Trying Freedom

I headed over to Padangbai to catch the fast boat (as opposed to the ferry) which I’d booked, I had already been warned about street sellers trying to get you to purchase tickets on the way into the harbour, however, I didn’t expect to literally be followed on my bike being asked to buy tickets, interesting experience but they were nice enough and disappeared when I said I’d already bought a ticket and I made it to the office fine.

The boat itself was an interesting experience, I thought I’d be fine without any travel sickness tablets which I left in my bag and was now strapped to the top of the boat under a tarp along with everyone else’s luggage, oh I was so wrong. After about an hour I had to hang off the back of the boat, fortunately the fresh air sorted me out and made it there after just over two hours with a stop at Gili Trawangan on route.

There’s actually 3 small islands next to each other which I had to chose from, Gili Air or Gili Trawangan which I’ve already mentioned or finally Gili Meno. From what I’d searched Gili Air was the more laid back of the 3 islands where you could go to relax and avoid a party scene which was pretty much the theme of my trip so far, just enjoying exploring and taking in the culture, not that I’d be getting much of that here.

Having arrived fairly early I decided to see just how small the island was and went for a walk around, it literally takes about an hour or maybe even less to walk around the entire island, which is a very strange feeling, but it’s a delightful walk with all of the white sand beaches you’re promised ahead of coming.

Again, not quite the weather I’d hoped for as you can see but even when it’s overcast it’s nearly 30 degrees so it could definitely be worse, mini violins at the ready.

I checked into the hotel which was also pretty nice, but then again the accommodation has been pretty good consistently so far, this did have the added benefit of the receptionist saying every word in the style of an old school UK garage MC, which was strange but incredible at the same time, not sure where you’d learn that.

Finished the day off at Zipp Bar with some monster prawns and rum and cokes which had an incredible amount of rum in, no complaints here.