Simon's despatch: The curse of the Gili islands!

After a lovely time on Bali we decided to travel to the Gili islands. A group of 3 tiny islands famous as a place to learn to dive, with perfect beaches and, at the turn of the century, only 1 hotel. The idea was for Beth to learn to dive and for me to do a scuba refresher course.

The islands sounded so laid back we opted to take the fast boat there for a bit of adrenaline (and a £27 per day budget precluded flying). There were lots of warnings about the fast boats being nothing but fishing boats with 5 big motors strapped to the back which weren't suitable for an ocean crossing. How 2 had sunk in the last 2 years and that despite their claims of a sun deck (the roof), you should never go up there as
1) 35 knots of wind & spray is unpleasant
2) people have had to be rescued once the boat hits the ocean swell.

Luckily the guy selling the tickets to us half price, assured us they were for a good boat and if we couldn't trust him who could we trust? So with that in mind we headed to the harbour.

Disappointingly for those of you who enjoy a good horror story, the ocean was glassy flat with far less swell than an episode of 'happy days'. The boat seemed fine and the whole thing was uneventful. The only jeopardy coming from trying to dismount between the waves as the boat just runs up the beach. There is a jetty but due to a miscalculation it was built too high for any boat to use and has just become a folly in the truest sense of the word.

We stayed on Gili Trawangan the largest island of the 3 & also referred to as the party island. Time has moved on and the 1 hotel has become 100. Let's just say it wasn't even close to the cast away experience Beth had been expecting. On top of this Beth got gili belly the next day which prevented her from starting the dive course & threatened her 30th birthday celebrations!

Luck and a million bacteria weren't on her side and she was still suffering a bit on her birthday. However, she assures me she still loved her birthday. We snorkelled with turtles, checked into one of the poshest hotels on the island (best £50 I ever spent) and went to the poshest & possibly only Indian restaurant, where Beth only managed to eat 5 mouthfuls of paneer (worst £20 I ever spent). I think she enjoyed watching tv for the first time in months the most, as I lost her to the music channel for quite a while - rock and roll 30th!

Beth was supposed to start her rescheduled dive course the following day but woke up with a cold and unable to equalise her ears (very important if you don't fancy a burst eardrum). With the 30 day visa ticking she decided someone was trying to tell her something and gave up on diving (for now).

I did my refresher dive seeing more turtles, giant trigger fish and the cutest giant stuffed toy looking starfish! Then the next day we waved goodbye to Gili Trawangan and headed to Lombok proper on the local taxi boat with 25 locals and a chicken - who we only noticed when she made a bid for freedom from her owners jacket as the boat landed giving everyone a laugh but ultimately failing to find freedom.