Gili Trawangan & Air

From Bali we travelled the ultimate fastest way (check out the multiple motors!) with 1500HP to Lombok. From there it was a short 15 minute ride to the Gili Islands, a group of tiny beautiful white sand islands located off the North west coast. The locals are so friendly that at first we thought they were mocking us. After purchasing any small item in one of their shops they gave us the biggest smile ever and enthusiastically screamed "THANK YOU!" in your face. Naturally this threw us off a bit at the beginning, but we soon learned to return the smiles and scream an equally loud "SAMA SAMA" (you're welcome in Indonesian) back.










Arriving on the largest of the islands (Gili trawangan) we soon started our search for some surf swell and found a perfect (little) reef break off the North end of the island. The waves came in like pearls on a string, but unfortunately our surfing was still suffering from interior European origins (which is scary on a shallow reef where your fins scrape the corals when you paddle). The locals instructed us to fall back into the wave in a controlled manner when we fell, which is definately harder than it sounds. especially when you are disracted from turtles swimming past you in the translucent water as you wait for the waves to roll in.

Days on the Gili islands tended to blend together in a delicious mix of sunny island walks, surf adventures, fresh seafood and the occasional sampling of the local "arak" liquor (which is not really to be recommended unless you enjoy pounding headaches and nausea and is a good explanation for why the locals always seemed to wobble on their bikes in the mornings).