Wow! After a full day's travel (of bus, slow ferry, bus and small boat), we arrived in Gili Trangawan. The first of 3 islands off the north west coast of Lombok, Gili T was the largest and had the repetation as being the party island. It was a lovely start to our Gili experience with lots of chilled backpackers, a ban on dogs and vehicles, with only horse and carts or bicycles for transport.
We watched the last day of the Premiership here with Devon and Conor (who we'd met for dinner the day prior), which was an exciting combinaton of Man Utd and Man City playing their final matches simultaneously, and was made even more pulsating by the fact that Genna tore a big hole in her toe on a piece of glass. Ouch! Devon and Conor were great nurses.
We headed out to Gili Meno the next day and were blown away by its stark contrast to Gili T. It was far quieter, had no litter and was surrounded by stunning pristine cococnut-fringed beaches. The weather had improved a bit and this allowed us to get our first insight into the beautiful ocean around the Gilis. It was so stunning that in fact I decided to splash out on my PADI Advanced course here. Genna loved the snorkelling and was well looked after by Tito who made her feel comfortable in the deep water. Genna was made up as the water was incredibly clear and allowed her to swim with turtles for the first time. The water was so lucid that Gen was able to take photos of me from the surface, even though I was diving well below her.
We stayed on the island for 6 days and were reluctant to leave when the time came. Our hostel was called Meno Smile and we had our own brand new hut with open bathroom at the rear. There were flowers and coconut palms all around our plot. Beautiful. The owner even had a guy climb the tree for us so we could enjoy fresh coconut milk. We ran around the island to keep fit!
The last of the islands, Gili Air, allowed us to meet up with a lovely couple we'd met on the slow ferry a week prior, Neil and Jane. We ended up staying in their hostel which served great Lombok cuisine. The restaurant next door was also amazing and cooked a delicious spicy coconut curry called Ola Ola. Amazing stuff!
Gili Air lacked the Robinson Crusoe feel of Meno, but still had some excellent beaches. We considered staying a little longer, but thought that 11 days was already pushing it!!!