Adventures in Lombok Part Two: Gili Meno

Hello from Singapore!

I love this country, and I'm not just saying that because I was able to upload photos in 1/72 of the time it took me to do the same in anywhere in Bali or Lombok...

We've spent four nights here and feel right at home being back in a big city.  It has been so much fun to see the sights, eat the local food, and visit with a college friend's aunt who has been sweet enough to host us during our time here.

Today we are heading to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia!  

Updates on Singapore soon, but first back to the two weeks spent on our tiny island...

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On Halloween Day we took a glass bottom boat across the ocean to the tiny island of Gili Meno.  

“The Gilis” as they are known, are a group of three small islands west of mainland Lombok.  GiliTrawangan is the “party” island, Gili Meno is the quiet island, and Gili Air is somewhere in the middle.  We settled on Gili Meno, popular with couples and honeymooners due to the non-existence of nightlife and its reputation of having the best beaches.  On the recommendation of a former co-worker we found the perfect guesthouse and settled into vacation.  We wanted time to relax midway through our three month trip and take some time to unpack somewhere for longer than three or four days.  Gili Meno was the perfect place.  

We swam, snorkeled, lounged, read, took walks, ate delicious food (I think we tried the tofu curry at every restaurant on the island), watched the sun rise and set, and gazed at stars that we haven’t seen since moving to Korea last summer.  We also noted the nocturnal wildlife: crabs of all shapes and sizes that scurried across our path as we returned home from dinners out.  On Sunday mornings we logged in to Ryan’s dad’s slingbox  (thank you!) and watched our Ducks defeat USC and California.

{I wrote this pre-Stanford loss and no, I don't want to talk about it.}

  Ryan tried his hand at spear fishing.  We ate shrimp and triggerfish that night.

  

 

 

There are no motorized vehicles on any of the Gilis, just cidomos (horse drawn carriages).  

 

Power on the island is supplied by generators and fresh water is brought in by boat.   Our bathroom had only cool salt water, but we didn’t mind.  We saved $2.50 each night by not requesting fresh water showers.  We spent that money on chocolate milkshakes.  And sometimes on beer.

 

Aside from hearing the parties on Gili Trawangan and Gili Air across the water some nights, very salty hair, a jellyfish sting and a fish bite, it was a perfect trip.  We had a hard time leaving that last day, after twelve before it.  

Ice cream pancakes for breakfast helped to soften the blow.

  

We already miss Gili Meno but can't wait to see what adventures Malaysia holds.