ok so Cath and I were in Padang Bai the last time we spoke - a nice little quiet harbour town where we were to spend a nice little quiet night before getting the ferry over to the Gili Islands. You may have already guessed that that plan went somewhat awry due to a lack of dinner and an overbundence of arak cocktails. An enjoyable night was spent in the reggae bar in town, but we paid dearly for it the next morning. Arak is most definitely off the menu for the rest of our trip.
Moving swiftly on, the Gili Islands were lovely. We stayed on Trawangan, which is known as 'party island' although Cath and I did the exact opposite; after our little episode back in padang bai we felt the need to detox. The Gilis are tiny islands off the coast of Lombok where water (if there is a tap and if it is working, it will have seawater coming out of it) and electricity are scarce commodities but their setting makes up for any minor inconvenience. [sidenote: in our detox efforts, we decided to watch films at night instead of hitting the bars. Due to power cuts, we have no idea how the film Vicky, Christina, Barcelona ends so any information much appreciated!]. We went snorkelling (when one is on a Gili island, one must snorkel) and saw big turtles, which were amazing.
After a few nights on Trawangan we found out about a boat trip that would take us to Flores via Komodo, which was where we were planning to head anyway so we decided to tag along. There were supposed to be a minimum of 10 people (max 18) before the trip could go, but some people dropped out at the last minute so there were seven of us (not counting the crew). The boat was described as 'traditional', a word which can be replaced with 'lacking in most basic facilities but you're in Indonesia now, so just deal with it'. The trip took 4 days /3 nights (all of which were spent on the boat). We slept above the engine under a canvas on a "matresses"on a wooden floor (like being in a low tent) and the rest of the time was spent either snorkelling or sitting on the only other deck. We moored the boat overmight for two of the nights but the second night was spent travelling - complete with a storm or three so we were tossed around while the little boat contended with massive waves and whirlpools.
The highlight of the past few days was definitely that boat trip. Despite four days at sea where the only shower was a dip in the sea and the toilet was an interesting rocking squat right by the 'kitchen' it was great fun. We saw a whale one morning and lots of flying fish accompanied us. Apparently there were dolphins but I missed them as I was trying (and failing) to get some sleep... Last but not least we went to Rinca and saw Komodo dragons. Amazing things - walking through the island (closely following our stick bearing guide) and seeing them wandering around was a real Jurassic Park moment!
We are having serious technical difficulties so I can't upload photos just yet....I will as soon as I can though
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re: vicky christina barcelona. I also only saw the first half of it. Given it got quite good reviews (and how awful the first half was) I can only assume that Penelope Cruz and Scarlett Johansson lez it right up for the entire second half of the film. Can anybody confirm?
Hi guys, only just found out about this cos I've only just checked my e-mails, der!! I've been missing out, but this is brilliant, and will be keeping tabs on you now!! Take care of each other and be having a wicked time ya hear? Lots of love, Miche xxxxxxxxxx
PS did you get my good luck cat?
Oh my, having scrolled down here on this comment form, things are getting serious, I don't have a google account and what's an url? You may get this, you may not. Here goes......
jealous - moi?! as if.... it all sounds so marvellous can't believe you still have like 7 months to go! although i feel like i'm living it with you. miss you loads xoxo
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