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Published: March 25th 2008
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Udon Thani to Gili Trawangan was not easy. From Udon Thani, an overnight sleeper train to Bangkok. The next day a flight (delayed) to Jakarta, Indonesia. We had an overnight layover, followed by an afternoon flight (delayed) to Bali. We arrived late, had another overnight layover, and another flight (delayed) to Mataram on Lombok. On Lombok we arranged a taxi to the port and then a boat to Gili Trawangan. We arrived in a heavy rainstorm, with our rainjackets tied over our rucksacks to try to keep them dry and light we walked in ankle deep water down the middle of the street until we found accomodations that would allow a couple of tired and drenched weary travellers. Phew.
4 days, 3 flights, 3 delays, 1 train, 1 bus, 1 boat, 7 taxis, 1 rainstorm. Priceless? Well the stunning beauty of the Gili islands made us say yes. It was definitely worth the hassle of getting there!
Bangkok
Our fourth and final Bangkok visit (on this trip!) we decided to check out an area of the city we had not seen. We were still wearing our strings that the Udon Thani Thais had tied to our wrists to
bless us and bring us luck, and several Thais in Bangkok commented on them saying "Oh, you got great luck!". We took the local water bus down the river to the end of the line and took the Sky Train to the downtown core. This was a side of Bangkok that we had yet to see so we strolled around the shops and air-conditioned malls (it was a blistering 35 degrees celsius) until it was time to get a Tuk Tuk to the airport.
We arrived on Lombok and hired a driver to take us to the Bang Sai port. We were dropped off and a very official looking guard type person (complete with whistle, which he blew every few seconds!) flipped through a book of - also very official looking - tickets, while saying it would cost us each 2 USD to proceed. Something seemed a little sketchy and we asked him what the fee was for. He said "income". So we said "let's just try walking through and see what happens" and he didn't mention another word, just approached the next group of tourists to try the same trick. Either we pulled a runner on an
Gili Trawangan
Bintang and sunset - a good combo entrance fee, or we avoided another scam, we're still not quite sure which!
Gili Trawangan
We arrived on the Gili Trawangan and were so happy, partly because our journey was over for a few days, but mostly because of how beautiful and relaxed the island is. It was exactly what we were looking for.
We decided late that first night that Travis would get his Open Water PADI scuba-diving certification (Michelle already has hers) which filled up the next 3 days of our stay.
Our Divemaster was a very nice woman from Germany named Silke. We watched five PADI videos and went over the theory and in the pool exercises on the first day. We wanted to dive every dive together, and as a refresher Michelle joined Travis for his in the pool exercises on the first day. The pool sessions were good fun and the three of us had a lot of laughs.
The second day was Travis' first ever open-water dive and Michelle's first in more than 10 years, so we were both a little anxious. However, Silke was a great teacher who instilled us both with a calm approach. We really enjoyed
it! In the afternoon we went for another dive which was also excellent.
The third day we went a little deeper - to 18 metres and the clarity was unreal on both dives. After the dives we strolled around the perimeter of the island. It took about an hour and a half and showed a very different side of the island - namely the local community. We watched another great sunset and walked back to the main strip. We found a restaurant that offered private movie screenings in an open-air bungalow on the beach while you enjoy your dinner. It is a very popular spot for travel-weary tourists and it was a nice way to relax after so many busy days. We watched the movie Juno and really enjoyed it! It was an excellent few days on one of the most beautiful places on earth!
For our travel to Bali we booked the long ferry, which was long and not so comfortable but it was cheap! Some of the scenery along the way was outstanding - stunning coastlines, lush green forests and fertile rice fields. We left our hotel at 7:30am and finally arrived at our hotel on
Bali on 7:30pm - it was a long day. However, it was nice to arrive knowing that John would be joining us that night and we'd see our friend Barny soon.
We'll update you on all the great times in Bali as soon as we get a chance! We've been here for about five days and it's been great.
If you're interested we put details of our dives, and some of our favourite sightings below.
Hope all is well,
Michelle & Travis
Dive Details
Dive 1 - Frogfish Point, Gili Air
Depth: 12 metres
Bottom Time: 53 minutes
Cornetfish
Trumpetfish
Emperor Angelfish
Ringed Puffer
Vericose Wart Slug
Yellow Margined Moray
Dive 2 - Coral Fan Garden, Gili Trawangan
Depth: 12 metres
Bottom Time: 62 minutes
Potato Grouper (huge!)
Spot Fin Lionfish
Zebra Lionfish
Tassled Scorpionfish (brilliantly camouflaged)
Orange Banded Clownfish (Nemo)
Blue Anenome Shrimp
Dive 3 - Shark Point, Gili Trawangan
Depth: 18 metres
Bottom Time: 63 minutes
Hawksbill Turtle
Green Turtle x 2 (Beautiful and graceful - maybe our favourite sighting)
Flutefish
Giant Pufferfish
Giant Triggerfish
White Mouth Moray
Dive 4 - Meno Wall, Gili Meno
Depth:
18 metres
Bottom Time: 52 minutes
Giant Moray
Cube Boxfish (Bright yellow with spots)
Humpback Unicornfish
Clark's Anenomefish
Mantis Shrimp
School of Striped Eel Catfish
Lizardfish
Palette Surgeonfish
Giant Clam
Indian Tube Worm
Blue Sea Star
Necklace Sea Star
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