Tomorrow = leaving on a jet plane....for Cambodia

As a very nice Indonesian boy played the Jewel version of "Leaving on a Jet Plane" for us on his Mp3 phone...oh Bali, I don't want to leave you!

It's Wednesday morning and we are back in Bali for one more big dose of Kuta Beach before we leave bright and early for Phenom Penh, Cambodia tomorrow morning. Things are still going really well travel-wise, though it seems like it's been a while since I last wrote. Partly, that's because our days are so long and packed. For one, Arati and I get up around 6 am pretty much every morning (I think our type A/carpe diem attitudes prevent us from ever truly becoming total backpacker bums!), and when you have to think about each meal, where you're sleeping, etc. everyday, nothing is very passive, and the days seem very full. Not a bad thing, just a different mindset and level of interaction with your day.

Since Senggigi beach, we ventured on a semi-sketchy shuttle bus ride up to a harbor city, and then we took a public "ferry" over to the Gili Islands, off the northwest tip of Lombok. There are 3 islands: Gili Air, Gili Meno, and Gili Trawangan. All three have their own "flavor," and none of them has cars, much electricity, or fresh water (well some nice hotels CLAIM they do, but frankly, we're skeptical). Anyway, we decided these islands were a must-see, and we chose to head for Gili Air first.

First of all, the boat to get there:

Oh man.

The boat was a big carved out wooded shell of sorts with benches running down the sides. There are tons of these brightly colored fishing boats around the islands and port cities, and they really are all unique and pretty to see. Not to mention, they have awesome names like "Hercules" and "Titanic."

Anyway, the boat was packed with all kinds of fruits, vegetables, and assorted other things that needed to get to the islands. There were 4 non-locals on the boat, Arati, me and 2 Dutch travellers, and we sat up front while our bags were loaded somewhere in between the cabbage, tomatoes, and ice cream cones. Then the boat filled itself with people way past capacity, and we took off. The ride was a little bumpy, but it was only about 30 minutes until we got to Gili Air.

Gili Air:

bungalow living

dirt road around the island (about 90 minutes to circumnavigate)

little buggies with horses for transport

really cute beach side restaurants with pillows and lap-tables

lots of music all over the place

salt water showers

mosquito nets

quiet, peaceful

windy

gorgeous sunsets

low key and relaxing

Our main adventures while on the island were several walks and runs around the island, talking to lots of locals once again, and an awesome snorkeling trip in a glass bottom boat. The snorkeling was absolutely incredible. The fish, corrals, and sea TURTLES (I TOUCHED ONE) were so beautiful and just right there. Another reminder that the world is SO big, and there is a whole other community and variety of life UNDER the water! Our boat "captain" was an Indonesian guy (about 18 years old), who went by "Ringo Star" and his 2 friends. They were great and found several turtles for us while we (Arati, me and 4 others) paddled around in the topaz waters. Great fun.

After 2 nights on Gili Air (by the way, "Air" means water in Bahasa...funny, huh?!), we went over to Gili Trawangan (we skipped over Gili Meno because it's really quiet, a little more pricey, and we had lunch there already during our snorkel trip).

The last of the 3 Gili Islands, Trawangan, is the most equipped with technology - Internet cafes, albeit expensive and slow, are available for use, and the horses pulling the carts were markedly larger and faster! This one also has the reputation for being the "party island," but lucky for us it was low season and still relatively quiet and not swarming in tourists. The main adventures for us on Gili Trawangan were some more snorkeling, exploring the roads and pathways around the island, and searching for gorgeous sunsets, more photo-ops, and friendly Indonesians to chat with. Some delicious Indonesian food was eaten: gado-gado and chop chay are my personal favorite dishes...the red snapper I ate will NOT be repeated soon (my stomach insists).

After our last day of semi-deserted island adventuring, we were happy but quite grimy, and pretty happy to get back to fresh water showers and laundry facilities. We opted for the "fast boat" back to Bali (because the slow route would have taken almost 10 hours total!), and this boat was crazy. It was a speed boat that could have probably fit 20 people max, and the water was REALLY choppy! There were a couple of Hail Mary moments for sure. BUT, we made it in 3 hours, and nobody lost their lunch. Success!

Our last days in Bali are being spent back in Kuta, where we had our awesome surf lessons a week or so ago. The surf is still gorgeous and the beach so wide and flat - perfect. The sunsets here are also unlike anywhere we've seen (and I'm pretty sure there are fewer roosters than any other place we've been in Indonesia...seriously, the roosters crow incessantly at ALL hours here).

We continue to be in good spirits and are healthy and full of energy.

The goal is to continue to suck up as MUCH as I can out of everyday and to continuously reflect upon and be grateful for these experiences and adventures (which this blog is great for!).

Although I'm definitely a little sad to leave Bali (I MUST COME BACK!), I am also excited to get to Cambodia - a place I've definitely been intrigued by for a long time. I am also excited to hopefully find some structured (or unstructured!) volunteer options there, as we have a more extended amount of time in the country, and there seem to be more options for that sort of thing there. Fingers crossed.

Thinking of you all lots!! I promise I'll try to use fewer parentheses, dashes, and ellipses next time...we'll see how that works out...