For the last days of our trip, we wanted a relaxed beach place to swim, tan and eat. We chose the largest and most developed of the 3 Gili islands, Gili Trawangan, which can be reached easily from Bali (~4hrs shuttle + boat from Bali) or Lombok. We stayed at some nice bungalows on the north end of the main beach, close enough to walk to all the restaurants and bars, but very quiet. My favorite part was eating breakfast on wooden palafitos over the water.

Over 4 days, we enjoyed the sea and the sun, mainly hanging out at the Turtle Beach restaurant, which served yummy juices and simple food, and let us use umbrellas and bean bags for hours. Be warned that the sand has tons of pieces of coral, and the current is very strong, so even though the beach looks idillic, it’s not the best for swimming. We ate a ton of seafood, though to be honest, weren’t fully satisfied with any of it. Juku, a simple local restaurant in the ‘center’ was probably our favorite, despite being one of the cheapest.

To further explore the island, we tried two things: walking around it, which takes about 2 hours and lets you see all the different beaches, and walking across it, to see how the small local population lives. We met a fisherman turned real estate agent; hope he finds a way to make the development of Gili sustainable, it’s already too similar to some Thai beach towns.

And after 2 weeks, it’s time to go back to work… nooooooooo!!!!!