A Trip to the Gili Islands

#traveltuesday

The Gili islands are just a boat ride away from Bali. We took a speedboat, so the trip was about 2.5 hours. There are three islands, and we went to Gili Tragawan.

When you first arrive at the island, there are a few other boats all unloading onto the beach at the same time. It looks like one big party scene.

The island has zero cars, and only dirt “roads” so you either have to carry your luggage yourself or pay for a horse pulling a cart. (there are everywhere near the loading area). We stayed on the other side of the island, so we took a horse.

Our hotel was absolutely adorable. Each room is a separate building with a little deck. The bathroom was my favorite! It was an open roof with two waterfall shower heads in the middle of the bathroom onto a rock floor. A koi pond was around the back half with a flowering tree right above. Like is this even real?? The place also had a few property cats, and of course, since I’m a cat person, they found me and hung out on our porch. (There will always be at least one cat story in each of my travels). They also had bikes to rent out for the day, which was a great way to get around.

In the mornings, we were able to sit on the beach (which was conveniently right in front of our hotel) watch the sunrise, and they served breakfast right there! I’m genuinely a breakfast place, so if a hotel includes breakfast its always a win for me. This place was another bomb breakfast. I had Nutella pancakes one morning… so dang good.

On the island, there are so many different boat tours that you can pay for around the central area. We wanted to do something a little more our pace, and we hired locals to take us out on a private tour. It was $40 for five hours and just the two of us. You really can’t beat it. There are a lot of them out there, and you can haggle the price if they say a higher rate.

I brought my own snorkel gear – something that is an excellent investment if you like to snorkel. I got to see the famous underwater statues. There were SO many people in the water, so I was over it pretty quickly.

Make sure to bring your sunscreen, bandaids, or any necessary items. They are very expensive on the islands!

Overall, I’m glad we spent a few days here!