Hello again

This is just a quick one as we only stayed in Ahmed for one night. We left Lovina knowing that we didn't have time to visit Komodo Island, or trek up a volcano (next time!) and finally got to the Gili Islands (which we're well excited about!) but there were a few stops on the way which were worth a visit, the first of which was Tulamben!

This town was pretty rubbish to be fair, there was literally nothing there but in the bible that is Lonely Planet (and from divers back in Koh Tao) we were informed of a shipwreck about 5 meters off the shore!!Although I couldn't go diving again as I'm spending a fortune we decided to go snorkeling! The place was on the way to our final stop in Ahmed so our driver agreed to wait for an hour while we went for a dip!

The ship - the US Liberty, was a cargo ship bringing supplies to their troops based there in world war 2 (I think) and was bombed by a Japanese submarine. The wreck was brought onto the beach but when a local volcano erupted it was washed back into the sea right up at the shore! It was a remarkable sight underwater with loads of fish and coral growing on the mast!! We were enjoying ourselves loads until we spotted a couple of jellyfish about after about 40 mins so we both got a bit un-nerved so we ended our snorkeling a bit early and got ourselves to Ahmed!

When we arrived the driver dropped us of at 'his mates' hotel and we got the weirdest room ever for a good price!! It was more like a house than a hotel room!! It had a massive patio with table and chairs and as you went in the was a bed in the middle of the room, with a lamp and a dresser in there, than at the top of the bed there was a fish tank attached to the wall with a couple of pets for us, and off to the left there were some stairs going up to a second level were there was just another single bed up there!! Weird!! AND......there was an outside bathroom! Ha! made sure we didnt need the loo at night with tall the bugs and whatever else might be lurking there! Smart though!

From here we headed straight to Gili Trawangan via a 'gloryfied canoe' which was definitely a memorable experience!!!!

Hope all is well back home,

Chris & Debs

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