Blogs from Gilli Trawangan, Lombok, Indonesia, Asia - page 15

It's time to leave the Gili islands, a sad sad day. We have been on Gili T for 6 nights which is a record for us, usually wishing to move on after a few days. If anyone is wondering where to go for their hols next year I can't recommend this place enough! Although it is really small, Dale and I walked around it a few days ago and the coastal path from start to finish only took about two hours, and some of that time was spent lingering on a completely deserted expanse of white beach we found -it was totally alien, not of this world! We also found an empty sea turtle shell, so hopefully the little guy got back to the water. Sea turtles are endangered but Gili T has a committed conservation ... read more

On our flight to Lombok we met a German couple called Roman and Yvonne. They are from Heidelberg and on their honeymoon. Roman comes to Bredbury occasionally to repair the flour machinery at a bakery. Some days later we met again in a restaurant at Senggigi. This turned out to be the cleanest and best value restaurant ever, called The Asmara. We had a meal each with beers for a total of 7pounds, which included transport to and from our hotel to the restaurant which was 8km each way. Next day, Saturday, off we set for Gili Trawangan in our 20ft open boat. Michelle fearing the worst but by paying 30p to have our bags carried on she was reassured that the luggage was safe. It seems we were also taking most of the local market ... read more

Gili Islands. I have been to the Gili's before, but could not stop myself from returning. Gili Trawangan is a quiet little island with no cars or mopeds, lots of restaurants and guesthouses, and even more diving. Joanna started her advanced course here and I dove in the afternoons after reading my book all morning. Had fresh seafood every night for dinner by candlelight right on the ocean. Not a bad way to spend your 3 year anniversary! Manta Dive was our dive shop and was equipped with beer fridge and hammocks when you weren't diving! Oh yes! Did some great dives around the islands, even a night dive, as was Joanna's first. Saw some huge turtles sleeping on the coral wall. Nearly ran into a turtle when I descended. You can only see where your ... read more

We spent a week out on Gili Trawangan in July. We arrived at around 6pm on the Perama boat, transferring off to a smaller transfer boat before arriving on the beach. Not calling ahead was a bad idea, and it seemed like most places were full. Feeling a little bit desperate, we took the first room we could find at a place called ABDI, which, in all my travels, was probably the nastiest dump I have ever stayed in (70,000 Rupiah's a night). Vowing to find new accommodation in the morning, we decided to drink off our misgivings about our rooms so we headed over to Sama-Sama bar, where shot after shot after beer after beer arrived until 2am. Needless to say, there is no recollection of an uncomfortable snooze in our flophouse. Sunrise Bungalows (250,000 ... read more

We weren’t sure what to expect when we arrived on the island as people we’d met along the way had said how busy and expensive it had become. As we stepped off the boat most things seemed the same, quite a lot more people around maybe. We went in search of accommodation, our favourite place last time we were here was Edy Homestay, unfortunately it was full, after lots more searching and haggling of prices we found one nearby that was similar to Edy’s. 5 little bungalows around a cute well-kept garden. The price was over double what we’d paid 3 years ago but was still one of the cheapest around. We quickly discovered one downside to these bungalows though. A mosque was right next-door and woke us up every day at 5 am then again ... read more