Jakarta

On the 10^th of September, we made our way to Jakarta and stayed with James’ parents. We spent the next five days visiting sights including miniature Indonesia park which has displays from the different provinces and cultures across Indonesia's thousands of islands, Dufan (theme park), SeaWorld, and also the old capital city of Batavia which was the center of trade and commerce in Dutch colonial times in the 17^th century. We had a wonderful time exploring the hustle and bustle of Jakarta whilst catching up with family and friends.

Dragons!

On the 8^th of September, we arrived in the seaside port town of Labuan Bajo and made our way onto our boat to head off into the Komodo National Park. We spent two days and one night in a cabin on the private boat.

We spent the first day snorkeling various hot spots of the clear waters of Komodo National Park, spotted and chased manta rays, and finished off by anchoring the boat near the mangroves where the bats lived. The bats come out at sunset and fill the sky as the search for food on the other bigger islands at nightfall.

On the second day, we trekked up Komodo and Rinca Island to spot the Komodo Dragons in their natural habitat. The guide described how the baby dragons live high up in the palm trees until they are old enough, due to the occurrences of cannibalism amongst the dragons.

It was a great experience seeing these Komodo Dragons in their natural habitat.

The Gili Islands

Not even 24 hours after a sunrise trek, reaching the skies, we decided it was time to make our way to the crystal clear waters and white sandy beaches of Gili Trawangan. Needless to say it was a nice change of pace and scenery, which also proved to be less challenging than the busy beaches and streets of Kuta.

We spent our days snorkeling, swimming, and biking around the island with a perimeter of only around 7kms.

The only modes of transport on the Gili Islands are horse-drawn carts, push bikes, or foot which made a pleasant change from the craziness of motor bikes and cars in Bali.

On our first night on the island we stopped by the Irish Pub for a drink after dinner where we bumped into a few other travelers. Safe to say, that one drink may have turned into a few. 

We continued to meet up every night after until we left the island. 

We made some good friends at the Irish.

A couple of nights were spent checking out the night markets to sample some of the best seafood the Gilis have to offer.

Gili Islands was well worth a visit, and we didn't want to leave! It was a little slice of white sandy paradise on earth.