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Getting to Gili Trawagan wasn't the most relaxing boat journey. It took around 40 minutes and the sea is really choppy round here. It got to a stage where every time we went over a big wave, the driver cut the boat engine, I assume to stop us from toppling over! I didn't like it at all. Sitting near the life jackets at least gave me some hope.
Gili Trawagan is the largest of the 3 Gili islands and the furthest from the Lombok coast. There are no roads. The only way to get around on the island is by foot, bicycle or horse and cart which are nice as the horses are all dressed up. It does mean that the small streets can be a pain though with bikes, horses and holidaymakers making you dodge out of the way. The horses really tear around as well.
We have been staying in a small homestay place run by a couple. There are only 5 rooms in a block. The beds are just mattresses on the floor but it is exceptionally clean and we have a nice little porch with chairs and a table. All the tap and shower water on the island is just sea water, so I haven't felt clean in days!!! We haven't had the best sleep though due to combined noises of early morning building work next door, the mosque and cockerels crowing at all hours. I miss sleep.
We have lazed around for a few days whilst Ben did his work. We hired our own snorkelling equipment on the island and swam around part of the island. Coral reef is literally metres from the beach so it's great to be able to take your time and explore on your own. We quickly learnt how strong the current was, pushing us round one side of the island so we had to get out and walk quite a way in the other direction so that we could just be carried by the current back to where we originally started. It was really good.
We also went on a snorkelling trip. We made 3 stops, 2 at coral reef and 1 in deep water looking for sea turtles again. We were lucky and saw 2. The first one was less than a metre away from me as it glided up to the surface to take a breath. I hope the photo comes out that I took of it but I think I may have cut off it's head!!! This is the 5th time we've been snorkelling and you'd think we would be bored of it. You do see a lot of the same fish but there's always something interesting and it just doesn't get boring. The only thing I really didn't like was the waves again. They're so big, even by the beach. I really thought we were going over at one point. The waves were bigger than the boat and we all got a good soaking. I was very happy to be back on land.
Tonight we hired bikes to go and watch the sunset behind one of Bali's volcanoes. It was pretty, that's what the photo is of.
We set our alarms on Tuesday night to watch United at 2:45am. We got to the bar and they didn't have that channel!!!! We decided that seen as we were already up that we'd just follow the score on the internet and via Dad keeping me updated. We were the last in the bar. I was still mad that they didn't have it on as we left at 5am!
Eating chicken satay every day has been replaced by eating nasi goreng ayam every day-fried rice with chicken, egg, some chilli and a massive prawn cracker. It's great. We have also been upping the fish stakes (steaks?) to say we're not fans of seafood. We have tried red snapper, white snapper and barracuda. The white snapper was probably my favourite but I did feel a little bad after I'd been snorkeling with them!
Tomorrow we head back to Lombok mainland before we start our cruise to Komodo and co. It may be hard work sleeping on the floor with so many other people and I don't expect much from the food but hopefully everything we do will make it worthwhile. I hope the boat is big and the waves are small!!!
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