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| Bay on Lombok by our hotel |
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| Pool at our Lombok hotel... beautiful!! |
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| Speed Boat trip out to the Gilis |
The island is so small, that what looked like a long trek across to get to our homestay was just a 15 minute walk. Through quaint little streets lined with colorful flowers, stray cats, and baby chicks.
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| Happy Hour for happy people... free pop corn! |
We were a little nervous about the homestay that we booked. There were about 4 available rooms on the entire island by the time we booked, so we weren't expecting very much... especially since it was cash only and such a small business. But when we got to Alda House, we were pleasantly surprised! Alda house is run by a sweet family (who's youngest daughter is named Alda). The rooms were small, clean, and had perfectly working AC. The bathroom had an open ceiling which allowed us to watch the birds circling over or the stars twinkling. They made us breakfast each morning before we went out and brought it to us on our little porch. They knew all our names and always wished us a fun day. They also encourage us to come back next year... so maybe we will!
The dive shop, where we spent the day from about 8 am until 6 pm wasn't as much of a classroom environment as I was expecting. Instead, we sat in the sunshine with our toes in the sand or in a little cabana to watch training videos. I could think of worse ways to spend my days. Below is the view that we had every day as we learned the ins and outs of diving.
After our first day of dive school, we walked across the island to watch the sunset. It gave us such a beautiful picture of what the lives of all the Indonesians are like, the Indonesians who make their living running Western restaurants, tourist shops, and reggae bars. The island is beautiful, with hidden corners full of raised houses, wooded pathways, and barnyard animals.
The holiday we were here for was Lebaran, the ending of Ramadan. So on the last night of Ramadan, the Muslims had a march around the island. It was so fascinating to see all the children covered, holding candles, and singing. There were neon lighted mini-mosques, flashing bike lights, and large bass drums that paraded down the main stretch. I wonder how accurate this is, whether the same type of pomp and circumstance goes on when it's not in front of hundreds of tourists.
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| Early Morning at the dive shop. So peaceful. |
One of the best parts of the island life is that there are no motorized vehicles. All transportation is by bike, or horse drawn carriages. And surprisingly, there isn't an issue of the horses leaving little surprises all along the street!
Janna and Michelle left a day before Lindsey and I left, so Lindsey and I spent our last evening biking around the entire island. Quite a bit of it ended up being walking our bikes through the soft sand, but it was so relaxing to see the different views of the the ocean, nearby islands, and the sunset.
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| This is my postcard photo |
We got to meet some pretty awesome people during our time on Gili T. Our dive class had two Dutch girls, a French guy, and a Norwegian guy. After so many hours learning and diving together, it was fun to spend some evenings out with them to get to know them even better.
On our boat ride to Gili T, we saw someone parasailing, and Lindsey and I decided that we had to find out how to do it. So through a series of sketch connections, we got to fly above the sea!
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| Me |
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| Lindsey |
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| Leaving paradise is such a downer |
After a week of suntans, Western dinners, just picked coconuts, fresh squeezed juice, starry skies, and nothing to do but relax and explore, heading back to Jakarta was less than desirable. But... it's only a short plane ride away, so I'm sure I will return.
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