AAAAAAAAAH!

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Geo: -8.35057, 116.057

Gili Meno floated into our vision (actually, it was already there, tantalisingly visible across the short stretch of water from Gili T. We even made enquiries as to whether there was room availability a day early to enable us to escape from Gili Trashy a day early, but to no avail. Clever people had already booked up!) as we approached on the 20 minute journey from Gili T. "That is more like it," we both concurred. And indeed, Gili Meno is what we were looking for. Here was the Bounty Island tranquility we had anticipated. Here was the powder soft sand gently sloping down to the clear-turquoise waters. Here was our private villa with a sea view and 2 floors. Here was a stomach bug determined to ruin the experience. Great!

Our 2 days here were spent recovering. Me from the stomach bug from hell, Stacey from a bout of blisters covering her hands so that she was unable to bend her fingers. Thank goodness for our villa, where, from the comfort of our balcony/terrace, we were able to enjoy uninterrupted sea-views while remaining close to a fridge full of wet, freezing towels (for Stacey) and a perfect hygienic bathroom (for me). We did manage to walk around the island at sunset. Taking a little under 2 hours, it was a much smaller and quieter place to be. There were long stretches of beach where the view to the horizon was not broken by a single thing - no boats, no houses, no people. In essence, it was how we had imagined Gili T to be.

2 days later, we bade farewell to our luxury villa. Although the Gilis had far failed to match our expectations, they were still a pretty place to visit, albeit not our favourite location of our journey (a place still held by perfect Hoi An). Sadly the stomach bug decided it wasn't keen on the Gilis either, and decided to accompany me back to Bali!

So, with much trepidation on my part, we boarded the fast boat back to Bali. Fortunately I was able to sit on the roof and get an unbridled view of the horizon and buckets of fresh air; both required to keep the sickness at bay. Sadly, it was a little windy, and my skirt spent most of its time around my ears. Happily for the other passengers, I had the foresight to wear shorts underneath!

Bye bye Gili Islands. I'm sorry our expectations were too high. Please do not allow yourselves to become more developed in the future and lose any last semblance of charm that you have!

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