Indonesian Island Hopping

A month ago, I had the pleasure of wandering halfway across the world to meet friends travelling Indonesia. It was the furthest I have ever travelled and the first time flying on my own, but by far the most wonderful holiday I have ever been on. We visited many cities in Bali, spending time in Uluwatu, Canggu, and Kuta. In Bali it is seen as trendy to be healthy which we loved! We went to collagen coffee cafes, gyms with weights and machines made from wood and had aloe vera massages.

The highlight of the trip was visiting the Gili Islands, they are a few hours by boat off the coast of Bali, and are the most picturesque trio of islands, Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno, and Gili Air. No motorised vehicles are allowed on the islands, with horse and cart and bicycles being the only forms of transportation. The islands are Muslim and we were lucky visiting during Ramadan. This time was perfect to visit, no crowds, idyllic beaches to ourselves, pure peace; until the mosques speakers played the call to prayer throughout the island at 5am. We had some early starts however this definitely worked in our favour.

One morning we did sunrise yoga on the island helipad. We witnessed the most beautiful sunrise, listened to waves lap the shore and saw horses running up and down the beach. What a wonderful change it was from the usual hustle and bustle of city life at that time in the morning. Another day we did sunrise paddle boarding where we saw the bioluminescent plankton glow bright blue throughout the ocean before the sun peeked above the horizon. The locals embraced the island life so beautifully, with the entire island running on Indonesian time we liked to call it.

The islands are full of wild animals, they have monkeys, monitor lizards, saltwater crocodiles, reef sharks and even pythons. One of the best activities we did was snorkelling. We swam with the most majestic turtles, dove down to the underwater statues, and saw the most colourful fish, I even got bit by a parrot fish when I was feeding them! We visited the island turtle sanctuary where the locals collect turtle eggs from the beach that would otherwise be eaten by monitor lizards. They raise the babies until they are 8 months old, then release them when they are a bit bigger, so they have a much better chance of survival.

I cannot wait to go back to the Gili Islands and cannot recommend them enough to those wanting to explore Indonesia. Just make sure to bring plenty of mosquito repellent!