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| Alun, the Gili Air Hotel rep |
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Everything on the Gili Islands has to be
shipped in, carried ashore by hand and
transported by pony cart |
Tamar and John weren't
too happy with the accommodation at Gili Air Hotel, and distance from the harbour and other facilities,
so they explored alternative possibilities. We were also less than happy as the
next resort had a dance party with a DJ and thumping bass which went until 5:30 am - no sleep for us! When we asked
the owner if this happened every night, he said only on Wednesday night - so
why didn't he warn us - no reasonable answer.
Later, we were chatting with
Alun, the resort representative, and he said that it was difficult to keep
people happy. For example he said that a couple complained that the horse ride they booked
provided only ponies - he said that they obviously didn't appreciate that there were only ponies on
the island! He was saying this in front of the Horse Riding poster that had
pictures of racing stallions - not surprising their expectations were higher than
a pony's shoulders.
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| Leaving to go snorkeling |
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| Snorkeling boat |
Meanwhile we organised a
private snorkeling trip - as opposed to booking the usual 5-hour, 3-island
glass-bottom boat tour. We were glad we did as it was perfect. We had a decent
sized boat, 3 crew and just stopped at the best spots. They even had surfboards
and took Frances to a surfing area for a surf. However the
water was s bit shallow, and above a coral reef, so Frances felt it was a bit to risky and joined
Tamar and I snorkeling around the coral. The water was much cleaner than Blue Lagoon
at Padang Bai, there was a greater variety of coral - we even saw a turtle lazily
swimming a couple of metres below us. We also realised when we were on the boat that it's possible to
snorkel a short way off the beach at many places on the island.
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| Pool and bungalows At Hotel Zip |
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| Bintang Frances |
Meanwhile John booked us
out of the resort and moved all our luggage to Hotel Zip, much closer to the
harbour and to many more restaurants. Conveniently, we had our crew drop us at the
beach at the Zip Bar, on the shore in front the Hotel Zip bungalows. Excellent service.
Incidentally, Frances, not normally a beer drinker, has been named Bintang Frances after one lunch when, after we'd just finished a large bottle of Bintang said "Where's the beer?"
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The leaking shower head
and removable tap |
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| The nicely designed outdoor shower |
Our new bungalow displayed
some of the incongruities of the buildings in Bali - beautiful design and materials
(grass, wood and stone) and occasionally very poor execution. For example, our
bungalow has an outside open-air shower, typical for the over 30s temperatures
every day. A combination of black and white stones, draining onto black
paving stones nestled into a white pebble drainage system. Beautiful. However as soon as I tried
to turn on the water, the tap handle came off in my hand and then water gushed out of the side of the shower head and into the garden from where the shower head
had split open.
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| Seafood in display outside a restaurant |
The choice for dinner that
night was complicated by the number of restaurants along the coast - again they all had fresh seafood
and large seafood kebabs on display for your selection. Some of the restaurants set up tables on the sandy beach for dining in the evening. We
settled on dinner at the Zip Bar; tables on the sand, waves lapping the shore
and 2 for 1 cocktails during Happy Hour from 6-8pm.
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| The first Margaritas at sunset |
While waiting for Tamar and John who would be arriving later, we spent the time enjoying our first Margaritas for the evening. By the time we sat down to dine, all of the tables were occupied, even though it was still low season.
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| Tables on the sand at the Zip Bar |
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Grilled Red Snapper - and only just
managed to take the photo |
Frances and Tamar agreed
on Grilled Red Snapper which arrived
with some lovely stir-fried vegetables and rice. John ordered Urar Urap,
steamed vegetables topped with grated coconut, finely chopped chilli, garlic,
onion and spices with rice which he gave the thumbs up to.
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The Tempura Beef - tasted much
better than it looks in the photo |
I tried the Tempura
Beef (!) It was actually battered, deep-fried beef (anything battered these days
seems to be called Tempura). It was actually very good, accompanied by the same
lovely stir-fried vegetables with Balinese spices and steamed rice, and a garlic mayonnaise which really
complimented the other flavours.
