Week 13- Indonesia (Gilli T) Day 7

We were both some excited to head to the Gilli Islands as we have heard how beautiful they are, well the reviews certainly weren't wrong it was like paradise! We were up early so we could pig out on the fancy breakfast buffet before our transfer pick up at 8am. However, we were a bit gutted because the man had told us the wrong time so the shuttle appeared at 7.30am.. No breakfast buffet for us! We did manage to get the man to put some toast and a pastry in a doggy bag for us! The shuttle took about 1 and a half hours and took us to the harbour. When we got off the bus there were local men who chucked our rucksacks straight onto a cart.. We were worried we would never see our bags again! We had to sign in then headed to the boat. Once we got on we just had to pray our rucksacks were onboard too as there were lots of different boats!!

We both managed to get some sleep on the boat and it only took about an hour and a half. When we stepped off the boat it was literally like stepping into a postcard. The sea was so blue and clear and the sand was white! The men threw the bags off the side of the boat to each other to out on the beach.. Good job they are good at catch or the bags would have ended up in the sea! We didn't have a clue where we were going once we arrived on the island but luckily we spotted a sign to Rose Homestay. There are no roads on this island which makes it feel even more of a chilled out haven. They use horse and cart to transport goods about and they also use the horses for transporting people to the other side of the island.

Our hostel wasn't too far of a walk and seemed really nice. The owner named Yanto was really sweet and was very helpful, advising us how much different activities should cost and where to get food (we had read how nice he was in the reviews). It was early afternoon so we decided to head to the beach. We got sun beds and ordered some food, we were in our element. The sea was nice and cold, however, the sea floor was covered in dead coral so it hurt your feet! We chilled out until the early evening then headed back to the Homestay.

The room was basic but very clean.. Just how we like it! The one problem with the island is that it doesn't have hot water showers so showering was a bit of an experience with lots of shrieking! Yanto had told us to check out the night market for food so we had a wonder down there. There were a lot of BBQ stalls.. All the meat and seafood looked so fresh! We both decided to have whole red snapper fish. It was incredible, probably one of my favourite meals since travelling (now that's a statement). It came with 3 sides (we had pumpkin, mixed vegetables and a sweetcorn fritter and also rice. We had peanut sauce with it which was so yummy. I managed to fall of my chair backwards after we had finished eating which was rather entertaining.. I hadn't even been drinking!

We had a bit more of a look around the market and found a cake stall.. We were in our element. They lady but have had at least 30 different types of cake. So we bought some to take away and enjoyed them in bed with an episode of TOWIE. We tried a few traditional ones such as sticky rice and coconut cake which was actually really nice! We also enjoyed the softest chocolate cake we have ever tried! Good job we aren't here too long or we might not fit back on the boat!