seasia

We arrived at the Surabaya airport (about an hour drive from our hotel with traffic) ready to head to the gorgeous Gili Islands. “Gili” means ” island” in Indonesian, so Gili Island is like saying “Island island”. The 3 main Gilis- Gili, Trawangan (Gili T for short), Gili Air and Gili Meno becoming more and more popular due to their immense beauty. They are so isolated, which alone makes them so special and romantic. Everyone has heard of Bail, but really Gili, the more beautiful ( you’ll read more on this later), is less tarnished and touched by overwhelming tourists. We were heading to stay at Gili T, the largest of the three islands. Doing research, we found it had the most activities.

We flew to the island of Lombook ( the Gilis are considered part of the Lombook territory or province). Landing in Lombook, Conner had arranged through our hotel for a driver to then take us to the pier where we would catch a ferry. Our driver waiting for us was holding our name sign upside down- hehe. We rode about an hour and a half to the pier. The island of Lombook was quite pretty, with many temples, hotels. restaurants, nightlife.

Arriving at the pier a boat driver approached us “ where you going”. We told him and he said “ ok come on”— we had no idea how they worked out the payment. Conner had already paid through the hotel so we are really confused about it all. But we boarded the guys boat. He looked about 15 and had two crew/ buddies helping him. They also looked about 15. The ride was rough and bumpy , but very beautiful!!!

We could see all the Gilis and Bali in the distance. Arriving at Gili T , the driver pulled to boat right up to the Island and in right in front of our hotel “ Dive Trawangan”. Talk about door to door service! Walking up the beach entrance felt so cool! There were kitties on the beach- yay!

The Indonesian kitties have short stunted tails

Our hotel had 2 gorgeous front pools and a pool bar/ restaurant.

They advertised 2 day full scuba certifications but we decided to pass. We were there 4 days, but wanted to do other thing, and knew that would monopolize our time. It was really cool though to see the scuba trainings in the pools. Our room was nice and spacious. The hotel gave free unlimited water fill up, free breakfast. We set our stuff in and set out to explore- Conner style!!

We walked down the main road, which is quite an experience in itself. Gili T ( and all gili’s) have no cars/ no motors. There are horses with carriage type transportation , bicycles and lots of people walking. The roads are muddy from ocean/ rain. As we walked down this amazing road, we passed numerous shops,restaurants, bars, hotels — all along a beautiful beach on the opposite side. This roads just magnificent. It really is! I encourage any traveler to come to Gili (soon) and explore this — a perfect mix of locals and tourists. It’s touristy but not too much. It keeps its authenticity..( which we find out later not the case in Bali).

There was a baby sea turtle rescue organization right outside our hotel–

We had the most amazing Christmas Eve dinner along on the beach,. Not bragging, but it was a huge seafood feast for the 2 of us- crabs. lobster, clams, oysters etc for only 25$— another reason everyone should travel to Asia!!

Dinner was romantic and wonderful. We then walked along the main street home, passing many live music spots. We had to stop! The reggae bar had an amazing band, so we stopped and enjoyed! It was so much fun! We loved the music so much and met some cool people!!!

The next AM+ Christmas Day—-!! We awake in the amazing GIli. I think — How fortunate am I? To wake up in such a beautiful place!!! I wont get very religious, however I personally have very deep rooted beliefs. I can just say , I thank God every day that I am fortunate, healthy and able to wake up in such an absolute amazing place!

Last year we woke up on Christmas Day in a treehouse in the jungle of Laos– read more here Laos adventures

This year we are off the grid again to celebrate such a wonderful day

Conner booked us a special Christmas day Boat cruise from Gili T. We arrived around 11am. Boarding the boat we immediately noticed how international it was! YAY! MY FAVE— meeting new people from other places is one of my ALL time favorite things to do!!!

Boarding the smaller transport boats to our main boat for the day , we immediately made friends. I started talking to this nice guy from Singapore – Conner was chatting with some Austailians. On the main boat we all got a nice greeted cocktail and started chatting. It was so fun! We met amazing people from -South African Rugby players, to elementary school teachers from Australia, and others from Belguim, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Kezeksatin, Singapore, Indonesia. Fabulous!!!!! So fun! We danced and talked the day away!!!

Conner doing flips off the boat–

We talked politics , religion, media,,, everything under the sun and we danced!!!!

Now this was really cool!!! After our boat cruise, we had to ferry back to land– we were on this super tiny boat with all of our international friends…. and needless to say we made our own music!!

What a fabulous way to spend Christmas. Although I missed my parents, siblings and kitties oh, so very much, I must say this was cool! I feel so fortunate and thank God! I learn so much from other people and new adventures!

After our Christmas boat party Conner and I headed back to change clothes/ shower . All of our boat friends wanted to keep dancing but we needed a refresh. We had a quick dinner at a night market- so cool and yummy- and so cheap!!!

We then met our boat friends back at the loading dock bar “ Jiggy”. There were pool tables, games and dancing! What a fun night! I found my friend Louise from earlier and danced with her while Conner played pool and beer pong.

After a late late night In Gili T , we slept in!! Of course, can you blame us?? We had a phenomenal breakfast at 11 then relaxed on the beach ALL afternoon!!!

The next day we booked a snorkeling trip along all the islands!!! It was really fun! I will say , the snorkeling wasn’t amazing. We saw some fish, a cool shipwreck site…. but honestly, there was trash. It was really sad. Pollution, trash— we saw it in Thailand as well. The beaches of the Gilis were trash free though, so that was good! Our snorkeling trip stopped at Gili Meno where we had lunch and explored. A lovely island, definitely quieter than Gili T.