Air time......... Lombok, Indonesia

My arrival in Gili Air meant the arrival of my mate Chris and time to reacquaint myself with alcohol on a new scale. I had been through a relatively dry patch for a number of months so it was going to be a physical and mental battle.

The Gili's comprise of three small islands within paddling distance of each other off the north west coast of Lombok. They have in some ways become the new Bali. I was there towards the end of Ramadan which coincided with the European holiday season so accommodation was a it of a nightmare. Lucky we booked weeks in advance. So Gili Trawangan (or Gili T) is the party island, Gili Meno is the least developed and the most tranquil, whilst Gili Air is somewhere in between. Most people seem to go to the Gili's for three reasons: 1) snorkeling; 2) to get their PADI diving certificate; and/or 3) party and try mushroom shakes. Let me tell you that if you are wanting to try the shakes that are more readily available than a ladyboy in a Bangkok brothel, do yourself a favour and ask someone who has tried them from that place recently as we got duped twice. And as for the snorkeling, it is rather poor. Guide books will let you know that areas have been affected by illegal fishing and bleaching but good areas could still be found. Don't be deceived, I wasn't quite prepared for what I saw....which was almost nothing. I only tried snorkeling off the beach (no tours as I don't like them) and it was, well.....crap. All the islands appear to be surrounded by extremely shallow reef which is all but dead and partially exposed at low tide. Although I am against the idea of reef shoes as they just encourage people to walk where they shouldn't, they are a good idea here as the reef is dead and you will invariably cut your feet walking out to the deeper waters.

We stayed at Biba Bungalows which were very nice (excellent service by the local employees, indifferent from the owners which was difficult to understand) and had one of the better Italian restaurants attached to it (yes, there are many, many Italian restaurants in Indonesia for some reason and pizza seems to be on almost every menu regardless of cuisine type). Hire a bike and push it around the island's edge (there is a lot of nontraversable sand that will help work up a sweat) and explore the sparse interior which is covered in fields of palm trees and cows and paths that snake to an unexpected end. 

So what is there to do other than the aforementioned three things? Um, sit on the beach and drink beer and cocktails and not much else. Air was very quiet in the evenings. We tried very hard to find something open after 10-11pm but struggled. For an island that was largely full, there didn't seem to be anybody around. Lots of couples and families here so perhaps that explains why. 

It is worth taking a walk up to the northern point for sunset. There are a few bars, a very good Italian restaurant and plenty of bamboo lounges and bean bags on the beach. Get there at least an hour before sunset to secure a decent pozzie. At some stage that evening you will end up at the Chill Out Bar which has friendly staff and an owner that perches himself in front of the till each afternoon, with a beer in hand at all times and doesn't seem to move until the close of play. 

Local dining options were hard to come by. I wasn't really impressed by anything that I recall having which was disappointing. I also enquired about diving here more for the sake of doing so and the description of the various sites confirmed my hesitation at wasting my money...plus it was more expensive than other considerably better places I have dived at. Maybe get your PADI here if you can't wait until you get to one of a hundred better places to dive in Indonesia, but nothing else.

And my last point, don't expect a tropical island ringed in fine white sand. There are patches of this but the majority is covered in broken coral pieces. Just letting you knowing.

Sundowners in the north of the island

Yep....margaritas!!