The Gili Islands, Lombok (Part 1)

category: travelling
by Yun,

The promise of crystal blue sea, white sand, and tropical sun lives in the Gili Islands. The islands are located off the northwest coast of Lombok, Indonesia. Gili means “islet” or “very small island” in Sasak language, which is spoken by the native Sasak ethnic group of Lombok. Gili Islands are a sequence of three small islands: Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno, and Gili Air. Popular among Westerners as paradise island getaways, Gili islands offer a peaceful seclusion and a true tropical island feel. With their white beaches, tropical fish, and attractive coral formations, Gilis are one of Indonesia’s top places for diving and snorkeling.

As an extension to our Bali vacation, we took a two-hour boat trip from Benoa Harbor, Bali, to Gili Trawangan. The island is surrounded by turquoise sea water with beautiful sunrise over Lombok’s Mount Rinjani. A spectacular sunset over Bali’s Mount Agung can be seen from the south tip of the island. The island’s entire perimeter is only 8 km. No motorized transportations are permitted on Gili Islands. All rely on bicycles or horse-drawn carts, locally known as cidomos. After arriving at the harbor on the east side of the island, we then took a cidomo to go to our hotel.

Because 24-hour electricity is relatively new and not widely available in Gili Trawangan, we expected that hotels in Gilis would not be as modern as Bali. So, we selected Hotel Vila Ombak as it’s one of the best and newest hotels in the island. After hotel check-in, we went to our hotel room. Our impression about the hotel was below than our expectation. The hotel exterior is great, but internally it’s just basic and poorly maintained. We base our evaluation on the pricey room rate (around US$145 per night) and the new condition of the building. The room has a TV, two beds, and a wardrobe with a safe. Bathroom has a toilet and outdoor shower area. The good side is that the beach and the sea scenery in front of the hotel are stunning.

After dropping our bags at our hotel, we walked through the busy touristy region of the island that is full of restaurants, accomodations, pubs, and diving shops. We had lunch at the restaurant of Beach House Resort. The restaurant stands right next the beach with an incredible view of the blue sea, Gili Meno, and Lombok.

Next, we went for snorkeling. Woohoo! We chartered a boat to snorkel around Gilis from 2PM until 6PM. Luckily, the day was sunny. The boat had a glass bottom to view underwater. The first stop was the Meno Wall, which was a breeding ground for sea turtles. We saw sea turtles swimming freely at the bottom of the sea, and some even surfacing for a gulp of air. Sea turtles are cute marine creatures. ^_^ Our second snorkeling adventure was moved to Gili Air. Unfortunately, sea waves were quite big, making the water murky. We quickly ended our snorkeling and moved to the west side of Gili Meno. Although the coral reefs and fish habitat at this place were not as abundant as those at Gili Air, the waves at this place were most minimal. We all loved this tranquil place. We spent the rest of the afternoon snorkeling at this one location. Beside colorful fish and corals, we saw a ship wreck visible from the sea surface. We also saw two cute cuttlefish, which probably were trying to mate. Both separated as we’re approaching, and they united as we’re moving away. It was my first time to see with my own eyes the color-changing ability of cuttlefish to camouflage them from predators. What a remarkable sensation! Afterward, our boat halted at the south coast of Gili Trawangan for us to witness the beautiful sundown over Mount Agung, Bali. Then we returned back to our hotel. Overall, our snorkeling trip was terrific and memorable.

The worst experience was the saltwater shower. Fresh water resource is scarce, so they have to transport fresh water everyday from the mainland Lombok. Desalination is used in the island to convert the ample sea water to fresh water. However, the desalination technology is still new and expensive. So, that’s why the shower water was still salty, though not as salty as sea water. It’s good that the hotel provided a bucket of fresh water in the bathroom, for cleansing our face and hair. Without the given fresh water, it’s impossible to get clean and our hair would become sticky and matted. Phew… What an odd but interesting experience!

After taking showers at our hotel with salt water (yaiks!), we searched for a restaurant along the main street for dinner. Scallywags was our restaurant choice for the night. We had seafood for the dinner. A was always so excited about seafood. After dinner, we went back to hotel for sleeping.

Comments

15 Comments so far

arman | 28 January 2009, 19:18
wah kalo yang ini sih yang jago yang moto nih… hehehe

Thanks man
Im3th | 28 January 2009, 22:39
wah keramas pake air asin Yun..ya ampyunnn ..pastinya gak enak banget. foto2 lo bagus banget Yun

iya rada2 sih, tp untung ada air bilasannya… makasi met buat compliment foto2nya hehe
veny | 29 January 2009, 01:03
Yun ,,inet di opis lemot .. hu hu
tapi g bisa liat 90% photo2 nya .. bgs2 banget
2 jempol buat lo deh ! ehh tambah deh 1 jempol lagi duah hua222
keren n lo pny sense of photography .
g juga mau ah ke Lombok someday

I’m flattered nih ven dpt 3 jempol dari elo, thankss yahh… Yup2 Lombok lagi bangun international airport yg super gede di daerah south, ntar kalo itu dah jadi pasti dah bakalan lbh rame lagi
V | 29 January 2009, 12:04
ahahahahha, we have magic mushroom!

