Our boat departed from Bangsal in northwestern Lombok around 13:00. We were 23 passengers, mostly german, six spanish, two irish plus Maeve, one danish, one swiss, and me, plus four crew. When ordering the trip in Gili Air we'd seen a photo of the boat and I'd asked if that was the actual boat. The [...]
A smooth twenty-minute water taxi ride landed us on the Gili's big neighbour island, Lombok. By horse-and-trap then taxi, we finally saw Indonesian life in the daylight, lurching through overtaking manoeuvres past rice paddies dappled with the little sandy peaks of farmers' straw hats. To one side, glittering gun metal grey beaches hinted at the [...]
We staggered like refugees onto the beach at Gili Trawangan, the largest of the three tiny islands just off the northwest coast of Lombok. Dogs and motorised vehicles are banned on the islands and the infrastucture is nascent, making them peaceful idylls for sunseeking travellers. The lack of dogs might also contribute to the prevalence [...]