On the way to the Gili Islands, I beheld this: Volcano Agung in Bali.
After which I arrived in the Gilis, the three bean-looking things:
We spent a few days on Gili Meno, the middle one, reputedly the most quiet of them all. Items on the extensive menu, such as Pried Pish and various other Pried Pood, looked tempting, but we decided on attentively prepared fresh fish in coconut curry and tempeh made Lombok-style.
Then we moved on to the biggest and farthest Gili of the three, Gili Trawangan aka Gili T, also
We ate at a Japanese restaurant owned by an ethnically Chinese Indonesian who speaks English with heavy Australian accent. While imbibing in chilled, locally sourced and brewed white and red sake, we saw a TORNADO forming over the ocean. You know that's legitimately unheard of in those parts when locals bust out their cameras:
It really looked like it was coming directly towards the restaurant, but after touching down in the water and swirling around for a bit, it dissipated.
A couple of days later, the island was gearing up for NYE in earnest, with noisemakers and fireworks on sale. (I set off a firework for the very first time in my life. It was a Roman candle, and I have to say I LOVED IT!)
This was an interesting sight: A traditional parade advertising the island's biggest, at $99 absurdly overpriced, NYE party called Supernova. (Can't you just hear the Eurotrashy Techno beat?) I did not attend Supernova.
The island became inordinately crowded with tourists and droves of Indonesian teens ferrying over from Lombok.
But frankly, one of the best things about the Gilis is that we were totally free from vroom-vrooming cars and scooters at all hours of the day and night. Public transportation on the island consists of one's own two feet, bicycles for hire, boats, ferrys, and horses and buggies -- sonic peace.