Really?? the same magic mushroom V?
Alisa@Foodista | 29 January 2009, 12:13
Wow! I’m blown away by the wonderful shots you took with your travels, and all that food looks amazing Wish I could be at the beach right now and enjoying that beautiful sunset! *sigh* I’d like to invite you to take some time to drop by at Foodista. We have launched an online food and cooking encyclopedia ala wikipedia where you can contribute and share what you know about food, your fave recipes, and cooking techniques. Do drop by, have a look see, See you there!

Thanks alisa for visiting my blog. Sure, I’ll check it out foodista after this.
Herlina | 29 January 2009, 21:41
Enaknya Yun, jalan2 terus hmm kayanya kita sama ya, lebih seneng maen ke pantai daripada gunung

iya ci… kalo ke gunung suka males hikingnya haha, kecuali bisa naek mobil sampe atas :))
mamana clo | 29 January 2009, 23:33
ahahaha… jadi teringat masa-masa nge-gembel ke gili trawangan.. nginep di losmen yang harganya 50ribu sajah permalam.. pulang pergi dari lombok naik kapal nelayan yg ngangkut sayur.. kangen dehh…
sekarang udah ada anak dah ga mungkin lagi ‘gembel mode’

gambarnya bagus-bagussss…

kok bisa tau bisa naek kapal nelayan ke lombok? wah seru dong, masa2 itu hehe… apapun kalo dilakuin rame2 ama temen2 pasti berkesan yah. Thanks ya buat complimentnya.
rina | 30 January 2009, 12:55
nice picture, Yun, indeed! hebat deh lo, harusnya jadi fotografer aja, Yun

Thanks rin… yg moto suami gue kok kebanyakan bukan gue, so the credit goes to him hehe…
Paulo | 05 February 2009, 11:43
cik, did ko A used some kind of filter (polarizer) or diotakatik di photoshop or emang it is what it is? the pics look great! saturated banget.. me likey!

Pol, nope… we don’t have any polarizer or filter :(( I don’t have photoshop either in my lappie… so I just used picasa or shutterfly to sharpen, minor edit here and there as well as collage. I know… I should learn how to use photoshop sooner or later. Thanks for the compliment pol:))
ariany | 05 February 2009, 21:53
yup2.. foto2nya keren2 bangetss….
dulu pengen loh ke gili trawangan.. barusan elo ke sana toh Yun? kata suami gua (ke sana waktu dia masih kecil) emang tempatnya bagus banget & lumayan private.. tapi skarang udah rame kayanya ya… foto2 makanannya.. duh… slrup…

Thanks Ar! gue kesana kemarin pas dari bali bulan September, tp baru sempet tulis sekarang… yah dibilang rame jg ga rame2 banget kaya bali, cuman ya ga sepi2 amat… okay sih…
bhoton | 05 February 2009, 23:31
rr.. lo ga coba magic mushroomnya? Guaranteed to send u to the moon tuh katanya…

ga ada elo si ton, coba kalo ada elo ^^ hihi
Lilian | 18 February 2009, 05:21
Yun, aku pernah kesini 15 taon yang lalu cause aku pernah tinggal di Lombok. dah beda banget yaa… Aku sudah ga mengenali…heuheuheu

li, jadi ada alasan buat visit lombok lagi :)) aku mungkin masih ada 1 blog ttg lombok, kali ini bener2 di main islandnya… tp lagi belum ada mood buat nulis hehe…
haley | 24 March 2009, 05:22
Mahal bgt villa ombak?
beruntung bgt ya aku, waktu itu mo nginep di villa ombak, tapi penuh. Trus aku dapat guest house lebih jauh dari villa ombak, tapi lebih nyaman krn bangunan baru dan tertata rapi dan bersih, airnya pun air tawar. Ratenya pun sangat manusiawi untuk orang macam kami… cuman 600rb untuk bertiga.

well… ratenya sekitar 2 kali dari tempat kamu, and yet the room is not well maintained. mungkin karena good location dan banyak fasilitas aja jadi lbh mahal.
siswadi | 15 April 2009, 17:36
Bagus Banget

Thanks for visiting!
Fandi Hoo | 21 May 2009, 01:08
Dear Yunike,

Perkenalkan nama saya Fandi Hoo, saya berencana ingin honeymoon ke Lombok dan menginap di Villa Ombak – Gili Trawangan.
Menurut anda lebih worth it mana antara Villa Ombak dan Sheraton Hotel Sengigi ?
Thanks

Best Regards,

Fandi Hoo

Sorry Fandi, saya baru sempet reply skr. Mudah2an belum telat… kalo Sheraton senggigi letaknya di Lombok islandnya… kalo villa ombak di gili, tergantung kamu maunya di daerah mana…. mungkin kalo buat honeymoon di Villa ombak lebih ok, karena sheraton lumayan packed dan juga aku kurang suka daerah senggigi yg udah rada kotor… Congrats for your wedding !

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