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Published: October 13th 2011
Monday morning marked our departure from Gili Trawangan, one of the three Gili Islands. Gili Island a tautological travesty of a name - Gili means (small) island in the Bahasa Indonesian language. So Island Islands it is, it seems.
Anyway, pedantry aside, 'the Gilis' are the sort of place where one can easily spend far more time than originally intended.
Gili Trawangan is the largest - but can be strolled around in under two hours - and the most developed - but half its perimeter is deserted.
All buildings on 'Gili T', with the exception of the new mosque, are single or two storey, and consist mostly of dive centres, restaurants selling straight-out-of-the-sea fresh seafood, and accommodation to suit every budget.
The dusty unpaved streets are free from motorised transport. This is the home of the bicycle and the horse drawn cart. Out of the night's shadows comes the ghostly clip-clop and tingling of bells that signify the approach of another equine taxi.
In addition to the bells, these horses are adorned with beads, tassles and colourful strips of material. Less fortunate beasts work the small harbour, carrying building materials and daily supplies of water and
food.
The building materials seem to be for the slowly materialising new mosque. It's either from here, or from nearby, that the muezzin's prolonged calls to prayer regularly disturb the serenity of the water lapping against the shores.
We're writing this from Senggigi, where's there's literally just been, as we were typing, a small earthquake! More on that later...we're ok, by the way!
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