From Nusa Dua on Bali we headed to Sanur for the fast boat to the Gili islands, a small group of tropical islands just off the coast of Lombok, comprising Gili Trawangan, the largest and most known for partying, Gili Meno and Gili Air.

Now although we don’t fit the age profile we decided to stay at Gili Trawangan but in the north of the island where you are more likely to see turtles swimming close to shore.

The islands definitely offer the white sand and clear blue sea that the word island brings to mind.

There are no cars on the island but lots of electric scooters and bikes which sneak up on you. They also have horses pulling small carriages but the internet is full of negative comments about the treatment of the horses so I used this as the opportunity to actually carry our rucksacks like proper backpackers, rather than sticking them in the boot of a Grab.

I learned 2 lessons. Firstly, carrying a rucksack you have not adjusted properly for a mile in over 30 degrees does not result in a good look for a 56 year old overweight man. Secondly, we found some online videos from people looking after the horses who know about their welfare and all seems well so we could have taken that option.

Things were looking a bit sketchy on the walk to our bungalow accomodation as we were inland, had walked past a few piles of rubbish and just before we entered we passed a discarded mattress and lots of weird looking chickens running around. As soon as we walked through the entrance though all fears were gone, particularly as the guy took one look at my red sweaty head and said just go to your bungalow and relax with a cold drink first, you can check in later.

The people working there told us “this is your home now”, were constantly tidying, cleaning and smiling. They also delivered a fabulous breakfast of your choice to your bungalow. My new favourite breakfast is a smoothie bowl, who knew?

Gili Trawangan has been massively developed in the main area near the Harbour with loads of restaurants and bars, and the development is still happening. I am not sure how much control or planning is being exercised as it is already too much. Other parts of the island are much quieter.

There is a weekly rota where 1 bar can stay open until 2am each night. We saw a group pub crawl which looked like an 18-30 holiday for those that remember them. Deciding that  was a step too far we just had food and a few drinks while watching one of the many live bands playing in the bars/restaurants, however just walking along you notice they all seem to have the same setlist just played with a slightly different style and in a slightly different order. I guarantee that within an hour you’ll hear various versions of Country Road, Sweet Caroline and Zombie. You get a Groundhog Day feeling pretty quickly, although some of those on the pub crawl looked less likely to remember.

Walking into the sea on the north shore at 8am you are likely to see turtles swimming around you feeding on seagrass. Beautiful creatures with an effortless way of moving through the water.

We booked a small boat to take us snorkelling and over to Gili Meno. Our preference is always to book direct with someone using a local contact rather than through booking sites as even though it is cheaper for us, it also means more money is going to the local economy without booking fees. If also gives more chance to tailor the trip to your aims. Obviously there is more trust required and less safeguards but we have not had a problem so far.

Although we save money booking this way we are always happy to pass these savings onto the guides. The two guys who took us out were great fun, did their best to avoid the crowds and took some great photos and videos on a GoPro that they sent us via WhatsApp. They travel over from Lombok every day as there is more work on the islands and were paid 150,000 Indonesian Rupiah per day which is c£6. We had saved about £12 booking direct so we were happy to give them this as we had enjoyed their company and the experience so much. It took some persuading for them to accept it as they kept telling us it was a day’s wages but they deserved it.

The stark difference in wealth between tourists and local people was made real on Gili Meno, the middle and more pricey island, where we walked past some lovely beachfront villas with private pools which cost £400 per night. A waiter we got to know in Bali a few days before (Hi Rudi) was paying only £100 more than that for a boarding house for him, his wife and child, for a year!

From Gili Trawangan it was over to Lombok, and our longest stay yet of 6 nights in Senggigi. As the anti Bali sentiment seems to grow based on the high levels of commercial development, often unregulated, Lombok is seen by many as offering a taste of what Bali was like 20 to 30 years ago, from personal experience I could see that.

Luckily the place we stayed, a recently opened place called Alice Beach Resort, (Hi Vaughan and team) was right on the beach and offered fantastic sunset views as the sun dipped behind Mount Agung, the largest volcano on Bali.

Up to this point, two and a bit months in, we have only eaten cuisine from the country we are in, Thai food in Thailand (a dream as we love this food), Malaysian in Malaysia and then Indonesian in Indonesia but this is where we cracked. After a few weeks everything felt like a variation of a Nasi Goreng and we caved. Unfortunately Pip’s dream of steak and chips was foiled when the restaurant told us they had run out of chips!!! How does that happen…. so she had it with mashed potato. We went western again the next night and Pip had one of the best gluten free burgers of her life!

We enjoyed some relaxation time here but on one of our days travelling around Lombok we visited some small villages, waterfalls, a water palace and all was well with the world, and then…..

After this photo things went a bit weird….

OK, so we are at the Pura Lingsar temple, believed to be the oldest in Lombok, with a very enthusiastic local guide. Trouble was he spoke pretty quickly, we only got about 1 in every 3 words and I haven’t got the slightest interest in any religion, but we were happy to go along with things. Everything seemed fine and Pip quickly made a new friend.

From here it turned into some sort of fever dream. We suddenly went from throwing coins into some sort of wishing well (not a religion I know of), paying someone to hard boil some eggs so that we can hopefully see some holy eels???? and then before you know it we are stripping down, donning a new outfit and getting soaked under the cold holy spring water for 3 minutes while our guide slaps flowers on our heads as part of a purification process. How did that happen? PS. Pip is only partially purified as she wouldn’t get her hair wet!!!!

In case you were wondering, we then went to the pool with the holy eels and one of the locals crumbled in some of the hard boiled eggs we paid for and 3 eels appeared.

Apparently 3 eels is very unusual and signifies we have good fortune. My cynical side thinks they just hadn’t had a gullible prat prepared to pay over the odds for hard boiled eggs that week, so the eels were just hungry.

Let’s see if the holy eels bring us any good fortune in the coming weeks.

Next adventure, boat trip to Flores