Gili Trawangan, back to Bali and new friends No.7

Gili Trawangan:

The way to the boat was the way through hell, ok it wasn't that bad but you get approached by annoying people every meter, trying to sell you overpriced fake tickets. At the end of the path, a security man led me to the right counters and back to the right boat because I was already running late. So nice of him :)

First, I went to Gili T, the party island where I actually wanted to party but ended up spending the evenings with beer and some people from the hostel on the terrace. Many people love Gili Trawangan but I didn't find it to be paradise on earth. The nice thing about the Gili Islands is that cars or scooters are not allowed. You can only explore the island by bicycle, on foot, or with a horse-drawn carriage. Those who know me know that I would never have taken the horse-drawn carriage, so I searched for the hostel myself and dragged my backpack there in the midday sun and 35 degrees. Way too many people who could have easily walked a few meters chose the horse-drawn carriage, and yes, the locals often make a living from it, but I just felt sorry for the horses :( The next day, I rented a bicycle and rode around the entire island. Actually, you could go around the island in 30 minutes but with some stops at different beaches and a nap on the beach, it took the whole day. I made the last stop at Sunset Point and watched the beautiful sunset and observed the locals bathing the horses in the sea. You could see how much they enjoyed the 'cool' water and how exhausted they were from the day....

Gili Air:

A day later, I went to Gili Air. Here, I immediately met Chris and Mandy. With Mandy, I went straight to the meditation session, which was really relaxing and interesting, and in the evening, we went to a fire show together with Chris. The fire show was beautiful, but we were almost the only guests. There was a kind of opening act for the fire show, and the singer always included us in his show, which was funny after a cocktail :D I have never seen such amazing fire performers who were so passionate and unaffected by the fact that it was almost a private show for us. But you could also see our enthusiasm. It should be mentioned that Gili Air is a chill island and there is really nothing going on. It feels like the sidewalks are rolled up by 8 pm, but there is still plenty to do here. Meditation, yoga, massages, snorkeling trips, freediving, and much more....

The next day, Chris left because it was too quiet for him here. But Mandy and I loved it and went on a snorkeling trip to the other islands. Everyone was amazed by the beautiful underwater world, except me because in my opinion, the corals are just dead, killed by tourists and dynamite fishing... It was really sad to see, which is why I decided not to go diving and just snorkel a bit. But what still made me smile were the beautiful turtles swimming freely in the sea, sleeping, or getting their shells cleaned by the fish. Watching the turtles was incredibly relaxing, as always...

After the little trip, Vivi arrived, and we got along great with her, which led to the three of us becoming a small group. Others occasionally joined us, but most of the time, it was just the three of us, which also led me to change my travel plans a bit. I extended my stay on Gili Air and instead of continuing to Lombok, I went back to Bali with the girls to party and have some crazy fun :D

BALI:

After we took the ferry back to Bali, we immediately looked for a hotel. This time, it wouldn't be a hostel but pure luxury for 15€ per night :D We were the only backpackers among all the couples and stood out. The room was nice, and the breakfast buffet was overwhelming. We had a huge selection of different fruits, pancakes, croissants,... various types of eggs, and as much coffee as we wanted. Everything was included :) After Vivi and I went to get our noses pierced at a piercer, we went to the beach and got henna tattoos... Well, 'paint' is the right word, my hand looks like it was drawn on with a marker by a 3-year-old. I have the ugliest henna tattoo in the world and I often get asked about it :D Anyway, this thing on my right hand always brings a laugh. In the evening, we went to the famous Skygarden. You pay 115,000 Indonesian Rupiahs, about 7-8€, and can eat and drink as much as you want from 5 pm to 9 pm. Most people really go all out here, just by watching them, I got drunk already :D When we were almost dehydrated in this hot and stuffy club and I wanted to get us three bottles of water, I had to ask the security where to get water at the bar, and the bartenders asked three times in disbelief if they understood me correctly or if I was just joking, but NO, I was dead serious! Three bottles of water were almost as expensive as the whole entry fee, and they only contained a pathetic 330ml :D Of course, we didn't just drink water :D When it all got too much for us and the music was bad, we left soon and ordered a midnight pizza from the Italian restaurant. We fooled the passing tourists and pretended to be locals, shouting Taxi Taxi? Transport? Mashrooms? and sexy sexy or just Heeee how are you :D During our pizza action, Vivi and I spontaneously decided to get married, and Mandy was our witness, flower girl, bridesmaid, and of course, our midwife. You could actually say it was a triple wedding :D The only one who found it as funny as we did was our waiter, who is probably gay and therefore not as shocked as the others :)

The next morning, Mandy continued her journey to Bangkok to fly back to Germany, and Vivi went back to Australia... I had a flight waiting for me to Lombok.

This time, it really went to Lombok, without any detours... :)