I am not at all a beach kind of person but I had heard great things about the Gili islands that I just had to go and experience it myself!
Gili in indonesian means island so it's kind of funny when we, the tourists, say the "Gili Islands" which means the island islands!
There are "3 gilis" (well, in reality there are a ton of Gilis) but the main touristy ones are Gili Trawangan, Gili Air, and Gili Meno. There are all very different: Gili "T" is known as the party island with a lot of resorts and parties every night, Gili Air is more chill and relaxing, and Gili Meno is supposed to be the honeymoon  island. I thought about staying at Gili T because there are more accommodations and people but at the end I decided that Gili Air fits my personality best.

My favorite part was walking around the island and just looking at all the restaurants, hotels, and bungalows by the beach! oh! and the horses!



Once you arrive at the island you notice that there are no cars or motorbikes, the only way to get around is by cicomo (a horse carriage) or by bycicle.






There are tons of diving schools in Gili T and Air, apparently it's one of the cheapest places to get your dive certification!


The only way you can get to your final destination is by reading the signs posted on trees giving you directions to your accommodation!

I loved walking and taking a look at all the random bars and restaurants around the island

So relaxing!!!

Beer is importanter! haha

My lunch place...

 Welcome to Paradise Bungalow.... Maybe somebody else's paradise... sleeping in a hut with no AC, lots of bug and shared bathroom on the main road is far from my idea of paradise!






 She was so excited that she said "take another picture" haha

 My side of the island had low tide in the afternoon so you would see many boats stuck there until the next day when tide was back to normal.



 I found a star fish!
 and a very weird looking animal...

The entrance to my "hotel" which happens to be on the sunset side of the island!!!

During sunset every day local people gathered by the low tide area and spent hours gathering something... I do not know exactly what! I tried many times to ask the staff at my hotel what the locals were doing but the staff was only trained to repeat what the guests said so most of our conversations went something like this:
Me: "what are people picking?"
Staff: "what are people picking" and a smile
Me: confused look "Yeah, what are they picking right there?"
Staff "picking right there" smile
Me: "Is it clams?"
Staff: "clams"
Me: "or is it shells?"
Staff: "shells"
Me: "oh great.. terimakasi"
Staff: "sama sama"

haha so at the end I just gave up on the idea of figuring out what they were doing! Although, I did try to go and ask or go see what they were doing but walking in the muck was harder than I thought!
Every time I tried to take a step my flip flops would get stuck and it felt like they would fall apart. Once I was able to take a step the flip flop would splash muck all over the back of my legs and get my outfit super dirty! Not worth the mess!







Sunset every night was so beautiful that I couldn't help myself but take pictures... and enjoy the moment!









Gili T

One day I took the local boat to Gili T.


From the moment you step into the island you see a big difference between Gili T and Gili Air. Gili T is definitely more developed and upscale.

I rented a bike and went around the island! Well, not quite! I rented a bike that 5 minutes into the ride broke! The rusty rear derailleur somehow ended up stuck between some of the spokes of the back wheel! I have no clue how it happened, the bike just suddenly stopped and wouldn't go anymore!
Thankfully a guy who was close by came to help me but couldn't do anything to fix it so I asked him if I could borrow his bike to get the guys from the shop and I am not sure he understood english but I took the bike and went to look for help!


 After I was given a 2nd bike everything went smoothly, except for the time when the chain derailed and another guy came to my rescue! Thank goodness since I know nothing about bicycles!

The bike ride was a lot of fun and really pretty!


I was very impressed by the contrast in resorts compared to Gili Air.