We had intentionally started our travel at Bali (most westernized of all of the islands in Indonesia ) to get acclimated with the weather, loosen up our bodies by doing yoga and getting massages, and get a bit of acculturation, before heading out to the other island and what I have come to call “ the parts unknown”.

Richard had done a ton of advanced reading and preparation before we left the States and had put together a preliminary list of the islands and some of the sites we hoped to see and he continues to be the primary researcher.  Then, with a bit of reading on my part, we consult as to where to go next.

Indonesia has thousands of islands, most not inhabited but still there are a whole lot of great choices:

https://www.quora.com/How-many-islands-does-Indonesia-have

We decided that the next island to visit was Gili Meno (the smallest of the three Gili islands on northwest coast of Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara Province:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gili_Islands  and https://wikitravel.org/en/Gili_Meno

The only way to get to Gili Meno is by boat but which one? Reviews of most of the companies offering “fast” boats was pretty bad. Once again we got lucky and with the help of the helpful staff in Sanur we got seats on a relatively new large boat (or small Ferry) for $26 (much cheaper than what we were told to expect, $75).

The boat took off from Serangan, Bali and with one stop at another port in Bali (Padang), dropped us off at Gili   Trawangan (or Gili T as it’s called by the local people) three hours later.  The boat ride was a bit rough, even for a big boat, so I was very grateful  that we were not on one of the small “fast” boats.  As soon as we stepped on the beach in Gili T, we were surrounded by the so-called travel guides (local men that speak fair to good English) all wanting to take us across to Gili Meno. We got hooked up with a nice man and he walked us over to a smaller boat that would take us, the 5-10 minute ride, to Gili Meno.

It was really refreshing to not see, first at Gili T and then Gili Meno, any motorized vehicles. The only mode of transportation is horse buggy, bike or foot.

The boat driver went quite slow so we could see and appreciate the magnificent coral reef spreading across the entire floor of the sea. He said that 70% of world’s coral is harvested in the Gili’s.  Something that we have not verified.  

We were dropped off right on the beach of our hotel ( Avia Villas) and were warmly greeted by Ocean (he pronounced it O Shan) who showed us to our private one bedroom villa with a nice little yard, our own pool and porch with comfy seat (oh.. we are truly in heaven!)

Gili is VERY small, you can walk around the entire island in two hours.  It took an hour to take a slow tour of the island using horse buggy. Our impromptu tour included a stop at a turtle sanctuary and a plastic recycling site where the plastic is used for arts and objects – with an extra bonus of sipping cold Fanta, watching the very cute and pretty local kids and listening to the host’s nice singing and stories.

The beaches in Gili Meno absolutely gorgeous. We found and took picture of so many beautiful corals in blue, red, pink and white colors. The island must be surrounded by a massive coral reef.

Broken coral fragments littered the beach. The sunsets were magnificent. One night there was a storm coming in that added to the beautiful sunset. Most admired were the very kind, accommodating and wonderful people serving us (at the hotels, little beach-side café’s and stores.)

As with the other places we had left behind we were sad to leave the nice people behind, knowing that most likely we will not have the chance, at least in our physical form, to see them, especially the kind and most considerate Ocean, again.

Our next stop is the island of Lombok. Leaving Gili Meno was a real adventure.  We will go in to that on Chapter 26. 

Here is the link to ALL of the Gili Meno photos:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/LL9ZioJHV03WrBjD2