The actual Rally stop was Medana Bay but Kelvin said Gili Aer was much nicer. Even though it was very dry and dusty it was a small piece of paradise, a place where we could relax and enjoy after having done a whole week of sailing everyday with early morning starts. The anchorage at Gili Aer was a whole lot more protected than Medana Bay. Boats at Medana Bay had quite a rough time of it, many dragged and some even dragged though they were on moorings. Gili Aer had lots of restaurants and bars which we frequented for both lunch and dinner while there. Cooking, what is that, I've forgotten. The Chilli Out Bar was our favourite spot, doing some quite good Western Food. Happy Hour was especially great, 2 cocktails for the price of one. Those Long Island Iced Teas sure do have a punch in them, especially when one has half dozen.
There are no motorised vehicles on Gili Aer, only horse drawn carts. The horses are more a pony size and the carts like a small chariot. You could walk around the island, with a couple refreshment stops (Bintang - Beer) it takes about 2 hours. The sunsets were outstanding, watching the sun going down behind a
volcano was amazing, it was almost as if it was going down inside. We stayed at Gili Aer for 10 days, though Mike and I went off to Bali for 3 nights, that is another story.