After our young captain from Gili Air dropped us off on the beach, right in front of our accommodations (quite convenient, and worth paying a little extra to not have to lug our bags back to the port). We received a warm welcome from the staff (and a not so small lizard taking a beach walk) at Cafe Gili Beach Bungalows before being escorted to our little bungalow for the week.
Our bungalow was simple yet comfortable. The hotel had a lovely little reception area in the bar/restaurant and a large pool. While located on the waterfront (complete with complimentary loungers) the beach in front of the hotel is rocky and not ideal for swimming. Luckily, there are plenty of spots on the island that are. It was nice to sit on the loungers while enjoying the view and a beverage, then take a dip in the pool when we got hot.
Our accommodations were on the south end of the island. One can walk the entire circumference of the island in about an hour and a half, which we did several times during our week-long stay. Though, a few meters down from our bungalows, the sandy road abruptly ends at the rocky beach Odd, but we continued onto the rocks and after a few meters, the sandy road resumes.
We were told by the hotel manager, Guzman, that the beach has receded some 500 meters over the past 5 years. The hotel used to have sandy shores and many more beach loungers. The receding shoreline affected the ring road too, so now one must walk onto the rocky beach to circle the island, which horse cart dudes and bikes cannot do. Much like Gili Air, we saw many tourists pushing bicycles through the sand during our time on Gili Meno.
Our first meal on Gili Meno was at the Sunset Bar, Grill, and Coffee Meno, and would not be our last, as we would eat there several times during our stay. It was very close to our hotel and located on a lovely, sandy beach. They even had a few beach loungers for folks who wanted to lounge and enjoy the water.
I had the gado-gado (mix of stir fried and raw veggies with peanut sauce), which I have never had the same way twice a (though it always has peanut sauce, so it’s a win) and Phil had the chicken mie goring (fried noodles) and we split some spring rolls. If there are spring rolls on the menu, we will probably get some.
The owner of Sunset Bar was a young man of maybe 20 with a big, warm smile who did not speak much English. His dad, he told us to call him Eddie (like Eddie Murphy, he said), was a man we later learned was 70 years old, though he didn’t look it. He told us he took the boat in from Lombok once or twice a week to help his son out with the restaurant. Eddie spoke quite good English and we talked with him several times, even running into him a few times while we were out and about (it’s not a big island).
The first time we ran into him was in the center of the island while we were on a quest to find contact solution.We stopped at one of the larger grocery stores but alas, they did not have my solution. I hadn’t thought to purchase any before we left Ubud since I have never had a problem finding it. Eddie directed us to one of two pharmacies on the island. We found the pharmacy relatively easily but they did not have contact solution either. The nice woman working directed me to the other pharmacy, stating that they may have some.
On the way, we walked by the lake in the center of the island that a few different people had told us about. The lake itself was underwhelming, more like a shallow pond with a less than sturdy boardwalk circling it.
It was also quite sunny near the lake with very little breeze. I’m not sure why it’s a draw when the lovely ocean is so near, but it did offer a nice reflection of the green surroundings and was a place to stop, should one find themselves in the center of the island.
We would only visit the lake once (or walk past it or really venture into the center of the island again after) because of an unusual experience that happened after we left the lake. Phil writes about it here. I don’t want to relive it by writing about it here, so will just leave my social media post I made at the time:
“When a wild monkey jumps out of a tree right behind you (on an island that’s not supposed to have monkeys) and hisses and bares his teeth, are you supposed to make direct eye contact or turn your back to it and run? I did both, to cover my bases.”
After narrowly escaping monkey bites, we came out on the ring road on the northwest side of the island and quickly located the second pharmacy. They did not have a solution to my problem either (see what I did there). Oh well. I carry my prescription sunglasses with me on our travels, so not being able to wear my contacts for a time wasn’t the end of the world.
While we did not luck out at the pharmacy, we did luck out by walking by the sea turtle sanctuary! The sanctuary rescues baby sea turtles to ensure their survival and releases them back into the waters near Gili Meno once they are bigger.
One of our favorite spots we found on the island was relatively near to our hotel and very chill. A family run hotel with a few bungalows, a restaurant, and a bar (though we never saw any other customers there). They had a couple shaded, beach shelters where one could lay under the thatched roof and relax between dips in the sea.
The beach was down a small incline and although, upon first appearance, looks sandy, but is actually made up of many, small pebbles. They were small enough that they didn’t hurt our feet too bad and the seclusion and beautiful blue water made up for that and the rough waters. We did get slapped in the face a few times by the waves.
While I was lounging in the shelter, waiting for Phil to bring us back a beer, I looked over to see him shooting the breeze with the man behind the bar. I went back to reading and after several more minutes, I beckoned him over (I saw he’d already poured the beer and I didn’t want mine getting warm). He brought it over and said he was having a nice conversation with the fellow and walked back to the bar.
I was very happy to read my book and drink my beer, alone by the beach. It wasn’t until sometime later that I realized that Phil had been talking to this dude for a really long time. I headed over to say hello and came upon a pretty heady conversation about the meaning of life and human relationships and all manner of existential ponderings. While normally, that would be my bag, my head was with the fairy queen fighting the demons who slipped through a dimensional portal, so I just grabbed another beer and went back to the shelter and my book.
As we were leaving, Phil jokingly told me he was glad I had seen the fellow at the bar (Goodday was his name) too. Based on the nature of their long conversation, perhaps he thought he was an apparition (or maybe a demon who had slipped through a dimensional portal?). Either way, it was another fun travel meeting that wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t put himself out there for it to happen.
In addition to the Sunset Bar, we ate at a few other restaurants. The most memorable was a Mexican restaurant that was connected to the fanciest hotel on the island. While pricier than the standard Warung (a locally run, Indonesia restaurant), the food was very tasty and the cocktails were topnotch. We didn’t drink many cocktails on the Gili islands because not only were they three to five times the cost of beer, they also were not usually very good.
Most of our time was spent traversing the island, here are a few more photos of our island walkabouts:
Our last meal was at our normal spot, the Sunset Bar. We went at sunset and while we’d seen many, this one was particularly beautiful. We said goodbye to Eddie and his son and Gili Meno. The next morning, we headed back to Bali!
Jess Barrington Travels 