My Short Visit to Gili Air, Lombok

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Arisarmu - When I don't have much time, a short visit to a desired destination is a better solution, otherwise I will be upset in the following day.

I actually had been to Lombok before traveling to this island in the second time, but it happened a long time ago with my wife who ever spent her childhood in this province. And three of her siblings now live in Lombok. Two of them have been married to Sasak people.

Lombok is an island in West Nusa Tenggara Province which attracts many tourists to come. Undoubtedly, it presents to its visitors with abundance of choices to see and do, from beautiful landscape, exotic culture and tasty local dishes. Although the majority inhabitants are Sasak people but another tribes also settle here, such as Balinese, Javanese and Arab ancestry.

Indisputable, Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air are the most popular destinations among others. It something so common if we talk about tourism that involve many things -- not only the beauty of the tourist destinations but also their facilities and accessibility. So these three things make Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air are more interesting to be visited as holiday destinations.

Therefore, traveling to the three Gilis were my priority during my second trip to Lombok. Gili is a Sasak  word means small island. There are many Gilis in Lombok and all have the same rule to keep the environment natural and unpolluted, so to get around this small island is by bikes, cidomos and on foot. Cidomo is similar to andong (a horse cart) in Java which is pulled by a horse. The difference is the wheels aren't made from wood. Instead, they use car's wheels.

Cidomo is a traditional transportation in Gili Air



One day before crossing to Gili Trawangan, the biggest and the most popular of all. They close to each other, and I had a short visit to both Gili Meno and Gili Air. At least my curiosity was paid off. Even though I was there merely for having lunch. Anyway, I finally arrived at a mini anchorage by a fastboat from Gili Meno.



During a holiday season, Gili Air is usually busy with tourists, especially foreign tourists, as it's time when many people take holidays. If it's compared among three Gilis -- Gili Trawangan is the busiest, and Gili Meno is the quietest, while Gili Air is in the middle, between the two Gilis. It's not too busy and not too quiet.