Travel Diary Days 66 – 69: Gili Air, Indonesia

Our next stop after Canggu were the beautiful Gili Islands from Lombok. We took a shuttle to the port and a ferry at Sanur over to the Gili Islands, where they dropped us off. There are three Gilis:

Gili Trawangan – the party island
Gili Meno – the honeymoon island
Gili Air – the cool island

Gili Air is known more for it’s relaxed pace. It attracts backpackers looking to dive, socialize or chill. It’s not uncommon to find “Shroom Shakes” anywhere on the island – just look for the signs. There are no motorized vehicles on the island and a permanent population of about 1,800.

To check out the vegan food we ate there, read “The Vegan Option: Gili Air“.

You can walk the entire island in 30 minutes. It’s quite clean but a bit eerie, I have to admit. We rented bikes and rode them around and there were some points where I felt like I was lost in Alice in Wonderland. Dim, orange-colored street lights line the streets and all the locals spend most of the day outside somehow. There are many mosques on the island and you can hear the Islamic call-to-prayer throughout the day, sang or spoken by various people through loud speakers.

The downside to this island is that they use horse-drawn carriages as transportation. I refused, of course. These horses looked so sad and overworked in the hot sun. They were made to wear ornate clothing and we saw them being ran all over the island, taking carriages full of people & luggage.

When we first arrived, we saw one of the horse trailing a carriage of cement bags. He stepped onto a piece of ground which had a huge hole in it and was being covered by something. The hole caved in and the horse fell, with the carriage attached. We all rushed to release the animal and calm him as he was clearly distressed and in pain.

Other than that, it was nice and relaxing. We got a decently priced house on Airbnb that was beautiful! We had an outdoor kitchen so we perused the island for fresh vegetables and cooked most of the time. There’s a lot of great spots to dive but I didn’t on this trip. Kayla did and said it was beautiful, but not the best diving she’d ever done. Apparently, a lot of damage has been done to the coral beds from underwater mining.

We only spent a couple of nights on Gili Air, which was plenty for us. We rode bikes around, spent time at the beach, ate great food, went to a party at one of the beach bars, and relaxed.