Gili Island Dreaming...

I had to start a new blog for Lombok because it has been the absolute highlight of coming to Indonesia. Lombok is so incredibly beautiful. Obviously, they too have been affected terribly by the drop in tourism. I don't think it's just the Bali bombings, although this has driven many Australians away. I think people may worry about Indonesia's instability in general and the current natural disaster tally is getting ridiculous. If the tsunami wasn't enough, they are currently dealing with exploding volcanos (Yogyarta) and devastating flooding and landslides (Sulawesi). But these things happen in relatively contained areas, and most parts of this archipelago are peaceful and beautiful places to explore.

Lombok is the first island in the Nusa Tengarra region. A string of islands (500 in total) starting east of Bali that continue all the way to Timor, with Gunung Rinjani (Lombok's mighty volcano) being its highest point at 3726m. We arrived in the port of Lembar and organised our own bemo to take us to the north west corner at Bangsal to catch a boat to the Gili Islands. Time was catching up on us as the last boat departs around 6pm and it was already 4.30pm. We did not want to get caught in Bangsal as the LP said it could be quite an unpleasant place. As it turned out, they were quite friendly and we didn't really get hassled that much. We bought our tickets from the harbour office and sat watching the sunset waiting for our boat. We opted for Gili Air as it was the nearest and not as busy as the party island of Gili Trawangan, or has the isolation (and mosquitos) of Gili Meno.

While mum, Lee and the kids got some dinner, I ventured off to check out some accommodation. We opted for Sunrise Bungalows, gorgeous little 'rice barn' cottages, with a bedroom and balcony at the top, and a bathroom and magic chillin area downstairs (complete with daybed and hammock). The only letdown was the bathroom but then I have only seen one decent bathroom in Indonesia so far and I think that's just because it was brand new. At 100k per night, it's another bargain.

I woke up at sunrise and watched the colours change and sunlight emerge from behind Rinjani, as the sun started to sparkle across the clear torquoise waters. An incredible view to wake up to and I knew there and then we had made the right choice to come here. We spent our days snorkeling, eating, swimming, sunbathing and wandering around. The locals are incredibly friendly and we make loads of new friends. And what a joy to wander around without worrying about being run down by a motorbike (there are no motorised vehicles allowed on the islands - only pushbikes and ponycarts). We spent a blissful 5 days chilling out in this island paradise and mum even learnt to snorkel. We took a snorkel trip around the islands, exploring the Meno wall (which was a little bit scary and deep) where we saw loads of turtles. We had lunch on Meno and then went off to explore lots of other coral. Some of the best coral is actually around Gili Air and there's some cracking drifts right along where we stayed. Amazing fish - and more unusually we saw calamari (like a giant squid), banded sea snake, rays and those amusing fish that puff up like a ball if they get scared.

Sadly, mum had to return to the UK after her 2 short weeks so I escorted her back to Bali, staying in Kuta for a 2 nights and then I took a flight back to Mataram and made my way back to the Gili's from there. It's a good job I went with my mum because there was a bit of trouble back in Bali (well there's a surprise) when the shuttle company wouldn't accept one woman's ticket even though we had all seen her pay for the extension. The staff at Wanista Warika (?) in Padangbai were hideously aggressive and out of order, calling us liars and cheats (for the sake of 4 dollars - I don't think so buddy).

Anyway, mum and I went on a bit of a shopping frenzy in Kuta and ate nice food (being two things there are alot of in Kuta - restaurants and shops). When I took her to the airport, I had to bribe a policeman to let me in the building as I had no ticket. It felt very odd and highly criminal - but then it's the way things are here and just how things are done. You can't judge things here by the way we do things in the UK. Life is simply not the same and the rules are quite different. However, it kinda makes a big joke out of the airport security. Especially when I saw someone bribing an officer over identity cards at the check-in for my domestic flight the following morning.

I enjoyed my solo foray back into Lombok and had a short wander in Mataram before taking a cheap taxi back up to Bangsal. I sat chatting to the local boys in the harbour while waiting for the next public boat. Once they know you don't want to buy anything (or you are tanned enough to look like you've been here a while) they don't bother you anymore. A few words of Bahasa goes a long way too.

We spent another 10 wonderful days on Gili Air and had some amazing and unforgettable experiences with our new friends. Tevo and Roisin were warmly welcomed by . Everyone knows each other on the island - it is a true community in every sense. We learnt so much about island life and life on Lombok - and how different things are here (not simply that they are mostly muslim as opposed to hindu).

Tevo became quite the fisherman going out regularly with some of the local men to the beach, learning to cast out and reel 'em in, with the lovely Ali (who Roisin very kindly gave her fishing rod to and he was most chuffed). We all snorkelled til we could snorkel no more. And in the evening, we played guitar and sang, learning new songs with our new friends and then if we managed to stay up late enough, pile back to the staff quarters to watch football. It's hard to really put into words just how wonderful a place Gili Air is - the people, the landscape, the coral, the clear water - it's like a dreamy paradise and we feel like the luckiest people in the world to have come this far on our trip. There's one thing for sure though, we will return here and it will be just the start of an exploration of the Nusa Tengarra islands. Rinjani beckons, as do the islands from Lombok, Sumbawa, and Rinca, to Komodo and Flores. A definite future adventure.....