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Getting to the Gili islands required a bus journey to the east end of Bali and then a two hour boat trip across the sea. We had a lot of expectations of the Gilis, as many of the people we'd met travelling had been there, but opinions were always mixed: paradise or tourist party island? As we've found is so often the case, it's better to make your own decision.
However, first impressions confirmed both views as we climbed off the boat at Gili Trawangan into warm, clear blue water to be greeted by a hoard of people asking if we had accommodation. There are no cars or mopeds on the islands, only horse drawn carriages and bicycles, but even so the roads proved to be constantly busy. We found our hostel, a slightly dank one room place, and bumped into Jane, who had arranged to stay there too. The three of us got some food and headed straight to the beach, presuming we could walk in any direction away from all the bars and restaurants and find a good one. Apparently we were wrong. In an attempt to find a patch of sand not claimed by a restaurant or covered in dead coral, we accidentally walked the entire circuit of the island. Gili T may be the biggest of the three islands, but it's still pretty small. We found a spot eventually and attempted to sunbathe under a covering of clouds. It was still hot, but we found ourselves wishing that the sun would come out for a bit.
Our wishes were not granted. At about midday on Saturday it started raining and didn't stop. Occasionally it would calm down to just a drizzle, but then it would come back in full force, pouring down and filling up the drainless streets, turning them into rivers. Sofia's flip flops even floated away down the road, but it didn't matter much as shoes were pointless when getting anywhere required wading through a full on stream. Every so often there would also be a short power cut, something we were assured was fairly normal for the island, even when not experiencing thunderstorms.
On Sunday morning we moved to a slightly more expensive hostel, which actually had common areas and more than one dorm, but in walking there got completely soaked. The good thing about being on the "party island" during these storms, was that there was at least something to do in the evenings, even if our days were spent hanging around waiting for the rain to stop.
We woke up on Monday morning to see sun shining through the windows, so not wanting to miss the blue skies, we jumped out of bed and raced to the beach (which we now knew where to find). We were so excited about the sun that we may have forgotten about suncream, so the three of us left the beach with very burnt backs. After lunch we rented bikes and snorkeling equipment and cycled round the island a bit to find a good spot. Getting out to where the water was a little deeper proved hard, but once there we saw some amazing tropical fish.
Back at our hostel we jumped in the pool and drank from coconuts (just to complete the island experience), before getting on our bikes again to go watch the sunset. We went to the Ombak sunset beach, where the famous swings can be found looking out to the sea. We got the classic Gili T photos, despite the ominous clouds heading our way, then went back to go to dinner with a group of people from our hostel. Our last night was a true send off from Gili T, with another massive thunderstorm and an hour long power cut, however we embraced it and found ourselves dancing in the rain. It's safe to say we got a little drenched.
The next day we got the local boat over to Gili Air, along with Jane who we had by this point adopted as the third member of our travel party. Gili Air is the slightly calmer counterpart to Gili T, so instead of staying in a hostel we got a bungalow for the three of us in an attempt to recover and catch up on sleep. Although the plan was to rest, we actually ended up doing a lot in our one full day there. We started with a boat trip, which took us to some incredible snorkeling spots off the coasts of all three islands. We saw a huge array of brightly coloured fish, coral and even a few turtles flying along under the water. Once back on Gili Air we jumped in the pool, then changed into comfortable clothes to attend our first yoga class. We went more for the experience, expecting to laugh our way through the class, but came out feeling so very "zen". It was a true "gap yah" moment, though maybe not something to repeat at home.
The next morning we were forced to say goodbye to Jane, who was flying home soon, but we woke just before six and ran down to the beach in our pyjamas to watch the sunrise. It was a very appropriate way to end our trip with her, having met climbing Mount Batur to watch the sunrise just over a week before.
Back to just the two of us, we caught an early boat over to Lombok, then a bus down to Senggigi. It was non stop action: we checked in, ate a speedy lunch then jumped straight into a hired car. We were driven around Lombok by our lovely driver, Sani, trying to see all of the island in one afternoon. We visited the Benang Kelambu waterfalls and had a quick dip, finding that nothing makes you feel better than going for a swim fully clothed. They're an impressive sight as an entire rock face covered in vines is broken up by sheets of water, all falling from the same source. We then visited several Hindu temples, which were still in use despite the fact that Lombok is mainly Muslim. We managed to get to the biggest, the oldest and one temple sat right on the rocks of the beach near Senggigi.
As far as our quick jaunt gives us a right to judge, we didn't warm as much to Lombok as we had Bali. Perhaps this is principally due to the persistent hastle that followed us from the moment we first got off the boat - with men trying to carry our bags hoping for a tip - to when we left and a man lent through the windows of the boat trying to sell us sarongs. We ended our one day there by watching the sunset from Senggigi beach, looking back towards Bali.
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