we have just had a great 4 days on gili trewangan staying at the pesona resort, a small hotel on the beach with a pool.
we were transferred from ubud by minivan to padangbai where we caught the fast ferry to the gilis.
1.5 hours to lombok then dropped passengers off at gili air, gili meno and finally gili trewangan.
good boat with 6 x 200 hp motors on the back.
we had booked at pesona after tripadvisor recommendations and overall it was great.
the bed had a slat base with boards on top which hadcollapsed. they brought in some temporary replacements and it was fixed the next day.
the mosquito netting on the windows was something special.
they had shutters behind the nets so they had cut slits in the nice new nets so you could open the shutters.
no motorized transport on the islands. horse and cart or bicycle so we hired bikes for the day to ride the 7 km around the island. long long time since Pam had ridden a bike so she fell off when she hit a sandy patch. got bruised toes on left foot to show for it. very sandy in parts so we walked the bikes about half the way. stopped in the north west corner for a snorkel. lots of fish on the reef but coral was badly damaged.
in the evening the market sqare was set up with local food stalls and tables. choose your own fish or chicken and have it cooked for you. or the standard indo food.
the next day was rough weather so we mooched around and found a padang restaurant for lunch. rice with assorted protein - beef rendang, spicy eggs, fried chicken, tofu etc. very tasty, and very spicy. them back to hotel for a swim.
still rough the next day so we did a day trip to gili air, the island closest to lombok. took island hopping ferry. had a ride around island on a horse and cart, then walked to the northern end for drinks, lunch and snorkelling.
today we caught ferry to lombok and a bus to Senggigi. will spend at least 4 days on lombok. hope to go to flores on a very nice boat on 2nd may. they need 10 people. if not we will do a cheaper trip.
gili islands were touristy but much better than Bali. too many tourists go to bali
