did not feel like it had a huge party scene. We heard from some young people we met that the night life was awesome, but we missed it :( One of the few downfalls of travelling with kids- you miss out on all the nightlife). We did notice that in the evening there were live bands every where, and they were REALLY REALLY good! Check out this band we heard at the hot spot Sama Sama...

Reggae Bar Sama Sama

This beach runs the whole stretch of the East side of the island, some parts are nicer then others, but it is all beautiful

The beach along the east side

Johnny decided to get his diving certification while in the Gilis as he heard the diving was awesome, (he forgot his certificate at home and as he got certified before there were computers, they had no record, so he had to do it all over again!). That left me with the girls for 3 full days, pretty sweet spot to try and keep busy. The first day we went for a snorkeling trip to visit the other islands. Was pretty good snorkeling, but not easy with two kids out in the open water, I was nervous the whole time. Made the girls have life jackets,which neither were pleased about. In the end it was great way to see the other islands (only $10/each for the whole day) but I wish we could have spent more time exploring on land...

Gili Air

Having lunch on Gili Air

From the boat

 We ended up renting bikes for a few days which is the best way to get around . We had a great time exploring the island, checking out the west coast (only about 20 minutes to get across), it has a totally different vibe, not as many accommodations but plenty of restaurants and bars, still maintaining a very laid back feel. All the establishments put out beanbags and small tables to watch the sunset- very lovely

Every restaurant puts out lanterns or candles to have a romantic feel

On the ride cutting across the island, very nice scenery, through fields...We took the road back, much easier but not as interesting 

The Gili Islands definitely delivered, it was everything we had hoped for, the food was amazing, Johnny said the diving was some of the best he has ever seen, really cheap and beautiful accommodations and awesome beaches. Like Lombok we wish we could stay longer, but we had to leave- thinking we may come back to this area after Vietnam as we heard the island of Flores was not to be missed.... I will keep you posted.

The night market that sells the most delicious smelling food, it is right near the pier

Booting around on bikes, you can drive the whole island in about an hour

Hope to see you again Gili T

Lombok

Happy to board the $22 flight to get from Bali to Lombok, (it was cheaper to fly then to take the ferry-crazy!). We decided to stay in the south end of Lombok called Kuta, I had read it was a little quieter then Senggigi (the main tourist area up near the north end), our Bali host told us that Kuta was beautiful and had everything we were looking for. He was right! The moment we arrived I felt the tension leave Johnny's shoulders...it was funny, I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but Johnny just didn't seem himself the whole time we were in Bali, as soon as we got here it was like his body breathed a sigh of relief. Green rolling hills greeted us, a quick 23 minute ride to our hotel and we arrived. We got here a little late so went checked into our villa (Sari Villa- $45/night for a two bedroom) and went out for dinner. Kuta is shaped like a T, with the top part running along the water and the main street making up the bottom half. After a delicious meal off to bed.

Our first site of Lombok coming from the airport

The next day we hired a driver for $40 and he took us to the 3 beaches that Kuta area is famous for, stopping along the way to take pictures of the beautiful sites. 

Tanjung Aan- Crystal clear turquoise water, in a bay surrounded by beautiful hills on either side, for the able bodies (not me) the hike to to top is suppose to be breathtaking. Everyone agreed this beach was the prettiest but a little boring as there were no waves. Perfect for lounging around

Tanjun Aan

                                      

Tanjung Aan

Tanjung Aan

Selong Belanak- the bay is huge-the PERFECT surfing waves, gentle sloping beach with fine white sand. Lots of stalls and places to rent boards ($5/hour). Anneka fell in love with a kitten when we first got here and didnt leave its site the whole time we stayed. This beach was everyones favourite

 Of course Johnny's crazy Spidey sense when it comes to caves, sniffed one out...this one was a huge bat cave. Liv and I opted to stay in the car while him and Anneka explored. He said it was amazing, except for the piles and piles of bat pooh all over the floor, (and their guide was walking around barefoot-BARF!)

Mawun Beach-another big beautiful bay, with literally a handful of people on it. very beautiful, but the best part was all the local children that flocked around us, then ended up staying for a bit and learned how to play Uno. The kids had a great time at Mawun

Uno!

Being entertained by Annekas site words- they all spoke great English

After a very long amazing day we went back to our villa for another delicious dinner and crashed...(forgot to mention, we are fairly close to a Mosque that wakes us up for prayers at 4:30 in the morning- DOH! tonight I will be wearing my earplugs!) The next day we rented our own car ($30 for the whole day) We decided to explore the south and west side of the island a bit and check out a tiny island Gili Nanggu. We headed to Lembar area where we found a guy to take us across- pretty pricey ($35 was the going rate) but we heard the little island had great snorkeling so off we went.

A tiny little picture perfect island, with only 1 restaurant, (it was sub par but you had no other options). The girls and Johnny went for a snorkel I was exhausted from the 4:30 am wake up call (forgot my earplugs) and tried to nap. They said the snorkeling was pretty good, but maybe not worth the time and $$ to get over to this island, when you have such perfection on the mainland. We left Lembar and headed south to go back to Selong Belanak-Anneka wanted to find her |Kitty and Johnny and Liv wanted to surf again. Driving through Lombok GPS took us on some crazy roads, but man what incredible scenery the whole way, we stopped a dozen times to take pictures, it was so beautiful.

On our last morning in Lombok we toured around the little village of Kuta. The beach here is pretty but not the picture perfect beach a little east and west of Kuta. There are a ton of boats in the water and lots of hustle and bustle. Worth a look and you have to walk through the market to get there. 

We were only in Lombok 3 days! We wish we would have planned to stay here longer. This is the problem when you pre book flights....we should have learned our lesson by now, but we have to be in Thailand by the 15th so the girls can go to school. Our driver picked us up to take us up to Bangsal Harbour to catch the ferry to the Gilli Islands (we were heading to Gilli T). Driving along the coast and through Senggigi so we could see more of this spectacular island.

We opted to take a fast boat for $45 (we should have taken the public ferry would have saved a ton of money, only $1.50/pp). and said so long to beautiful Lombok.