The Gili Islands

The word "Gili" actually means "tiny island" in Indonesian, but when people talk about the Gili Islands, there are referring to 3 tiny islands off the coast of Lombok- Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air. These tropical islands have quickly become a top tourist destination for a number of reasons. These get fantastic weather year round, even during the rainy season. The beaches are beautiful and there is lots of fantastic snorkelling and diving right off the shore. And best of all- there are no bikes/cars on the island. These are small enough that you could walk the entire coast in under 2 hours, or take one of the horse carraige taxis if you aren't keen to walk.

After burning out on Bali, I made my way out to Gili Trawangan off the recommendations of many people. This is the most poplated of the 3 islands and has a ton of little bars and cafes. There is also a nice hill in the middle which has an old WW2 bunker and some good views of the islands. With no real plan, I ended up spending a week on Gili T and celebrating Christmas there. After Gili T, I made my way to Gili Meno for 2 days. This is the least developed of the 3 islands. There are only a couple of restaurants and not a lot of people there. Perfect if you are looking to escape from it all. I then spent 2 days on Gili Air which falls in between the other two in terms of development. I found this one the best as it had the perfect balance of finding an isolated spot to hang out to a decent bar scene where you could go out and meet other travelers.

After spending close to two weeks on the islands it was finally time to leave. A part of my felt guilty for spending all the time and seeing very little- especially after my New Zealand trip where I was moving to a new city every 1-2 days. On the flip side the islands are just so beautiful it is tough to leave and head back onto the more developed Bali.