Gili Air

Gili Islands are three tiny islands that are close to Bali : Gili Travangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air. Basically, Gili Travangan (Gili T) is biggest of the threee and where the party is on 24/7, mushrooms at the menu and where most people stay. Gili Air is much more quiet but there are still many beach-restaurants, and an actual local village lives on the island. I haven't been to Gili Meno but from what I heard it is the quietest of them all and accomodation and facilities are not abundant on the island.

Para ir a las islas Gili desde Bali existen basicamente dos opciones : "fast boat" o "slow boat", sus nombres hablan por si mismos ! El rapido (y comodo) tarda unas 1h30 desde PadangBai y el lento (e incomodo!)....unas 7 o 8h ! La diferencia de precio es notable teniendo en cuenta el coste de vida local : 15€ (ida) el lento contra 30€ el rapido....pero cogimos el rapido igualmente. Que yo ya llevaba suficientes horas de viaje estos ultimos dias.

Arrivés à Gili T, on nous propose multiples sortes de bateaux privés (tous hors de prix) pour faire les 10min qui nous séparent de Gili Air, notre destination finale. On s'apprêtait à attendre le bateau public de 16h (il n'était que 10h) quand on a apercu un bateau de plongeurs qui partait destination Gili Air. Après avoir beaucoup hésité, les responsables balinais du bateau ont accepté tout en craignant avoir des problèmes avec la mafia du transport local et leur chef.... Au final on est arrivés gratuitement sur Gili Air avec suffisamment de temps pour préparer la plongée de l'après-midi. En même temps il ne nous fallait pas grand chose à part signer les papiers et préparer le portefeuille...

Gili Air es efectivament una illeta molt tranquil.la, i pels que em coneixeu sabeu que noe m'hi puc estar gaire jo en aquests llocs per molt paradisiacs que siguin perquè m'avorreixo rapidament. La platga, tot i estar bastant plena de meduses és agradable per desfer-se de la calor que fa sota el sol imponent. L'illa està oficialment organitzada en dues meitats : la meitat nord i la meitat sud. Oficiosament, el "passeig" de la platja com li diriem a Tamariu, és basicament turistic, amb molts restaurantets amb vistes al mar.

A la que un agafa un cami perpendicular a aquest s'endinsa al poble en el que els locals fan la seva vida independentment dels turistes, encara que en depenen cada cop més.

Some anecdotes :

1) Power : There is only one generator on the island (apart from the diving centers that have their own to fill up the tanks) which is meant to serve the entire island. The generator is said to be older than the oldest person on the island, so it won't be too difficult for you to imagine how much more power is needed these days in which every bar has its own fridge and TV, at least ! So the way they sort it out is that they furnish alternatively the north and the south part of the island. It is obvously not very exact, it depends on the siesta-waking up hours of the guard ;-)

Note : The world cup fever has reached Gili Air too and there is only one cable reception on the island, it being in the north (?) part. Needless to say that the southeners preferred to move to the north to watch the game than to have electricity at home !

Oh and for internet...there is only one internet cafe on the island (and a completely unreliable wifi hotspot), which charges you about 8 times more than what you can get on mainland Bali....good business !

2) Food

You can get basically anything on Gili Air, especially fresh juices (miaaaaaaaaaaammm) and fresh grilled fish (barracudas, snappers, squid, etc.). Or if you want you can also get great pizzas at the italian restaurant! For lunch we would normally get the traditional meal : rice with chicken, fish or tofu wrapped in a banana leaf...and eat with the hands. I can assure you, eating rice with one's hands is NOT practical...not at all !

3) Transport : this is the only means of transport allowed in the Gilis.