So after our strenuous efforts to (nearly) reach the top of Mount Rinjani we decided to have a bit of recovery time. So the day after we got back to the Gili Isles we left again on a fast boat to Amed on Bali. Well it would have been fast if it had left on time. It was due to leave at 9am and actually left about 1pm. Even once we'd left we didn't actually go very fast as we had to make 3 different stops to other islands. Then it took another half an hour to reach full speed due to ongoing maintenance to two of the engines! Eventually however we made it and the now traditional wade ashore was made slightly more exciting by the much rougher waves coming in. You had to time it just right or the water would be up around your waist! Luckily there was a line of locals waiting on the beach and in the water to grab us one by one! 
 
Amed itself was a very sleepy place consisting of about four small villages on the East coast of Bali. We ended up staying in a really nice hotel on the first night there, although the oversized steps to reach the rooms were not what we needed with extremely sore leg muscles. It was particularly funny watching Hannah and Alex having to crawl down backwards at one point. The only full day we spent there consisted of switching hotels (due to a booking error on my part), walking along the beach, lazing by the pool and then drinking cheap wine in a nice restaurant. Just what we needed with sore legs :)