Living my very own Amazing Race and Lost in Translation: INDONESIA: GILI ISLANDS

Gili islands are 3 little islands off the North-West coast of Lombok (~20 minute ride from Bangsal port of Lombok):

1. Gili Trawangan - the largest & the most popular (also known as a party island)

2. Gili Meno - the most relaxed

3. Gili Air - the closest to the mainland

There are no cars, no motorbikes (no police either)... only happy walking (or biking) people (sometimes taking a horse carriage ride ;)

We chose Gili Trawangan.

And one of the days we kayaked to Gili Meno (as we`d heard there were more turtles)! It took about 15 minutes by kayak one way & I must say being in open (deep deep deep & wavy) sea in a small kayak was quite a powerful (read: scary) & at the same time exciting experience. Didn`t take camera to Gili Meno, so no pics from there, but it was a true paradise spot - wild, beautiful & relaxed!

So what to do on Gili Trawangan?

Enjoy the beach & great snorkelling right off the coast, bike around (and across) the island, dive, eat great food, read your book hidden in the pillows/bean bags of the supper cosy beach cafeterias, sip tropical coctails, build sand castles...

Contrasts of GILI

Bikini

Local tourists

Most advertised product

Pool bar in the diving centre

ALMOST AN SOS

And on the way back to Bali by fast boat we had an experience that could have almost been worth a feature film.

The sea was stormy. Waves were huge...crashing & shaking the boat. Some waves managed to crash open one of the front top storages of the boat & to make it inside the boat. After several waves like that and several centimetres of water inside the boat ....panic kicked in (some ladies started to scream for life vests & request boat to be turned back)...

I fitted in a kid`s size. The boat crew also put the life vests on.

By that time I was already quite green due to the "perfect combination" of waves, horrible oil smell inside the boat & lack of a stable horizon. Additionally I was completely wet because of the slightly opened window that gave me some fresh air & lots of complimentary sea water.

In other words I was way to busy finding my horizon to be able to panic. But yes, it was real scary (won`t even try to describe) & for some time it really looked like the boat was going down.

The boat crew was Balinese, so after we had managed to get to calmer waters in one piece one of the crew members opened a can of beer and put it to the small ritual podium as an offering to thank Gods.

Happy to step ashore

On the way to Bali we also had a short stop on Nusa Lembognan island to drop off & collect some passengers.

It gave us an opportunity to peek at seaweed collecting.

Back to BALI

Last day of the trip we did our best to enjoy more of Bali. The plan was to get more surfing, so we finished up on Echo beach! It turned out to be a wild & beautiful breakfast spot, but sea was too crazy to get even close to it.

We spent the afternoon body surfing on Legian beach. I had never tried that before, so what can I say - supper cool! Waves were ...well you can get the idea from the photos ;)