Yet another one of those snapshot of memories from five years ago. At the time I was living in Jakarta and wanted to try some local islands with friends. They had overdosed on Bali trips and Lombok had become the latest haunt. I didn’t really know what to expect apart from a tropical beach but a friend highly recommended one of the Gili islands so we headed for Gili Trawangan. The water was so beautiful – apart from maybe one of the little Nusa islands off Bali, we thought that Lombok waters were superior. So pure still. Probably what Bali was more than 30 years ago.
Gili Trawangan is a speedboat away from Lombok island. There are two other Gili islands – Gili Meno and Gili Air. We picked this because it seemed to have the better infrastructure regarding to hotels and restaurants. There are no vehicles once you get onto the island. It’s either walk or donkeys and the latter is a rather cruel option (which I was less sensitive to in the past). We stayed in a two-bedroom cottage with a private pool at Les Villa Ottalia but I will absolutely not recommend it to anyone unless you want to walk inland for 1.5 km from the beach every day, and at night, it gets quite creepy. If I ever returned I would love to try the beachfront properties with a more modern feel and close to good restaurants such as Villa Ombak or Kokomo.
Overall though Gili Trawangan was a very beautiful slice of an Indonesian island. Am not sure what it’s like these days but back then it was a good combination of being tourist friendly without the toxicity. There are countless spas by the beach and we ate so well at Kokomo restaurant.
Some poor quality photos I managed to salvage from an icloud that still contained my 2015 data.
Looking for The Higher Self 
Hello, lovely post and wow, the waters are so gorgeously blue! I spent six months living in Ubud/ Bali some years ago and always wanted to hop over to the Gili islands, so thank you very much for this virtual journey! I also just read your latest post which I really enjoyed, about the challenge of following a goal yet letting go of trying to control the outcome too much… really enjoyed your writing , and the Sting-song and lyrics. Enjoy your day:)
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You are so sweet! Thanks so much for dropping by and reading. How gorgeous to have lived six months in Ubud which is just such a beautiful (most?) part of Bali. Hope you come by this part of the world again and take a trip to the pristine Gili islands…. enjoy your week dear
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My pleasure dear 🙂 Yes, my time in Ubud was definitely one of the most enjoyable and transformative times of my life so far, loved it!! Ubud is just a relatively small part of the island if I remember it correctly, but hugely important in terms of cultural significance. Miss it!! Thanks for your lovely wishes! Blessings from Spain 🙂
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Sounds like you had a fantastic life experience in Ubud, what a treasure to remember…. take care of yourself in Spain, and wishing you a beautiful Sunday!
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Thank you, have a great start to your week 🙂
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I am Indonesian an i love Lombok too😆
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Haha as you should!! Such a beautiful island visually and energetically ❤️
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