One of My Sweet Escape

Lombok, Gili Islands

For me, it's always one of my favorite destinations. I call it my sweet escape. Gili Islands consist of 3 beautiful islands. Gili Trawangan, Gili Air and Gili Meno. No Police, No Motorcycle, No Car. The only transport you find is bicycle and cidomo (cart with horse). If you want tranquility and serenity, I suggest you to stay in Gili Meno or Gili Air because Gili Trawangan is getting more developed now. The last time I went there was in March 2008. I was a bit sad because the beach was not so clean anymore, I found rubbish on the beach and there were many new Hotels and Restaurants. I'm afraid this place will turn to be over-developed just like Bali :(

The picture above was taken from front area of the resort where I stayed, Desa Dunia Beda in Gili Trawangan (http://www.desaduniabeda.com/). They have nice deck right in front of the resort facing to the beach. The beach itself was rocky, but if you walk a bit further you will find a nice white sandy beach with stunning crystal clear water.

I took a snorkeling tour in one of local tour operators in the island, I only paid Rp. 60.000 for this tour including free lunch in Gili Air and snorkeling equipments. The snorkeling tour started from 8 AM with first destination to snorkeling spot in Gili Trawangan, continued to Gili Meno. The guide said that we can see turtle in this spot if we dive deep and yes...there were some people in our boat saw turtles. I didn't! Because I can't dive and I can't swim! I was a bit dissapointed cos I couldn't see the turtles but imagining the turtles swim in the deep of blue ocean was enough for me, that must be amazing. Lucky you guys who saw them :). The last destination was Gili Air where we stopped in this small island and had lunch there. The picture above was taken from one of a small restaurants there. I really love this picture, look at the water.... I was fascinated! The Tour ended in the afternoon at around 3 PM. It was pretty tiring but worth it.

This is the spot I talked about, walked a bit from Desa Dunia Beda and.... voila... white sandy beach with crystal clear water is expecting for you.

One day before I left this beautiful island, I decided to walk around the island. It took about an hour to circle this island and the picture above was taken from another spot of Gili Trawangan where people can enjoy sunset. Unfortunately I didn't spend too much time in this sunset spot because I was exhausted from walking and the temperature was too hot at that time. Next time when I come again I will spend some time watching sunset in this spot. I always love sunset. It's magical time for me.

Gili Islands, I will come again soon....