Gili Trawangan

I apologize for leaving you hanging for so long.

Maybe I should emphasize that I was quite busy in the past few days and was exhausted at the end of each day.
But let's start from the beginning:
On Tuesday, I took the ferry to Gili Trawangan. After a two-hour frustrating bus ride, I had to wait for the ferry for another two hours, and then spent an hour in the stuffy boat cabin. Not exactly a pleasant sea journey...
Exhausted and in a bad mood, I finally arrived - in paradise.
As soon as my feet touched the crystal-clear water, I was enchanted; I had fallen in love with this place.
Known as an island destination, I experienced the island just before the peak season and even now there were already many people there. But what makes the situation very pleasant is the fact that there are no cars on the island. None. Consequently, there are also no paved roads, etc. The only means of transportation are bicycles, horse carriages, and of course, walking.
Here I must note that you should never, under any circumstances, rent a horse carriage! The horses are kept under miserable conditions, and you can already see that to some extent in the animals.
The vibe on Gili T. (as it is called by cool tourists) is also quite different from bustling Ubud. Everything is more relaxed, and with the sound of the ocean in the background, the world looks much better.

Funny side note: the cat population on Gili T. has a much shorter tail than the 'normal' house cat. Here you can experience genetics live....

So, after arriving in my little paradise, I made my way through dusty streets in the heat to my yoga resort. Located a bit off the main road, it offered a tranquil oasis with cool rooms and top-notch bathrooms. Delightful.
This is the life...

The next day, I booked the famous snorkeling tour, which is a must-do on the Gilis. Five hours, snorkeling three times at different locations, followed by lunch at a waterfront restaurant (what is not on the waterfront here?).
Fantastic.
I had never snorkeled before, but it couldn't be that difficult - and it wasn't.
The water was incredibly warm (around 30°C, as I would later find out) and it felt like swimming in a tropical aquarium. Because that's exactly what it was.
Coral reefs on the ocean floor, colorful fish in the crystal-clear water,...
Fantastic.
Unbelievable.
I was captivated...
And as I walked along the beach road afterwards, I decided to stay here longer.
Originally, I had planned to take a diving course in Bali, but Gili T. simply stole a piece of my heart...
There is no shortage of dive shops here; I think I saw a total of 10 different companies.
I just asked a few people, and I found the right one: this is where I wanted to learn diving.
It was quite straightforward, pay the money, sign the forms, and I could start the next day.
Suddenly, I had homework: 3 chapters of theory for the next day. Oops. Great...
And then it started: pool sessions, followed by the open water. Theory. Sleep. Then more pool, open water, and finally collapsing into bed.
Diving is amazing. Much better than snorkeling!
But diving is also exhausting. Especially physically. One dive is equivalent to the same physical effort as running across a football field 10 times.
But I enjoyed every single minute underwater. Almost. I also had my difficulties (why am I ascending, why am I suddenly hitting a coral reef, what do I do now??!?!?), but when I could enjoy the underwater world - First Class!
I saw so many cool animals: turtles (so many turtles!), reef sharks, octopuses, squids, lionfish, small eels, all kinds of colorful fish you can imagine, starfish, and so many corals.
I could rave about it for hours...
After three days, I received my certification. I can now officially call myself an 'Open Water Diver'.
Yeah!

On my last evening, I had to watch the sunset. I somehow didn't manage to do that on the other days.
The entire west coast of Gili T. is a series of sunset bars with cozy tables and swings.
The sunset was obscured by clouds, so I wasn't in the mood to enjoy a cocktail.
My last evening on Gili T. ended like all the others: dinner and then going to bed early.
Today, I went through the terrible boat journey back to Bali and ended up in Sanur, on the southeast coast.

PS: Sorry for the limited selection of photos. I hope to offer more in the next entry!