Gili Islands: a small slice of paradise

TLDR: I'd recommend Gili Islands if you like to scuba/want to learn how to dive, have extra days visiting Bali, want to drink/party with Aussies, and/or want pictures sitting in a swing near the ocean.

Not having a care in the world - except getting a pic for the gram.

Half a day away from Bali, are a few tiny islands known as the Gili Islands.

I first heard about them from a random girl on a train in Peru, who told me that was her favorite part of Bali. Janet and I had booked two nights on Gili Trawangan, and found a driver/boat service there after we were in Bali.

We left our hotel in Ubud at 6 AM, got to the port around 8 AM, and our ferry left around 9 AM. A little over 2 hours later, we got to Gili Trawangan, the largest of the three islands.

One of the first signs was this- and it represents the plethora of beer/bar options on Gili T.

Right after getting on the port we walked .4 miles along the main street- noticing all the bars, places to learn how to scuba dive, and restaurants.

They also had this sign to show support for your country by drinking and Australia was definitely winning this drinking Olympics.

We checked into our hotel Tir Na Nog with separate rooms, and an outdoor bathroom/shower, which was interesting, but not sure if I would get again since I saw a centipede crawl by my feet when I brushed my teeth one night.

After dropping off laundry, we went to get lunch (beers which I took a boomerang of) and basic indonesian food, nasi goreng-fried rice, at a restaurant by the beach.


Afterwards, we walked around the Island, which only takes a couple hours if you really try.

But we made sure to stop and enjoy the scenery.



Once we were on the west side, we decided to chill at Ombak sunset hotel pool, and buy beers and wait for the sunset. We didn't wait at their beach bar since there was no shaded seats. We still enjoyed the infinity pool.

Here is also a wider view of the swing we found nearby.

Unfortunately the sunset was blocked by a lot of clouds, but people still tried taking pics on the swing despite the not so great views. 

It got dark really quickly, so we took a horse chariot back to our hotel, which saved us half an hour of walking in the dark.

For dinner, we checked out the night market, where they had seafood and veggie skewers, pick 3 for $5 USD. I got a seared tuna one which I enjoyed. It also came with nasi campur- a plate of assorted self-serve appetizers.



After one last drink at our hotel, we called it a night.

The next morning, Janet sat in a nest.

Then we took a ferry to Gili Meno, even smaller than Gili T. It was nice strolling along and enjoying the beach.



After walking around, we decided to rent a private scuba boat, much to my dismay since my dramamine didn't kick in and I got sick.


I still snorkeled a bit- at first we went to a site with tons of tiny jellyfish and I was wondering why it felt like there was tons of tiny stings around my body.


Janet at least got to swim by a turtle and capture it via GoPro while I was sick.

We then had a restful lunch under a cabana before heading back to Gili T. 
We didn't use a horse chariot this time.

After we got back to Gili T, we got a $6 USD half-hour full body massage. Massages in SouthEast Asia are the best value!

Dinner was a highlight - fresh grilled lobster, fish, and shrimp by the beach, under a full moon. I also double-fisted pina coladas that were mostly rum.





We spent our last night walking around checking out the local vendors and misc chill, non-full-moon-party nightlife:


The next morning we left to go back to Bali for our last day in Indonesia.

Gili T is definitely cool, but I mostly recommend it to people interested in scuba or if you particularly like to party with Aussies. For most of us in the states, it's pretty out of the way, but if you have over a week in Bali it might be worth a stop!

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