It was such a nice island and the people so friendly and hospitable, i was sad to leave. Unlike the larger Gili T, it still had a backpacker feel to it, with other tourists still saying 'hello' when passing you...
July/ August and December/ January are the high seasons so, its best to come at other times if you're looking for cheap accommodation.
On Monday 28th Feb I booked a 'fast boat' straight to Bali (thereby avoiding Bangsal port in Lombok and its unsavoury touts). As it was off season, i haggled and got a 'walk out' price (where you pretend to walk out & then the travel agent gives you his best offer) of £25 (less than half price) including over-land transfer right to Legian beach in Bali in an AC car.
Vinny had told me the night before at the bar that fast boats were safe and that only 2 had sunk previously (!!!) and i had told him, 'you're still not making me feel more comfortable about this, Vinny'.... still not sure if he was trying to wind me up...
The boat picked me up at 11.30 am and sped off. I had made sure to get a good boat for this journey as it was 1.5 hours ride to Bali. The 'Marina Srikandi' had a capacity of 60 people, 8 crew, ship to shore radio, life raft, life jackets and an impressive 5, 250 Horse power out-board motors :
These made the boat absolutely fly.
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Vinny had told me the straight between Gilis (Lombok) and Bali had some of the deepest waters anywhere in the world. In the centre, was the fault line where the Indo-Australian and Indo-Chinese tectonic plates meet. The cavern this fault line creates caused the water to move at super speed from north to south down the fault. When we came to this bit, the waters became incredibly choppy and the captain reduced the power to stop the boat bouncing off the waves. Even with the 5 outboard motors, this boat and bigger ships are dragged off course by the current and have to realign themselves to reach their destination.
I found a link to a diagram of these, if you're interested...
Tectonic Plates and Fault Lines in Asia Pacific
..By 3 in the afternoon i was in Bali, and spent 2 nights there, before catching my flight to Kuala Lumpur and then To Colombo, Sri Lanka...(When you're travelling by boat its always best to leave 2 days before your flight, to counteract any unforeseen delays like bad weather etc., especially in asia...
While i was in Legian, Bali, i found a shop selling fake Paul Smith t-shirts... Phil, i know you'd be frowning when you read this, but they were such good Korean made fakes, that i couldn't help myself & bought 2, and therefore contributed to the black economy ....sorry ! :0)
