Gili in Bahasa simply means island so while there are lots of gilis, the most well known are three islands off the coast of Lombok; Gili Air, Gili Meno and Gili Trangawan (known simply as Gili T!) Gili T is the largest and has a reputation of the party island, Gili Meno is the smallest and most romantic island and Gili Air is somewhere in between! The islands are car free and the only way to traverse each island is by foot, bike or traditional horse and carts (the latter being super expensive!!)

As the transfer to the islands were included in our ticket with Wanua, Sara and I decided to go straight to Gili Air. We jumped off the boat and walked up the beach to the main street. As there were two of us, a hotel cost the same as a hostel so we were excited to have a taste of luxury for a few days!

Google maps told us our hotel was a 15 minute walk so we braced ourselves for the mid afternoon sun and heat and set off. Sara had thought it was strange as she was sure she had booked a hotel on the beach but when the map showed us the location it was right in the centre of the island. Well when we arrived at the location there was no hotel to be found. With a little bit of help from a local man, maps me and a 30 minute walk, we found the real location!

Gili Air for me was all about relaxing, swimming in the pool, watching some Netflix and doing nothing! Because Sara’s trip was a bit shorter than mine she had to move on before me so we spent our last evening together watching the sunset and going for a fancy meal to say farewell to my Italian sister!

A couple of days later I got the ferry to Gili Meno to have a wander around the island, see the turtle sanctuary and take a snorkeling trip that would take me to Gili T. The Gilis are famous for their marine life and rightly so we saw turtles, loads of colourful fish and coral, a ship wreck and the famous sunken statues.

When I arrived at my hostel in Gili T, I met Simon from Colombia. We went to get some food from the street food market and decided to spend the next day renting bikes and cycling around the island and then he went out for one drink (which obviously turned into many!) whilst I spent the evening catching up with the family, the perfect time to as Josh was back from uni for the weekend!

Needless to say, the next day I felt fantastic compared to Simon’s not so fantastic hungover self! He rallied and we went to rent the bikes! Now, one thing they don’t tell you is how difficult riding a bike through sand is and how many of the paths are actually just sand!! It was great though and we found some beautiful, deserted beaches.

That evening we went to a cinema on the beach. We settled into our beanbags, ordered a couple of pizzas to share and watched Aladdin, the perfect way to end my relaxing break from travelling(!) in the Gilis!