From Sengiggi we had an early transfer to Bengsal port. Being on a budget we got the less reliable public boat. The crossing was fine but we had to wait ages for it to fill up and load all the local's supplies. Sitting at the port it feels like you must be forgotten about but all the local companies know exactly what's going on as you are passed from one person to the next and your ticket is swapped for another many times.
We arrived on Gili Air, an island just off north west Lombok and managed to get accommodation in someone's garden for very cheap. It's great as we are just off the beach and not in a resort to there's no hassle. Me and Ben are sharing a small house. It's basic but theres lots of space to spread out. I have the whole of upstairs (theres is only a bed) but the best and slightly puzzling part is the 18 electric sockets as we are usually lucky if there is just a single working one!
Gili Air is a great place to relax. Theres beach front restaurants but no party places so it's quiet and it's nice to just admire the views over Lombok. Swimming isn't great as the water is shallower than a bath but we did go on a snorkeling trip today and got pretty close to turtles 3 times. The Gili islands provide some of the worlds best diving with more fish species than the Great Barrier Reef so I went diving just off the shore. It was a fantastic experience, completely different to Thailand and Malaysia. With just me and a guide diving we saw many species I hadn't seen before including 2 type of eel, lion fish and stone fish which I was pretty convinced the guide was pointing to a piece of coral!
It's been really great to chill out for a few nights and I think it's what everyone needed as we get further to Australia and further plans.
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