Gili Air•days 5-13

So my plan to only stay on Gili Air quickly changed! I signed up for the 9:00 and 2:00 dives on Saturday and after that I was hooked! I dived again with Rafi for both of them and a couple other people in my group. Being in the water made me so happy and I knew I couldn't leave yet. I wanted to write a post about each individual day but I think it'll be easier to just do one post about my time diving on Gili Air. I ended up diving 21 times at Manta Dive Shop! And every dive was with Rafi! I wouldn't have had it any other way! We got along really well and I really enjoyed diving with him. 

Dive Schedule

Friday: 18:00

Saturday: 9:00 and 14:00

Sunday: 9:00 and 14:00

Monday: 9:00, 12:00 and 14:00

Tuesday: 9:00 and 14:00

Wednesday: 9:00, 14:00 and 18:00

Thursday: 9:00, 14:00 and 18:00

Friday: 9:00 and 14:00

Saturday: 9:00 and 14:00

Sunday: 9:00

Dive Sights

• Harbor - Gili Air *
• Shark Point - Gili T **
• Han's Reef - Gili Air
• Manta Point - Gili Air *
• Air Wall - Gili Air
• Halik - Gili T
• Marlin's Hill - Gili Meno
• Secret Garden - Gili Air
• Meno Bounty - Gili Meno *
• Meno Wall - Gili Meno
• Happy Han's - Gili Air
• Deep Turbo - Gili T
• Seahorse Bay - Lombak
• Mirko's - Gili Meno/Gili Air
• Simon's Reef - Gili Meno
• Taket Penyu - Gili T

I really fell in love with diving this trip and the dive shop almost had me convinced to miss my flight home to stay and get my dive masters cert! I definitely see myself coming back here sooner rather than later to continue with my diving career! 🐠🐢

Nusa Lembongan🛥Gili Air•day 4

Today I left Nusa and headed over to the Gilis. The Gilis consist of 3 islands: Gili T, Gili Air and Gili Meno. Gili T is the biggest and is known to be more of a party island. Lots of backpackers, hostels and more night life. Gili Air is a bit smaller and is known to be a little more laid back and chill. Not as much going on in the evenings but still enough to do. And then Gili Meno is the smallest and is the quietest. Not to many places to stay or things to do but really beautiful.

Originally I had planned to stay on Gili T but after talking to some of my friends in Nusa I decided I wanted more of the Gili Air vibe. My main reason for going there was to dive so I didn't really care to much about the party scene. I booked the boat through the bungalow and was picked up around 9 and taken to the dock. The boat to Gili Air took a couple of hours but was really nice because I sat on top and soaked in the sunshine! I booked a hostel for 2 nights on Hostelworld before I left Nusa called Begadang. It was inexpensive and had decent reviews. I booked what I thought was a bed in a 6 person dorm. My hostel was located on the other side of the island, about a 25 minute walk away. The hostel was really neat. It has a big mushroom shaped pool and lots of bungalows and hammocks for relaxing outside. When I checked in the guy pointed at a bungalow across the way and said, you're the mattress on the right. I didn't really think twice about what he said until he walked me over to the bungalow. Each bungalow has a porch out front and on the porch are 2 mattresses! The bungalow has 4 beds inside and then 2 outside with mosquito nets covering them. 

 

It actually ended up being decent. 

After I got checked in I went to grab lunch and walked down to the beach. 

 

It was a really pretty area! I was only planning on staying on Gili Air for 2 nights so I wanted to make sure I found a dive shop and got a couple of dives booked for tomorrow. Big Fish in Nusa recommended Manta Dive so I walked back across the island and found the dive shop. When I got to Manta I was greeted immediately by one of the dive instructors, Kimmo. He was extremely friendly and helpful! I mentioned I wanted to do a couple of dives and possibly a night dive. He said well, we've got a night dive tonight if you'd like to go and then we can get you on the board for tomorrow morning and/or afternoon! I thought well why not! So I filled out the paperwork and he told me to be back around 545 for the night dive! I hurried home to change and get back to the shop on time. When I got back to the shop I met my Dive Master, Rafi. He's a local guy that's been working at Manta for about 2 years. He briefed us on the dive and told us we were going to the harbor for the dive. It's a pretty shallow dive and we would see a lot of cool creatures. He told us right away that we aren't looking for big things, fish etc. He told us that we are looking for the small, weird little creatures! I had no idea what to expect but it was actually unbelievable what we saw!! I wasn't familiar with a lot of the things we saw before the dive but learned so much from the dive and from Rafi! 

Night Dive: Harbour - Gili Air

 

• Coconut Octopus
• Thorny Seahorse
• Dwarf Cuttlefish
• Bobtail Squid
• Flying Gurnard
• Spotfin Lionfish
• Dwarf Lionfish
• Mandarin Fish
• Cockatoo Waspfish
• Long Arm Octopus
• Cone Shell Hermit Crab
• Decorator Crab
• Juvenile Batfish 
• Elegance - Nudibranch
• Helmet Gurnard

 

  (Images from google 👍🏼 just to give you an idea of what I saw on my night dive!)

So excited to dive a couple more times tomorrow! 😎

Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan•day 3

Today I decided to wake up and rent a motorbike to explore the island and the other island close by, Nusa Ceningan. 

