Gili Air

Wifi is hard to come by on this island. Our guest house does not have it yet and there are only a few restaurants that advertise it. This post may never see the internet. It depends on how long we are trapped in paradise.

Gili in Indonesian means island in English. We are settled on the northernmost of a grouping of three islands off the northwest short of Lombok: Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno, and our present location Gili Air. All of the islands are without fresh water (it is boated over from Lombok), without motorized vehicles, and without dogs. Meno is least developed and most tranquil, Air is focused on diving and snorkelling, and Trawangan is famed for its magic mushrooms. Gili T's mushrooms have spilled over to the other islands as well. At almost every restaurant here you can purchase a "Bloody fresh magic mushroom shake". Add a number of expletives before the word bloody in that sentence and you'll know the rest of the signs. I am unsure if that is just the lingo that has developed around them or if the name of the variety of mushroom is "bloody fresh".

Our guesthouse is a beautiful mix of white colonial concrete villa and bamboo bungalow with thatched roof. Its stone paths lined with green grass and beautiful plant. At the center courtyard there is a restaurant style seating area and a small but effective pool. Every morning we wake to the roosters, walk as far as we please around the island (it takes an hour and fifteen for an island loop at a leisurely pace), eat breakfast, and then lay up pool side until we feel like moving on.

There are beaches on this island but none are worth sitting on due to bits of sharp coral piled up. There are beach side restaurants with shaded, padded seats that are built facing the water. Our lunch and afternoons have involved getting lost in the sounds of the ocean, in a good book, in the actual ocean or in a delicious lime shake.

At dinner time the restaurants set up tables on the beach, light lanterns or candles, and turn on their music. The music is anything from blues to Metallica (a soothing dinnertime musical treat). Two days ago we enjoyed a marlin bbq skewer. I have never had marlin but I recently read The Old Man and the Sea which has a marlin for one of its main characters so I was tempted to try it. I was not disappointed but I will be if I learn that I ate an endangered species once we get the internet again. I have been worrying a little bit.

With a some good books and a small amount in the bank one could survive here for weeks on end.