Gili-ant

Sorry about the title. I know it's bad. I think the sun has gone to my head, or something.

I forgot to mention in my last post the highlight of Ubud for all of us - the live music. We went to the Jazz Cafe and were treated to live Latin music which we attempted to salsa to - badly, obviously. We also went to a reggae bar, and listened to world music and various acoustic sets. All three of us are music lovers and particular fans of live music in any shape or form (apart from badly-played) so that was a real treat.

But anyway, onto my news from the last few days.

We caught the slow boat over to Gili Air which allowed ample time for tanning on the sundeck, although since none of us had slept well the night before it was resentful, grumpy tanning as opposed to sun-worshipping tanning. As in, if there had been shade, we would rather have been in it.

But we soon realised the enforced tanning had been a good idea when we got to Gili Air and saw how disgustingly brown everyone was compared to us - it is such a diving paradise (and a paradise in general) here that lots of people come here and just stay and dive, thus making them hideously, depressingly tanned. We felt very pale and English.

We found our dive school with ease - there are no roads or ATMS or cars on Gili Air, you go everywhere by horse and cart, and if you haven't taken out enough money, I suppose you are there washing dishes until you earn your boat fare back, or something. So we took a horse and cart to Blue Marlin Divers, where Chris, a nice Irish girl who owns the place, was waiting for us to give us our PADI books and get us settled into our room.

The next day, Gabi and I started our course at 2.30pm just watching videos and stuff - in the morning we just sunbathed, and I read Gabi Chapter One of the Openwater Dive Manual to help relieve her boredom - I'm not sure if it worked... Charlotte was doing her Advanced Diver course so was out at 8am in the water, doing two dives that first day with a very amusing couple of Russian girls (unintentionally hilarious, obviously) who spent the entire Underwater Photography Dive taking photos of themselves doing peace signs rather than at the fish as directed.

Gabi and I started our course the next day, we met the other girls (Jo, Laurie and Maryam - all very nice indeed, Maryam ended up being my dive buddy and a very good one she was too) and did our pool test. Gabi wasn't that fussed by it, she didn't hate it but just didn't particularly love it, so decided not to do anymore of the course because that way she didn't have to pay. I went back for our first openwater dive in the afternoon which was a cross between the exhilarating and the traumatic - exhilarating because, you know, you're breathing underwater, and there's fish and stuff. And traumatic because I couldn't control my buoyancy, equalizing seemed like a lot of work, and I had a strong feeling that my tank might fall off/regulator might break and I might die a horrible underwater death. The fact that this has never actually happened didn't reassure me. But it was actually a great dive and we saw some interesting things and I didn't die, which filled me with confidence (sort of).

The next day was an early start - 8am. We did three hours of dive theory, and then our second pool session to learn skills, before doing another dive in the afternoon. This dive was much better - I was reassured, no, convinced that I wasn't going to die. I almost descended properly (not quite). I managed to actually look at the fish instead of just hover in vague confusion. Everything was looking good. We then came back and took the PADI exam which was pretty easy, seeing as everything you get wrong, you get explained to you and then corrected so everyone gets full marks eventually. Not that I got much wrong to be honest, only a couple of questions - that was the geek in me, I suppose. I think I was the only one on the course that actually read the instruction manual... it didn't really help.

Our last day was just two 18m dives. This was by far the best day. I was confident, could set up the gear on my own, descend without any help and manage my weights correctly, maintain my buoyancy no problem, and even better, we saw and had long looks at some awesome fish and coral. We dived around a wreck in the morning which was incredible and quite creepy, and then in the afternoon we saw six sea turtles (mind-bogglingly huge), a stingray and a puffa fish all puffed up, amongst many other beautiful things. And then I was a qualified Open Water Diver! Which is a really amazing feeling despite it being a course that even the most idiotic Gap Yah can and does complete on a regular basis. I still felt good. At this point in my travels it's been so long since I have studied for or achieved anything tangible that I was on a high from that for quite a while.

In the evenings we have mainly been eating really nice food, drinking a little bit (not much because Charlotte and I were diving) and having big cups of tea watching the sunset and then the moon on the water. Tonight we are going for fresh barbecued fish, and then there is a big trance/reggae party at one of the bars on the island that our dive instructors are going to so we will definitely hit that up as a last-night treat as we leave tomorrow to go to Jogjakarta (Java).

Gili Air is the most amazing place. I am feeling thoroughly relaxed and happy, and my tan has considerably deepened. Diving, too, has been an incredible experience. All of these things combined make Gili Air definitely one of, if not my actual favourite, place on this trip so far - and there is a LOT of competition for that title. I will definitely be coming back here.

Tomorrow we get a boat then a plane to Jogjakarta and are going to a volcanic crater lake, and to see some temples and things. We have exactly a week left in Indonesia, and it is now officially two and a half weeks until I am home. I have mixed feelings about both of these things.

I do miss everyone, though. I wrote a lot of postcards back in Goa in March but genuinely I have been too lazy to actually send them (really sorry) - I will get on sending them soon. They may be distinctly Indian in nature. I was considering pretending they all got lost in the post but may as well come clean and admit that no, they have just been sitting in my bag for over three months because I've never seemed to find time to go to the Post Office. This will be rectified - and not just because Gabi has to send hers and therefore she will motivate me to go with her. Hm.

Will write more from Java. Apologies for anyone whose messages I have not yet replied to - my internet time is limited due to the fact that I am maximizing my tanning time so when I get back no one does that whole "Ooh, have you really been away for four months? You're not that brown", and also my dive course was super hectic - I will get on it, probably towards the end of Java.

Lots of love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx