Monday 27 March 2017

Gili Trawangan


Gili Trawangan from the front of our hotel, Vila Ombak

I think the name called out my name a few years ago. More than Lombok itself, Gili Trawangan is in a league of its own.

After visiting Bali in 2014, people keep telling me, that if I love Bali, I would love Lombok even more

2015 is the year I was busy being pregnant

2016 : The year of me being a super paranoid mom in protecting my premature baby.

Till the end of 2016 when we went to Kuantan for school holiday, and it made me realised that my baby is old enough to travel

Gili Trawangan it is then!

I booked the holiday package during Matta Fair at a random booth I selected. They offered half board arrangements with free upgrade to deluxe rooms , so I took it. It costed about RM4000+ for ground arrangements, hotels, food, boat fares etc.
The package from the company WSF Travel and Tour

Perhaps you can get cheaper deals elsewhere , or if you travel on your own but I am a tourist with a tourist attitude in mind haha! I'd rather have people greet us at arrival & wave us goodbye at departure hall, so holiday packages  suites me well.

I booked the ticket quite late,but I have been surveying the tickets for quite some time ,and they are quite reasonable . Costed me about RM4000 for 2 adults, 3 kids, 1 infant, 5 luggage of 20kg and 5 meals included. Knowing my kids, you can have lunch half an hour before boarding & the minute the Air Asia stewardess push that darn cart with nasi lemak, they are going to whine as if they have been fasting for 3 days!

I'd rather take Malaysia Airlines as they give priority boarding for passengers with small kids but as Air Asia is the cheapest option, we'd settle .

The flight took 3 hours, luckily my baby slept half an hour after take off & only woke up half an hour before arrival. The bad news was he was latching all the time so I had to hold him for 2 hours straight ,but the good news is I'm pretty sure I built some serious biceps during the flight

One of those rare moments that the baby is not attached physically to me hahahah

The Lombok International airport is small with a single luggage belt, but it's convenient enough with a prayer room & few shops around.

Our "supir"or driver cum tourist guide greeted us just outside the terminal.

The first leg of the journey is about an hour drive through picturesque villages and paddy fields , toward the restaurant where they served traditional Lombok chicken and fried fish. 


The restaurant was so peaceful with the sound of Quran recitation  from a nearby mosque .

The food? My husband nearly had to drag me back into the car. I refused to leave a single morsel of food because I thought my life would never be the same again now that I have tasted REAL Lombok food!

The famous Ayam Taliwang of Lombok. 5 star!

Lombok is also known as the island with a thousand mosque as it has a lot of mosques,one in every village. With 80 % of the population being Muslims,you can rest assured that halal food is not a problem , and finding a place to pray is easy as finding a bottle of mineral water. So no excuse to pray on time!

From the restaurant,it took us 45 minutes through windy roads in the midst of high,forested roads, to reach the harbour. We reached the harbour at nearly 8pm, and we could see lights on the three Gili Islands across the open sea.

The lights on Gili Trawangan Island from across the channel

A small speed boat took us towards Gili Trawangan and the 10 minutes journey was one of those life changing moments of your life. As the boat sped towards Gili, the stars was shining brightly and I swear that was the most magical, the most astoundingly beautiful starry night I have ever witnessed in my entire life. Subhanallah you cannot help but praising Allah the Creator of such wonderful creations . Even my baby was quiet during the journey, as if he knew how I felt inside.

As the boat slowed down towards the jetty,I was surprised to see how lovely and lively Gili Trawangan is.The hotel was gorgeous and the staffs treated you like you are a  royalty!
We got a free upgrade from a superior room to a deluxe ombak villa, so we had 1 king size & 1 queen size bed.

Spacious room for our family, Alhamdulillah 
The bathroom had an open concept so it was nice and breezy. Quick showers, soothing tea as welcome drinks and night prayers done, all 6 of us then snoozed at a drop of a hat!

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