We wake up early enough to watch the sunrise on the beach. Our host had told us the day before that we could probably see the fishermen launching their boats. The boats have not moved and there are no fishermen on the horizon. We regret nothing, the landscape is sumptuous.
Around 8:00 am, breakfast is served at the beach bar in front of our accomodation. Like all our hotels in Bali, it is included in the price of the room 🙂 the content of the breakfasts is always similar (Pan cake, eggs, coffee, fruit …)
We leave the room. We spent only one night in Amed: too short 😦
We go to the meeting point for the Fast Boat to Gili: Freebird Express
About 200 m from our accomodation, in direction of the Sunset point, there is a sign indicating the starting point for the Fast Boats
We take the small path that leads to the beach :
At the end of this small way, a small « office » is set up by the employees of Freebird Express. Several tourists are already there, we wait for our turn to show our reservation that we got the day before.
We leave our luggage which is labeled « Gili Trawangan » and we are given 2 « Boarding Passes » for the same island. You should know that not everyone goes to Gili T. There are also passengers for « Gili Air » and for « Lombok«
Company employees gather all the luggage on the beach while waiting for the boats.
Our boat arrives around 10:00. We wait for the luggage to be loaded. We are sorry for the people who load all the bags and large suitcases.
At 10:15 am, the boat leaves Amed towards Gili. It lasts 1 hour. Watch out for seasickness. The boat shakes very hard. We arrive around 11:15 am on a beach with very clear water. We collect our bags and go to the hotel.
The decor is magnificent, no cars, no motorcycles: only horse-drawn carriages and bikes as means of transport. There is an atmosphere of Jamaican reggae. We are seduced. Our hotel is located 850 m north. We make the way on foot.
We immediately see that it is the most touristic Gili as read in the forums, but it suits us perfectly. We take a sandwich and continue the way to our hotel, bags on our backs, enjoying the enchanting landscape. We arrive around noon at our hotel.
Hôtel : Villa Almarik Resort
Address : Gili Trawangan, Pemenang, Lombok Utara, Nusa Tenggara Barat
3 nights, from 09/04/2019 to 09/07/2019
Price : 189 € / 2.936.212 Rp
Booked with Booking.com
VIP welcome: welcome cocktail and refreshing towel : it’s perfect. We are asked to wait until 1:00 p.m. at reception, until our room is ready.
Little disappointment concerning the pool compared to the photos we saw on the internet, but we are not there for the pool. Everything else is just beautiful: Very well maintained garden with luxurious bungalows. We are delighted.
We quickly discover our room but we can not resist going to the beach. We take sunbeds from the Beach bar of our hotel. The sea is splendid. We do snorkelling (with our masks / snorkel). You have the possibility of renting them for a few hours). We order a Pizza (not very appetizing) for 78,000 Rp (5.2 €) and a Bintang at 35,000 Rp (2.3 €). Right next to the entrance of the hotel entrance, there is a small stand, where we took a fresh green coconut for 30,000 Rp (2 €): la dolce vita 🙂
We return to the hotel to rest before going out for dinner. At nightfall, we go south towards the « Night Market » to discover the « Street Food » of the island.
On the way, there are many small tourist offices that offer snorkelling tours on the 3 islands for the next day. We end up booking, this will allow us to discover « Gili Meno » and « Gili Air » as well as the sites renowned for Snorkelling. After negotiation, we end up paying 150,000 Rp (10 €) for 2 persons. The starting price was 350,000 Rp (23 €) for 2 . The excursion is for the next day from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
We continue towards the « Night Market ». There are a lot of Street Food stands with fish, chicken, vegetables, fruit … Around 9:00 p.m., you end up choosing a big fish for 2. We pay 150,000 Rp (10 €) for grilled fish, accompanied by rice and sautéed vegetables. We settle down to eat: It’s « roots », we like it. The only downside is the little flying cockroaches that go around the tables. The fish is very good, but we finished very quickly and we ran away because of these insects which start to get excited. One customer had even turned everything upside down while trying to chase a cockroach.
After dinner, we take a little tour. There are Beach Bars everywhere with Live Music. The prevailing atmosphere is confirmed: You think you are in Jamaica. Gili Trawangan is magic, we are very happy to have chosen this island 🙂
We end up in a Lounge not far from the « Night Market » smoking a Shisha by the edge of a well-decorated swimming pool. It costs us 150,000 Rp (10 €) for the Chicha with 2 Soft drinks. Around midnight, we take the way back to our hotel while the island stays awake.
My Trip Memories 