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Tranquility In The Gili Isles

It had been a very indulgent past few weeks – catch ups all over the place, drinks flowing, party time non-stop. It was time for a chilled island getaway, Gili Trewangan was certainly not going to afford us the tranquility that Gili Air eventually did.

10AM; 1PM; 2PM; 4PM from Padang Bai Pier, by fast boat
~30km
1.5hrs from Seminyak to Padang Bai, 1.5hrs from Padang Bai Pier to Gili Air
450,000IDR return (open-ended ticket, can be picked up from any of the Gili Islands)

On our agenda were very laid back activities, including snorkeling, sun bathing, reading, and kite flying. Claire and I booked a lush villa by the beach accommodating four adults very comfortably – there was a kitchen, haveli-style common room, courtyard and garden – just what we needed for the perfect tranquil getaway.

At the bottom of the path to our place was probably the best beach bar I have been to in the world – Mowie’s. There we would have sunset beers every night, in sheer relaxation and tranquility.

Photo credit: Claire Hudson

Claire invited her friend Scott to join us on this island retreat and it was my mission to build the kite with him as part of our male-bonding over beers. The day I wanted to put it together, he didn’t wake up and so that mission never happened – instead I enlisted the help of our awesome host, Wayan. He gave us the string and even helped to set it up properly so that the kite ship would fly horizontally in the wind!

It was time to fly the kite and so we took her down to Mowie’s. I tried several times to get the kite to catch wind, but my kite flying skills were subpar. The bar staff ran out and saved the day – all eyes on us – we flew the kite for about half an hour and it the most relaxing and therapeutic activity I had had in weeks.

Photo credit: Claire Hudson

On other days, we would go down to sunrise beach with our bicycles and have beers on the beach. Lunch was pretty lush, seafood being the hero of many of the dishes I was eating. I have to make special mention of the octopus salad that was just wow!

At sunrise beach we did go for a bit of a snorkel snorkel. There were so many colourful fish and coral right up near the shore, it was glorious. This gave rise to the idea of going deeper to explore the underwater world more intimately – this was the beginning of my diving journey.

Photo credit: Claire Hudson

Feature image credit: Claire Hudson

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