The holy month of Ramadan ended during the last week of August and it was accompanied by the celebration of Malaysia's Independence Day (
Hari Merdaka). With 3 days off in a row, what were we to do except enjoy a full week of vacation? Bali has been on our list of places to visit for a long time as we have heard great things about the island's diving, culture, art and landscape. Inspired by a travel piece by Samantha Brown for TLC, our first stop was
Gili Trawangan. The 2.5-hour fast boat trip from southern Bali to GT was long and at times spine-jarring, but imagine our delight at finding the island surrounded by absurdly clear, turquoise water.
We stayed in our own Balinese-style hut at a diving-oriented little compound right off the beach. With no motorized traffic on the island (just these adorable horsey-carts), and clusters of beer shacks, cafes and cheap accommodation, the vibe definitely backpacker-chic.
We also loved our 3 dives in the waters surrounding Gili Trawangan. We saw many
puffer fish (our favorite), beautiful soft and hard corals, sea turtles and even a couple of black-tipped reef sharks (my least favorite).
The visibility was excellent and we made full use of the waterproof housing for our little Cannon s95 point-n-shoot camera.
If the Teletubbies had a starfish friend, it would look like this.
This
green sea turtle was enjoying a little rest and a bit of grooming.
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