CAIT AROUND THE WORLD

May 3, 2023 — I decided to take the early morning slow boat to Gili Air, so that meant getting up, gathering my stuff together (which was quite a feat considering I’d only been at the hostel for two nights), and checking out before heading down to the beach to purchase a ticket (thank goodness for locals to give you directions to the ticket office) and then waiting for the boat on the pier. It arrived around quarter to ten and was a lot busier than the afternoon one was when I came from Gili T to Gili Meno.

When I arrived in Gili Air, it was like an instant vibe shift. For one thing, every time I land on a new island, the shore is more beautiful than the first was. Just look at this progression:

When I got to Gili Air, I had a fifteen minute walk to get to H2O Yoga and Meditation Center. I’d decided when I was in Australia to treat myself to a couple days of yoga and relaxing by a pool. It was a really good decision, but the one downside was that the place didn’t have air conditioning (and no, I didn’t realize this before I booked). As I walked, I formulated a few first impressions of Gili Air, which were extremely positive. There were lots of places for food that I wanted to try, it felt slower paced than Gili T, but it also wasn’t nearly as dead as Gili Meno was. It was a really nice level of activity and the vibe was good.

When I got to H2O, I was able to check in right away which was awesome, especially since it was only just after ten in morning and check-in wasn’t supposed to be until two in the afternoon. I was expecting to need to leave my bag and then go get some brunch before I came back. Instead, I got into the room right away. My parents offered to pay for this place after my rough few days and in honour of a little R&R, which I am sublimely grateful for, so we got PayPal figured out and I sent the information across the world to Mom.

After I dropped my bags in the room, I slipped my sandals back on and headed down the street toward the pier again. On my walk up, I’d taken note of a restaurant that I wanted to try for brunch and it was such a good decision — just delicious!

After breakfast, I headed back to H2O and got my swimsuit on. I proceeded to spend the rest of the day out by the pool, alternating between swimming, sitting in the sun and the shade, and reading. When I got a little tired of reading, I had a brainwave and found printable logic puzzles that I could load onto my iPad! I spent a happy couple of hours working through some of them.

While I was enjoying the pool, I also made the executive decision to cancel my Mount Rinjani trekking tour on Lombok. As you may or may not know (I’m not sure if I mentioned this was part of my plans), I had signed up to do a two day-one night trek from Sembalun on Lombok up to Senaru Crater and then to the summit of Mount Rinjani. I was due to head there in a couple of days, and I just didn’t have it in me, for so many reasons. I’d had a rough few days, I was feeling exhausted, I had a busy few months coming up after this brief respite, and I also knew that my period was due in a few days. Climbing a mountain would be like the seventh circle of hell. Looking back on it, cancelling was one of the best decisions I ever made. However, I’m really looking forward to making the trek some other time, when I return to Indonesia (because I will definitely be back). Since I cancelled that tour, I also booked an extra couple nights on Gili Air, this time at Captain Coconuts because there was no more availability at H2O.

At quarter after four, I did the Yin Detox yoga class, which was absolutely wonderful. I love yin yoga for its minimum effort and deep stretches. It was very much needed. I also happened to meet back up with the girl I’d met on the boat to Gili Meno a couple days before! We practiced next to each other and actually went out for dinner afterward as well. Personally, I was jonesing for pizza and we ended up at a little place called Italy. It was beautifully decorated, even had a stone facade at the entrance.

After dinner, we walked back to the hostel and parted ways. I took a shower (in the outdoor shower!) and then called home. When we hung up, I went in to bed with all the fans thumping.

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