Ever daydreamed of yourself laying on a beautiful beach under the blue sky
and when you step your feet into the water you can see how clear and beautiful it is?
Well, I turned it into reality and the first thing that came on my mind was " WOAH AM I DREAMING OR IS THIS REAL LIFE!?" That's a phrase one of my friend used to say a lot.
Let me take you with me on my journey to Gili Air a small islands in Lombok, Indonesia.
There are total of three islands: Gili Terawangan, Meno, and Air.
Terawangan is the most talk about one as it has more party scene and filled with tourists.
Meno is the most chilled and more suitable for a romantic getaway.
Air is the combination of both islands where it's super chilled, family friendly and at the same time has bars with live bands and restaurant around island.
I will share my budget with you but that does not include my flight ticket as it changes according to the period that your going and apart from that I'm a cabin crew so I got a special rate for it.
I did check for Airasia from Kuala Lumpur to Lombok
starts from the price of RM300 up to RM1k ++
so perhaps you might want to book in advance to get the cheapest rate!
Day 1
Once you arrived Lombok International Airport,
you'll be clearing immigration, get your baggage and once you're out from the arrival hall
there is a few travel agencies or transportation services.
Go to them and ask for Bangsal Harbor. It should cost you around 200k to 300k Rupiah for one car.
You can try bargaining with them and if they said that there's no more speed boat from the harbor anymore. It is not true!
This is what happened to us, they said that there's no more speed boat services anymore only slow boat that will take 45 minutes. So they offered 650k Rupiah to send us with the car (2 hours drive) and a private boat will pick us up and it'll take 10 minutes to the island.
When we arrived in Gili Air we found out that the public fast boat from Bangsal to Gili was still running and it only cost 85K per pax.
Good thing taking their car service is that if you're hungry they'll make a pit stop for you at one of the restaurant near the airport.
Gili Air Harbour ( Boat Fair- 85K per pax)
Crystal clear water even at the Harbour
We stay at Kaluku Gili Resort, RM 422 for 2 nights. ( BOOKING.COM)
It's located opposite side of the island from the harbor so we had to take a horse car there since we've got luggages.
Horse car - 100K IDR ( Bargain) or they will ask for 150K IDR.
We were welcomed with really friendly resort staffs and after assisting us with our booking they
brought us to the beach front to have our welcome drink. I swear the pineapple juice were so sweet and fresh!
Cute right? Looks like two people staring at each other while pooping.
After we're done they took us to our bungalow.
These Images were taken from their website as I didn't take any pictures of it and I'm pretty sure you want to know what it looks like for the price that you're going to pay.
Room was beautiful with a romantic ambiance, it has a closet room and a private bathroom.
The shower water was quite salty though, even in the other hotel I stayed in Kuta Lombok was.
So I guess its normal.
You may also rent a bike from the hotel for 40K IDR a day
and snorkeling mask for 20K a day. (Pay when you check out)
The island is really small so all you need is a bike to cycle around and it took us only 15-20 minutes to complete the whole circle of the island.
You get to see the beautiful ocean during the day and at night it's even more fun to cycle.
Making a stop at every bar that has a live band for one song and then start cycling around again.
You don't even need to wear clothes there. I was wearing only my bikini the most of the time. LOL!
First night, we went to the Ombak Sunset swing to catch sunset and had dinner at one of the restaurants there. Sorry I forgot it's name but its exactly in front of this swing.
Bintang Beer and Limau Ice.
After we're done we just cycled around and went back to our bangalow and ended the night becuase we were tired from all the traveling.
Day 2 : Snorkeling with turtles, fishies and saw a Manta Ray!
Our hotel helped us booked for our snorkeling trip.
Only 100K per person and they'll take you to all three islands total of 4 different spots.
Provided a snorkel mask and fin.
You'll join a group of other tourist for this and gathering time is at 9 AM at Blue Marine.
Someone will guide you there from the hotel so no worries.
If you want a private tour it's 400K per person where you get to fix your own timing.
It was an amazing adventure. The water was so blue and you can see clearly underwater.
We saw quite a few big turtles at Gili Terawangan and colorful fishes.
Highlights!!!
Spotted a huge Manta Ray swimming gently beneath us. The locals said that it's rare to be able to spot it but we were lucky! Sadly I didn't have a Water proof casing for my phone. :(
Could only envy those Ang Mos(Caucasian) with their Gopro haha!
It's still vivid in my mind though!
Gili Meno was filled with beautiful Coral Reefs. This is my first time seeing it and it was really pretty! Like "YASSSSSSSSS" you know!
During noon we were brought to Gili Meno for lunch so if you were starving from using all the energy to breath with the mask (it ain't easy, takes practice) then dig in!!! Not too much though, there is one more trip in Gili Air later on.
And the last trip was at Gili Air more fishes to see! I was so tired already but wouldn't lose the chance to witness it so I hop into the water with the rest!
PICTURES ABOVE THE WATER
THIS WAS TAKEN AFTER OUR LUNCH BREAK AT GILI MENO
Snorkeling was fun and super cheap, definitely worth a try!
Day 3 Kuta Lombok
After checking out from the hotel we traveled back to Lombok and decided to stay in Kuta Lombok.
Booked a cheap hotel for one night so its easier to travel to the airport the next morning.
Honestly, Kuta wasn't as good as Gili as the beach isn't as pretty and it's pretty busy.
but the food there was great!
Tried out Nasi Padang at Nasi Padang Doa Ibu.
it was goooooooooood that it got me dancing while eating. Not joking!!!
Price was only 42K IDR
To get around the city you can rent a scooter for 80K per day.
I became super tanned from snorkeling the day before. Loving it!
Didn't get to visit the pretty spot in Lombok.
But if you're going, I'd suggest you to visit Tanjung Aan,Bukit Meresek or Mount Rinjani.
I googled it up and search for the hashtag on insta and found lots of beautiful pictures.
Above are the places I'll visit for my trip to Lombok in the future.
I know it's a super long post. Let me roughly sum up the expenses for one person that only includes hotel, food and transportation. ( 3 days 2 nights in Gili Air )
Private car from Airport - Bangsal Harbour and back- 300K IDR one way. (can fit up to 4 pax, the more people the cheaper you'll chip in.) Total 600K IDR
Public fast boat Bangsal - Gili Air and back - 85K IDR per person one way.
Total 170K IDR
Horse Car to hotel and back to jetty- 100K one way.
Total 200K
Kaluku Hotel 2 nights- 1,420,000 IDR
Snorkeling - 100K IDR
2 days Bicycle - 80k
Food we roughly spent 150-200K IDR per day so lets set at 600K IDR for 3 days.
Total 3,270,000 (MYR 1022) when I changed my money. Bare in mind all money changers has different rate so this is only an estimation.
Remember to bring extra for souvenirs, or in case of any emergency.
Don't forget to activate your bank card before leaving the country! :)
You might need to withdraw some extra money.
Thank you for reading, hope this will help you plan your trip to lombok!
Made a short video of it, Click the link below to watch it. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment