The Gilies

The Gilies are 3 small islands not far from Bali which are close to each other, all offering different things depending what you're after.  Gili Trawangan (or Gili T for short) is the party island, Gili Meno the quiet island & Gili Air a mixture of the 2. All islands have no cars or motorbikes, you can walk or cycle around them easily & there are no police so it's pretty relaxed (my accommodation offered magic mushrooms as a service!!).

I'm not sure why after my lack of sleep attempting to get to Flores trip, I headed for the party island, Gili T.  I was in bed by 9pm the first night & midnight the second.  Wow I'm so crazy!!  I'm sure I'd have seen it differently if I had gone out!  I heard stories of all night parties, lots of drugs but I was oblivious to it tucked up in my bed with a hot chocolate... actually I had a mojito one night. Rock n roll!

So I had a lazy couple of days on Gili T. Cycled round the island. Read a bit. Chilled at a beach bar. Tried to meet a friend for tea but the electricity went out on the whole island for nearly 3 hours so was unable to get in touch with him. Just shows you how much we rely on the Internet (I didn't have his number). Then I moved for 2 nights to Gili Air. Wish I'd gone there first as I loved it. No one offering you drugs, really laid back, nice beaches & restaurants. Lovely. I met my Dutch friends Rob & Maura & we did some snorkeling. Then we sat at a beach bar playing monopoly on their ipad.... as you do! Was really good fun & let's face it, not a bad way to spend a Monday!  Watched the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen that night.  The water was really calm & the reflection of the sunset into the sea was like a mirror.  There were a group of people doing some type of yoga/meditation close by. It was stunning. Later we met up for dinner with Jane's friend Howard who works in a diving school there. Had a lovely evening but as usual I was tired so it wasn't a late one.

The next day I decided to move accommodation as I didn't sleep well again & the place was pretty grim! Found a really lovely bungalow for the same price,  typical as I was leaving the next day. It was so cute & you could have had a party in the bathroom. Loved it!

Myself,  Rob & Maura decided to snorkel along the coast that morning.  Wow it was awesome!  So many beautiful tropical fish & coral. We swam for over & hour. Great morning!  We met Howard for lunch, played Monopoly again & watched the sunset on the beach. Later we all went for dinner. Was really gutted to be leaving so soon but I had booked my trip to Flores. Would I make it this time? Fingers crossed!