Nov 8, 2010 - little slice of heaven

We are only a few days in to our trip and we have already seen and done so much. Let me recap our time in Bali. Sam and I woke up on Saturday to more rain in Kuta and were a little bummed, but hoped it would clear so we would be able to see and do all we wanted that day. We hired a driver for about $25 and had him drive us all around the island for the day. First we headed north to the Batur mountain. It is one of two active volcanoes in Bali. The last eruption was in 2000. We made it to the top of the mountain and ate lunch overlooking the...

Aug 23, 2010 - May God bless and keep you always....

May your wishes all come true May you always do for others And let others do for you May you build a ladder to the stars And climb on every rung May you stay Forever young.... Selamat siang, (Good day) from Gili Trawangan. Here I am, caught in a sort of vortex, just slowly spinning from one day to the next. Living amongst the most amazing people - especially the locals. Meeting heaps of new friends. Doing lots of fantastic Technical Diving. Getting stretched, pulled and pummeled by the "Back Whisperer". Enjoying great meals and a...

Aug 4, 2010 - 'Cause there's a place you've never been ....

Maybe a place you've never seen You can hear her calling on the wind Go on and drift your life away .... It's been a while since I've checked in. All is well, all is wonderful. I'm still in Indonesia and back on Gili Trawangan after an incredible journey to Komodo National Park. My adventures, both above and below the water, continue to thrill me and grow in intensity. I have been blessed over the last few weeks to sink to new depths, enjoy a blood pumping, beautiful dive with dolphins and a somewhat pointless hunt for dragons on land....

Jul 19, 2010 - Once we grew into our shoes ....

We told them where to go Walked halfway around the world On promise of the glow.... Whew! Completely decompressed and chilling out in Gili Trawangan. It was a marathon 40 plus hours of travelling which took me from San Diego to LAX to Tokyo to Singapore to Jakarta to Mataram on Lombok where I took a taxi and then a boat to eventually make it back to Gili Trawangan, Indonesia. It was nice to arrive to some familiar faces and the people of the island who are extremely welcoming and warm and friendly. It was quite the journey but well worth...

Jun 24, 2010 - Gili Islands

another paradise island...i recommend way more than i would ever recommend bali, as it is too loud, too touristy and too expensive!!! this island is a dream...great food, great atmosphere...and if you don't like the backpacker-island you can just change to gili meno or gili air, which are for families and honeymoons ;-) you have to look a bit for the nice, sandy beach as there are a lot of boats and corals everywhere, but you can go around the island in about 2 hours, which we did by bike! we were staying at scallywags...this place was...

May 14, 2010 - Senggigi and Lombok

I didn't like Sengigi much, its an ugly place where the local inhabitants are only interested in grabbing the next tourist dollar even to the extent of walking into restaurants and hassling customers. I frequented a German bar in the evenings which had its share of expat customers who were good company as well as a mine of information. I think to make the best of Singigi its best used as a base to explore Lombok, the necessary bike hire is the cheapest on the island and the accomodation is reasonably priced. Day 1 I took a bumpy bike ride...

May 7, 2010 - Gili Meno

Next up life on a very quiet tropical island - most people's idea of heaven, but in actual fact the reality is that without a good book then paradise quickly becomes dull. I was fortunate with my choice of resort, the excellent Sunset Gecko was managed by a Japanese guy who had everything predictably well organised - the food was excellent and the other guests were good company. When the weather cooperated and the sea was clear there was some excellent snorkelling on our doorstep albeit with a deceptively fast current. I did manage to...

Apr 9, 2010 - Gili Islands

The Gili Islands are 3 very small islands just off the coast of Lombok and they are absolutely beautiful. I stayed on Gili Trawangan which is the larger of the 3 islands. There is a thin strip of white sand beach surrounding almost the entire island. The water is perfectly clear and is many shades of turquoise and blue. This is what I hoped for and expected of Indonesia. There were enough tourists on the island for it to not feel totally isolated but not too many that it felt like a resort. You can easily find stretch of beach entirely for...

Apr 5, 2010 - Gili trawangan = PARADISE

Bonjour à tous!!! J'ai tellement de choses à vous conter! Premièrement on a décidé d'aller passer quelques jours sur un îles qui s'appelle Gili trawangan. Il Y a 3 îles qui s'appellent toutes Gili; il y a gili air, gili menos et la nôtre. C'est des îles proches de Lombok une région (île aussi) indonesienne. On a booker notre trip pour 175 000 roupiah...donc environ 18$. On est parti à 7 heure am mercredi matin, le 31 mars. On a pris un shuttle qui nous a emmené sur la côte est de Bali pour prendre un "public ferry" un genre de traversier (4...

Mar 8, 2010 - GILI TRAWANGAN und die anderen beiden GILIS

Was fuere eine magische Insel! The Spiritis are high on these Islands here ... it's breath-taking and bewitching at the same time. Obwohl auf dieser kleinen Insel irgendwie immer etwas los ist, kehrt in einem hier eine riesige Ruhe ein und man schafft es den Tag dermassen durch zu duemplen, und auf einmal ist es Abend oder Nacht. Natuerlich hatte ich wieder alle Daten verplant und habe mich nun endlich umorganisiert. Gott sei Dank ist gerade wenig los, sonst haette ich hier nicht so unkompliziert herumbuchen und aendern koennen. Eigentlich...

Mar 4, 2010 - Prinzessin Mandalika of LOMBOK and my way to GILI TRAWANGAN

Gestern hatte ich einen schoenen, teilweise leicht verregneten Tag in Kuta bis Mittags mein Fahrer "Hari" mich abholte. (Der ist NUR fuer dich Toenie). "Harry, hol den Wagen!" Na gut, auf jeden Fall schlief ich wieder recht lang, am Vorabend gab es wieder den ein oder anderen Powercut (for a change) ... also spielte ich meinen iPod leer, tanzte zu Ante Perri's Tunes bis ich triefend nass war und schlummerte dann ein letztes Mal auf meiner Nachtsschlafseite im Bettchen ein. (Es war so gross, dass ich eine Nachmittagsmuetzelecke hatte und...

Feb 28, 2010 - LOMBOK with Dolphines

Lombok … Lombok … Lombok! Meine Reise hierher war wieder besonders aufregend. Erst war der Fahrer zum Hafen (Sanur Beach) zu spaet und es schuettete in Sturzbaechen. Der Hafen kam naeher und es hoerte auf zu plaetschern, die Sonne kam heraus. Ocean Star Express sollte mich also in knapp 3 Stunden nach Lombok bringen. Wir bekamen ein kleines Fruehstueck, Wasser und Tee und dann ging’s auch schon los. Es war garnicht voll. 4 Spanier oder Argentinier, 3 Franzoesinnen, 2 Deutsche und wie soll es anders sein 4 Russen. Was machen diese Menschen...