After nearly two weeks I reluctantly left Ubud to venture over to the Gili Islands. Everyone raved about them and said they were not to be missed. While I agree (they are the absolute definition of tropical paradise) they are better enjoyed with friends or your significant other.
Sunset on Gili Air
The Gilis are comprised of three islands: Gili T (for some really intense partying), Gili Meno (for some really intense couples who only want to stare into each others’ eyes) and Gili Air (the chillest place on earth). I wisely selected Gili Air, but when I say it’s chill I cannot stress this enough. There are no cars, scooters or even proper roads. Only bicycles and wooden, mule-led carts. Here’s what you do on Gili Air: eat, sleep, drink, swim, scuba dive, snorkel. Repeat in any combination you so desire.
Typical-ness on Gili Air
Tiny boat “castaway” on the sunset side of Gili Air
Lil cuties playing on Gili Air
So there I was, drink in hand, staring out into the bluest, clearest water you’ve ever seen and all I could think was, “Damn. I wish I was in Indiana.” No joke. That thought literally crossed my mind. It was fleeting, but it still happened. It was a great reminder that it doesn’t really matter where you are, if you’re with good people it’s a good time. I’ve had fun at a funeral with my family. One of the best parties of my life was in a double-wide trailer turned karaoke bar with my BFFs. Can you imagine how much fun it would be to have all my favorites with me in paradise?!?
I was feeling a bit lonely, but after befriending some Canadians, a Swiss Miss and some more Dutchies (can’t get enough of them) my time really turned around. I also did some amazing diving. I hadn’t dove in YEARS and was feeling a bit unsure (what’s a BC again?). I almost backed out, but am so thankful I didn’t. Under the bath-warm water I was surrounded by tropical fish that were electric blue, orange and yellow, otherworldly looking coral and dopy turtles nearly as big as me. It was incredible.
Pre-dive!
After 3-4 days of lazying around on the Gilis I made the journey back to Bali to meet up with Selma in Seminyak. She had scored us a great hotel room and rented us a scooter so for our last few days in Bali we settled into a nice routine of lazy pool days at Potato Head, sunsets at La Plancha, followed by dancing (and flirting with Aussies) at Motel Mexicola and La Favela.
Our hotel in Seminyak – cheaper than a hostel!
Potato Head (aka home base)
La Plancha!
Scooting around the hotspots of Seminyak we felt like we owned the place for three glorious days and it made our pending departure even harder. But we both agreed that our time in Bali had been so perfect that staying longer increased the chance of the novelty wearing off and we didn’t want to sour our experience or memories of time in paradise. So at 5am we were off to start the next leg of our adventure, beginning in Singapore… and we couldn’t imagine just how drastically things were about to change…
“Can i pose with your traffic stick?”
Sunset drinks at La Plancha
Last sunset in Bali
2 Comments
you cannot leave me with that cliffhanger!!
Update post regarding my time in Singapore is up!