Diving - Gili Islands, Indonesia

The last few days have been touch-n-go movement and activity. I arrived on the island of Bali, Indonesia late on January 22, booked a luxury room for US$25 on the infamous Kuta Beach and decided to leave the beachster party scene far behind the next morning as I made my way towards the Gili Islands. After a only a few hours by bus, a stopover and snorkeling at the harbor town of Padangbai, and 4-5 hours on a boat I am here on Gili Trawangan.

Locals here define the term laid-back. Do what you want, pay when you want, and get some tea for free. My first morning here I made my way to a local dive shop called Big Bubble and made it on their first dive of the day leaving 15 minutes later. I dived three times that day including my first night dive seeing reef sharks, plenty of gigantic green sea turtles, schools of exotic fish, and the eerily dark night sea.

Now I am mapping out alternatives to spend the next weeks around Indonesia. My gut tells me to abandon what modernization I enjoy, shoot the moon, and head towards the Banda "Spice" Islands near Maluku (a travel segment that may entail almost 100 hours in a passenger boat, one-way). We shall see as Indonesia unfolds.