I left Lovina to go to the Gili islands which are just off the coast of Lombok - the journey didn't go quite as planned! Firstly Rose and I were told the boat was broken and we would have to spend the night at the port of Pandang Bai and then the bus broke down in the middle of the mountains! Talk about bad luck...
We ended up getting a little bemo bus to Padang Bai and got a 100% refund - result! Another company then said we could travel with them over to Lombok, take us to a hotel and then provide transport the naxt day to the Gili islands. This worked out fine and by 10am the next day we had arrived on Gili Trawangan and we were in paradise.
As soon as we arrived we met two great girls from England who were in the room opposite us - Laura and Shakira. We spend the day on the beach with them and met a couple of really funny guys also from England. We all went out together that night and had a fabulous time! It was so good to be hanging out with other English travellers and just having fun.
The next day was pretty much the same - banana pancake for breakfast followed by lots of sunbathing, afternoon drinks and then a great meal out and a fair bit more drinking! I can honestly say this is basically what i did all the time i was on Gili Trawangan - i got rediculously brown and seriously relaxed (Andy says i'm too brown, but that's impossible!) :-)
One thing i actaully did whilst on Gili was my 'deep dive' which can be put towards my Advanced PADI certificate. It was a dive to 30meters so i was a bit scared, especially because i had chosen to divce at 'Shark Point'! Needless to say, it was all fine and I saw sharks and the most beautiful sea turtle.
Another day, 6 of us went on a snorkleing trip to all three of the Gili islands - the water is so crystal clear that you could see masses of beautiful, colourful fish. Was a really nice day out and snorkelling was a new experience for me so it was really good fun and quite different to diving.
I had planned to leave Gili on the Friday so i was back in Kuta on the Friday night and then meet Andy on the Saturday evening... this didn't quite happen! I really wanted longer on Gili Trawangan so decided to forefit my return ticket and pay for the 'fast boat' direct to Bali on the Saturday morning. In some reapects this was THE best idea and in others it was the worst idea ever! We had an amazing final night out which i wouldn't have wanted to miss for anything, but the boat ride back on the Saturday was the worst experience of my entire life.
I took a couple of sea sickness tablets in preparation for a rocky ride but i had totally underestimated what the 2.5 hour trip would entail. Imagine the worst boat ride EVER and the the most old, rickety fairground ride that throws you around, times both of those things by ten and you get a vaugue idea of what it was like. After 20 minutes i was really poorly (no details needed!) and was practically carried to the back of the speed boat where i was told it was a bit better. Granted it was a tad better but i was not only feeling horrendous and continually asking for more little black bags, but i was scared for my life! It does sound rather dramatic, but about 1/4 of the people on the boat were poorly and Laura and Shakira were also scared.
When the boat finally arrvied in Bali I was literally shaking and just wanted to cry - I felt like i deserved a medal or certificate congratualting me for surviving the trip!! Sadly, all i got was a big bill to pay...
Once i got to my hotel i had a lovely pedicure and then chilled out waiting for Andy's plance to land about 11pm. I picked Andy up from the airport and we just had a few days chilling out in Kuta before heading to the East coast to go diving.
We met up with a couple of people i had met on the Gili islands and booked to do two dives at a shipwreck just off the coast. It was a huge U.S Marine ship that we went to see and it was really good. The visability wasn't great but we saw a huge barracuda, stingray, parrott fish and lots of beautiful coral. Was a really good day but two dives before luch was pretty tiring! After we had finished diving, Andy and I piled into the back of Sam and Kat's Jeep (with all the luggage!) and had a bumpy ride down the coast to a pretty village called Candi Dasa. We stayed there for one night and had a delicious meal out together and a few drinks which was really nice - perfect end to a really good day.
The next morning Andy and I got the ferry over to Lombok and plan to stay here for a few days... maybe climb Mount Rinjani and hire a car and explore a little.
I'll write more once we've done something interesting! I'm getting very good and just taking it easy and chilling on beaches :-)
Hope everyone is well back home,
Love M xx
