After a 30min boat ride we landed on Gili Trawangan or Gili T to the locals.
There are no cars, no scooters and no dogs. So we took one of the 100 horse carts from the jetty to our first B&B. Those carts are not only transportation, but also main distribution. Most families have a pony in their garden and you see even young kids driving around with their pony and trap to pick up food, materials for building ect! How cool.

One road, sometimes paved sometimes just sand or soil runs around the island. Gili T is about 3km long and 2km wide.
On the east side are most accommodations, bars and little shops. It's all very relaxed and feels almost a bit hippy. There are no posh restaurants, there are only some more chilled- or club style bars, some beach-house style pubs, and Irish bar- of course ( they are everywhere).
On the other side of the island, where you can watch the sunset, are some hotels and 2-3 bars.
In the middle of the island on one side are only palm trees and on the other side a few houses where locals live.
It's absolutely beautiful and we both liked the look and feel straight away.
Around the island is mostly coral reef, and an amazing turquoise water color.
Was ace, that just after a short boat ride we where in paradise, where the sun was shining and it was boiling hot- the opposite of Senggigi, that was still covered by rain clouds.

For Andy's birthday I had booked a rather nice villa on Gili T. That was the initial reason we came here. So for Xmas we moved into that villa. It was much better than in the pictures.
Went snorkeling - which was even better than in Thailand- saw so many colorful fish- was crazy nice!
Had nice lunch and a beautiful Xmas meal and then went "into town" with our bikes, in the dark, through the palm forest with random cows popping up, and dirt tracks with massive holes and puddles but of course all without lights on the bikes. Fun.
Xmas day was one of my fav days so far.
Snorkeling in the morning- sea was so clear, sun shining- I felt part of a massive aquarium with millions of fish. So stunning.
Andy spotted a huge turtle. We swam a very long time beside it and watched it eat and dive up to breathe. We even swam so close to it so we could touch It. Amazing and unforgettable!
Booked a massage in the afternoon and cycled to the South Island to watch the sunset!
Perfect Xmas- still, felt weird to be without family and so far away.
Moved to our last place the next day. Again a very nice room with upgrade to own spa pool.
There are no tourists around and every other place is half empty! So strange- nobody knows why.

So the Gili islands are for sure one of my favorite places on this trip. So hippy and laid back. Beautiful beaches with clear waters and colorful sunsets. Great little places to eat and hang out, all very affordable!
Best thing was- every time we sat by the beach and looked over to Lombok- it had a massive black cloud above it. Our running joke was: "Guess what, it's raining in Lombok:)"
Made us feel even happier to have escaped.
Will be back one day, that's for sure. Unforgettable with a lot of special memories;)...