Hello from Gili! A set of three small and peaceful island off the coast of Lombok. Our trip here was rather unorganized and not well planned but ended up working out wonderfully. From Sanur Greg myself and the wedding party headed out to Ubud, a more remote inland village made popular by the book and film Eat Pray Love. There we saw plenty of monkeys at the monkey forest one of which climbed on my shoulder for a ride! We also were able to get a bit more off the beaten track, walking down a dirt road lined with rice paddies. After a night in Ubud, Greg and I departed for Lovina, a smaller area in the north of Bali known for dolphins and black sand beaches, high hopes in hand we braved the 3 hour ride up winding roads and mountain passes. After settling in to our hotel we headed for the beach, to be sorely disappointed, a thin strip of black sand 5′ wide then sea which remained at knee deep for a long way out.
The next morning we got up for 5:30 dolphin watching, which was much more exciting than the beach, we saw countless dolphins jumping and swimming up by the boat! We then went snorkeling at the reef by Lovina, seeing tropical fish and star fish.
On from Lovina we headed to Pandang Bay, the harbor town to get to Lombok and Gili. One uneventful night there and a fast boat ride later and we finally found what Hollywood portrays as an island paradise, white sand beaches, light blue water and cheap, fresh seafood! After I went snorkeling off the beach and saw a sea turtle eating coral and countless beautiful fish we attempted to camp by the beach in our hammock tents, however a strong downpour forced us to take up more conventional accommodations for the night.
Today I’m going to try and get a dive in and then give camping by the beach another shot.

Peace and chow,
Jacob