Blogs from Lombok, Indonesia, Asia - page 11

The days on Gili are following a nice pattern, resting in the day and catching rays followed by an activity in the afternoon. The weather is so hot that it's too much to do anything else. So it was sunbathing poolside again today and then in the late afternoon we hired bikes for about 80p and went on a ride around the island. It's a very pretty landscape surrounded by clear blue waters. We had some lunch partway round and the cycled in to a spot called the Sunset bar. We spent an hour and a half here watching the sky change slowing from blue to orange, to purple and then black and got some fantastic photos during the time. That night Louise and I had a date night where she treated meal. We sat at ... read more

After 2 nights in the Kuta we got a fast boat to the Gili Islands. Gilia Trawangan to be precise. We were told the trip would take 2 hours (1 hour transfer by car and 1 hour on the sea) which it did... They just forgot to mention the 2 hours of waiting around in the harbour. The Gili Islands are an archipelago of three small islands — Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air — just off the northwest coast of Lombok, Indonesia. The islands are a popular destination for tourists looking for a remote island experience. Each island has several small resorts, usually consisting of a collection of huts for tourists, a small pool and restaurant. Automobiles and motorised traffic so the preferred method of transportation is by foot and bicycle or the horse-drawn ... read more

Now, although I had a pretty bad hangover, Anna and I still moved onto Lombok. Two of the Indonesian guys from Gili Air (Harry and Bucek) were from Lombok and they offered to drive us round the island on their scooters. So we took them up on their offer. The journey from the harbour through Lombok was beautiful. Driving past rice fields, countryside, beaches and mountains. The drive took a few hours but was worth it. They pulled up at a guesthouse after making our way up a steep hill. The guesthouse was fantastic, overlooking rice terraces under Mount Rinjani. Wow! I was stunned at this picturesque scene I had just arrived at and felt very lucky. We went to a local place for dinner and this is where we met Gian and Leo. A couple ... read more

The fast boat from Padang Bai on the east coast of Bali to the Gili Islands and Lombok takes around 2 hours and return tickets can be negotiated down to about half the first quote if your good at bargaining like us. For the fast boat you will need to pack your sea legs and courage because the ride is extremely hairy with side to side bounce making the windows go under water and noisy nose diving extremely unnerving. Of the 3 Gili islands, Gili Trawangan is the party island, Gili Meno is the 'honeymoon' island (code for expensive) and Gili Air is relaxed, peaceful and the least invaded of the 3 so obviously Air was our chosen stop. Allowing 90% of the boat to get off at Gili T, a few more at Meno then ... read more

Arriving on Gili Air my main priority was to find a diving company, and book a dive for the morning. After visiting a few different dive shops I finally settled with the first, and arranged a dive for 8am. Turning up in the morning I discovered I was the only customer on the 8:30 dive, so it was to be just me and my instructor. The dive was at shark point, and despite there being no guarantee of seeing any sharks, my instructor soon found me a white tipped reef shark around 1m long hidden in some rocks. It was amazing to see my first shark, just a shame it didn't come for a swim so I could get a better view! After leaving the shark I also saw thousands of fish in their schools, and ... read more