Getting to the Gili Islands Lombok

Arranging a trip to the Gili Islands Lombok from Bali is very easy.

I bought our return plane tickets from a small travel agent on Poppies II in Kuta for 450,000rp on Merpati, a decent domestic airline. I could of taken Lion Air for 400,000rp but I know Merpati has been around for a while and was banking on their maintenance / pilots being a bit better.

Our trip was for 4 days including the travelling and started with an early morning start on Thursday. The take off time was 7.30am so I set my phone for 4.45am. When Donovan, Carrie and Ika were ready I called Bluebird taxi (0361)701111 and before we had walked from the house to the main street a cab was already on its way down our gang. The ride to the airport took maybe 20-25 minutes as the streets were deserted and the fare was around 15,000rp.

Checking in at the domestic terminal was a breeze as we were on one of the first flights. We checked some luggage as Donovan brought his backpack and I brought my Swiss Army knife (don’t want to be sitting on a deck in paradise and be stuck without a corkscrew.

Flying domestic from Bali means you don’t have to show identification, unlike the US so if you are stuck with a return half of a ticket you could sell it to someone else. I was expecting a 20,000rp departure tax too but they didn’t ask for it.

Our plane was a propeller driven thing which looked better on the outside than the inside. Seats were assigned and Ika got a window seat for her first plane ride. The 30 minute flight to Mataram was comfortable and we were given a water drink and snack of a muffin and bread roll.

Picking up the bags was super quick and outside in the taxi rank a short negotiation saw us all pile into a cab and head through the winding, tropical scenery to the port of Bangsal further north.

The fare was 60,000rp and was a lot cheaper than the taxi & boat deal the guys at the desk were trying to offer. Previously I have taken the coastal route from Mataram to Bangsal which passes through Senggigi, the main tourist center and gives wonderful views of huge sweeping white sand beaches and thick forests of palm trees. The mountain route is shorter and the scenery is equally stunning. Lombok feels so much quieter than Bali and we chatted about the possibility of doing bike rides here and eco-tourism.

The taxi stop at Bangsal is about 300 meters from the port and if you don’t feel like walking there are cidomo’s (horse drawn carriages) for hire. We walked and bought ferry tickets from a small office located close to the beach. They advertise 3 rates, public boat, shuttle boat and charter boat. The public boat is a few thousand rupiah and only leaves when they have 25 passengers. The shuttle leaves on a schedule and is more expensive. The charter leaves right away but costs 105,000rp per person. We hung around in the boat office for the public boat which took about 30 minutes. People have told me that the touts in Bangsal are not to be trusted and I was prepared for some ‘miss-information’.

The 3 Gili Islands, Trawangan, Meno and Air were clearly visible from the beach with their white sand beaches and dense palm trees hovering on the horizon.

The boats itself was a long wooden thing with a powerful outboard motor. Our crossing took 45 minutes and was not too rough. Locals and other tourists from Jakarta crammed in all happy to be going to Gili Trawangan. Coming from a western country I always feel a slight nervousness getting into one of these boats…no radio, no flares, no life jackets. I just try to suspend my concerns and focus on the fact that the guys steering live here and have done the trip a hundred times.

Our boat docked close to the jetty on the eastern side of Gili Trawangan and we piled out, glad to be on the island and looking forward to seeing the place for ourselves. I could tell we were in the middle of the tourist infrastructure and wanted to explore the options further away from ‘downtown’. Donovan, Carrie, Ika and I sat under a bale and had our first proper meal of the day, myself a coffee and a burrito.

Gili Trawangan has no running water, being a low lying sandy island. It also has no cars or motorbikes which is really nice. The only land transport is the cidomo and we crammed into one with our backpacks. It’s quite funny as the cidomo have a 2-wheeled cart which tips backwards and 1 little horse pulling. The sandy track really makes hard work of a short trip and the horses gasp with the effort of hauling a large load.

At the northern end of Gili Trawangan are some nice places to stay and we looked at a couple. I didn’t want to spend a ton of money and we all ended up at Nusa Tiga Bungalows and Restaurant. Our simple room was 40,000rp per night including breakfast. Our early start to the day and travelling meant we didn’t do a lot of exploring the first day and later all headed ‘downtown’ to one of the many nice restaurants right on the beach.

Most good movies have some romance element so here’s my effort. The honeymoon (bulan madu) couple getting lovey-dovey.

I must say the travel process was very easy and didn’t involve too much uncomfortable negotiating. We were in Gili Trawangan enjoying our vacation by 10am.

Accessing a good hotel with restaurant, AC, TV, pool is super easy too as there are a few plush places including the Hotel Vila Ombak located at the bottom of the island.

If you think you might want to throw caution to the wind, take your annual leave now and book your plane ticket to Lombok I hope this page has been helpful.

Related Posts

• Taking a break in the Gili Islands Lombok
• Gili Island hopping boats: Lombok
• Extra info submitted by Baliblog reader Peter
• Gili Island hopping boats Lombok
• Surfing in Uluwatu Bali on Sept. 3rd 2004

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