There are 3 Gili Islands ... actually 'gili' means island. I first visited there in 2017, my first whirlwind tour of SE Asia. It was in the middle of my adventure, and the first time I felt like I had really found my 'Happy Place'. I returned in 2023 and was just as 'happy' as the first time.
They are a 2hr fast ferry ride from Padang Bai.
The weather in Tulamben was not the best, the waves were big and we missed some diving because of it. I thought this might be a good time to go to Gili, and then check out Padang Bai. But since the waters were rough, I decided not to chance it by going to Gili, and cancelled the whole trip. Then I started thinking outside of the box, and realized I could do Padang Bai first, and then when/if the weather cleared I could travel to Gili. So I set that program in motion. And you already know the Padang Bai part of the trip.
So after 3 days of diving I got on the Fast Ferry, supposedly distinguished from the Fast Boat. I know that over the years, they have had some 'troubles' with the boats on the crossing, (fires, sinking, etc.) so I always have that in the back of my mind. But the people from Harmony Guest House where I stayed, assured me that the Fast Ferry was bigger and better and safer. And they were right, it was very professional, A/C, and a smooth ride. We left at 8:30a (on the dot), and arrived at Gili Air at 10:30a.
If I haven't mentioned it before, Bali is beautiful, mountains and lots of green jungle. From the Ferry
Gili Air has mostly sand streets, some of the major ones have large bricks. There are no cars, only bicycles and horse drawn carriages ... actually now they have electric motor scooters. So it is still quiet, but they drive too fast, (that's an old person opinion). The horses are waiting like a taxi line at the Pier.
My horse was named Blonde and the driver was an older gentleman. I asked him about his horse. He said he has 4, and rotates them. And that one horse only works until noon. He also pointed the the 'whip' and said that he never uses that. So I was happy. I also asked the younger guy that took me back to the Pier at the end of my trip. And I got the same feelings from him. He only has 2 horses, but also only works them until noon.
My trip to Salim Beach Hotel
I stayed at Salim Beach Hotel the last time I was here and really liked it. So I booked again. Last time I stayed in the 'garden' room. This year I splurged, and went for the 'Pool View' room. It was $3 more per night for a total of $79 for 3 nights. Can't complain about that. My room was called Libra. I hope that connected well with my Gemini. A short video from my porch.
I was pretty sure my room would have this bed, since it did last time. I felt like a Princess once again.
And it had a walk in shower, that was open to nature. The walls were hand-painted, what a job ! It also had a 'proper' door from the rest of the room, to keep the bugs, and heat out. Genius !
The restaurant/bar is a reggae kinda place. Last time they had live music every night. But this is a Muslim community, and it is Ramadhan for the month. "That means fasting from dawn to sunset, abstaining from food, drink, smoking, and sexual activity to practice self-restraint and spiritual refletction. It involves increased prayer, Quran recitation, charity, and avoiding negative behaviors like fighting or lying." I only heard a slight 'call to prayer' a couple of time, so maybe that is done in the interior of the island. So, no live music here. There are a LOT of places that do not conform to these strict rules. Obviously catering to the tourists, which their lives depend on.
After I got settled in my room, I decided to go for a walk, so now it's high noon. Probably not a good time for a walk in that heat. My clothes were wet with sweat. I quickly jumped in MY pool, it was almost like a hot tub. Not refreshing, nor did it cool me down, I retreated to my shower. There were 2 young girls that were using the pool too. I talked to them a bit. They were here for a MONTH. I'm pretty sure that would be way too long for me, but they were enjoying themselves.
In the evening I rented a bicycle to ride to Sunset and my favorite wood fired pizza place, Mama's Pizza. It did not disappoint, lots of big mushrooms and prosciutto. They also had a chili oil to drizzle over the top... good but use sparingly.
Thankfully my favorite SunSet spot was still popular ... but NOT very busy. In fact the entire island was quiet. So many restaurants with lots of tables set, but no people. I don't know how they do it. They have the same 'bean-bag-chairs' on the sand for drinking and watching the SunSet. I LOVE this part! I don't get a sunset very often, so I don't miss out on the opportunity.
We only had one great sunset this year. But it was a good one. You can see 2 mountains with the sun in between. One of them is Mt Agung, the mountain that I can see from Matahari. It's been so cloudy I haven't seen the peak of it yet. Mt Agung is almost 10,000 feet, the tallest in Bali
The next morning I took the bike for a ride, it made more sense than walking... I got a little bit of a breeze from going so FAST :) and better for my knee. I rode most of the way around the island. The far North East side is 'beach' with ONLY fluffy sand, not packed down, and impossible to ride a 'regular' bicycle through it. I remembered that from last time and was ready for it. And it's a lot of work to push a bike through the sand, so I just turned around and rode back. Actually that gave a longer ride. And then I rode past my hotel up to the sand again. I did that the other 2 mornings too. The island is mostly flat. I met this little one along the way. There are ONLY cats on this island ... no DOGS ! That is strange, and I wonder how they've maintained that ? Cats are all pretty healthy looking too.
Free breakfast with my room, (also at Matahari). This time I had an Indonesian breakfast for the first time. It is a LOT of food, and I actually liked it. It came with 2 schnitzel-type pieces of chicken. I had them for lunch, they were pretty good.
One day I took my laptop and sat by the water in the shade, there was a little breeze, and worked on my Blog and photos. That worked for an a couple hour or so, until the waves started coming in, and crashing into the concrete wall. I kept moving back, and put a towel in front of my laptop in case. 'In case' happened. We didn't get too wet, but it was enough for me to retreat. I loved my huge colorful thick beach towels. The towels in the room were big and thick too. It's what you get when you spend $79 for a room for 3 nights. My other places have small thin towels :(
This is one of the streets all lit up and festive ... with no customers.
The last night i discovered a Greek restaurant that I had been driving by and admiring their pastries. They had cute little Greek tables by the water. This chocolate was quite good, and the morning that I left, I stopped in got a huge slice of 'spinach pie' for the Ferry ride back to Padang Bai.
There really isn't much to see or say here. But I LOVE it for 3-4 days. Here is a map of Gili Air, it's about 3miles around.
Now, back to Tulamben and more diving at Matahari. Join me there. It's the LAST stop before this year's adventure ends.
dp
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