The bungalow I was staying at helped me arrange the motorbike rental. I rented the bike for 80,000 rupiah ($6) for the day. I had a map of the island but its a pretty straight forward path. I went up and around through the mangroves which was really nice and quiet. 

 

It was really nice just being by myself and driving around at my leisure, stopping as I pleased. I drove around the island until I reached the Yellow Suspension Bridge. This is the bridge that you cross to go to Nusa Ceningan. Within the last 6 months, the yellow bridge collapsed causing quite a few fatalities. The bridge has just recently been reconstructed. 

 

This island is a little quieter than Nusa Lembongan and has so many amazing viewpoints. I drove around with no purpose or specific destination in mind. I turned down every little road or pathway I could. I wanted to see all that the island had to offer. One of the first places I came across was down this super windy steep pathway. I didn't realize it until I got to the bottom but I had driven into an Amazing resort called the Trevally. 

 

The view here was like something I've never seen before. The colors of the ocean, sky and surrounding landscape were stunning. 

I continued around the island until I came across signs for the Blue Lagoon. As I was pulling up to the signs I was not expecting what I saw. You park your bike on this dirt area and walk up to the ledge. As you walk up to the ledge you are definitely caught off guard by the view! It was so great! 

 

The blues of the water, the power of the waves and the calm in the air. I could have sat there all day.

Right around the corner from the Blue Lagoon is a cliff jumping spot. There is a little local restaurant on the corner and they have two spots where you can jump from. 

 

The highest jump is about 14 meters and the smaller jump is about 6-8 meters. When I walked into the restaurant it was still early and there was no one there. 

 

I didn't want to jump without seeing someone else do it but right as I was leaving a couple from England walked in. They walked in talking about jumping so I turned around and hung out for a bit. The place ended up getting pretty busy and a ton of people were jumping! Everyone jumped from the higher jump. 

 

After cliff jumping I was starving and decided to find somewhere to eat lunch. I came across a restaurant called, Le Pirate. 

 

It was right on the water and had a beautiful view! I sat at the bar and ordered lunch and then relaxed around the pool for a bit, soaking in the sun! 

 

I finished driving around the rest of the island and then crossed back over the suspension bridge to Nusa Lembongan. I drove around the rest of the island stopping at all the different beaches along the way. 

 

I made it back to the bungalows around dinner time. My day was really nice and I really enjoyed spending the day driving around exploring the islands! 

Nusa Lembongan•day 2

Today I got up and had a pretty lazy morning. I was diving in the afternoon so I didn't want to do anything too exhausting beforehand. I laid around in the hammock, read and had a really nice breakfast. I ordered the avocado toast which was so yummy! 

 

The woman at the front desk, Andrea, heard I was from Thailand and wanted to introduce me to the owner's sister, Julia, who was here on holiday as well. She told me that Julia also lived in Thailand, north of Bangkok. When people say that tho they normally mean Chiang Mai area. So I went over to meet Julia and it turns out she has been living in Lopburi for 7 years! Lopburi is literally the town right next to mine! What a small world! 

I was going out on the 1:00 boat so around 12:30 I headed over to get all of my dive equipment sorted out. There were only 3 of us going out on the afternoon boat which was nice.

The boat that we went out on was so much smaller than the boats I've been on in Koh Tao and Koh Chang. Bobby, the dive master was so great! 

Since we were on a small boat we did a drop in to enter the water. You sit on the edge of the boat with your back to the water and you just lean backwards and plop into the water. The first dive site was SD. It was a drift dive which I hadn't done before. It was really neat how you just let the current take you around the reefs. During this dive we saw 2 turtles (hawksbill and green)!!! I hadn't seen turtles yet so I was really excited! There were so many fish I hadn't seen before and the coral was beautiful too! The second dive was at Sentral. We saw 2 more turtles on this dive and really neat fish! The whole day was great!! 

When I got back to Secret Garden I just hung out at the pool and read a bit. Around 7 I headed out to get dinner with a new friend Rebecca, from Sweden, who was also staying there solo. We went to a  Warung (local restaurant) near by and had a really nice, inexpensive meal. We were both pretty exhausted from our day so we went back and called it a night pretty early. 

Nusa Lembongan•day 1

Today was a really nice and relaxing day! Which was much need after the past couple of days of non stop moving from Vietnam to Koh Tao to Railay and then to Bali! 

 

Rocky Fast Crusie is the company I picked to bring me from the airport to Nusa Lembongan (NL). I got picked up from the airport promptly at 8:00 and then we went to a close by hotel to pick up another couple from Sri Lanka. We got to the port with about an hour to spare. We got into the boat around 10 and had about a 40 minute ride to the island! 

 

The boat includes hotel transfer so I was brought to Big Fish Diving/Secret Garden Bungalows. The owner and staff here are fantastic and super accommodating! I got here a bit before check in but just relaxed at the pool until my room was ready! 

It was a beautiful day!!!!

 

After I put my stuff in my room I went to grab a bite to eat before heading down to the closest beach. I stopped at a recommended local restaurant right around the corner from my place. It was called Maria's and the food was delicious!

 

 I had fried noodles with chicken and they had a really nice flavor to them! Definitely different than Thai fried noodles! 

 

After lunch I walked down to the beach. The water was absolutely beautiful! The area I was at is the same area that a lot of boats go in and out of so I didn't really swim too much, but it was still gorgeous! I laid on the beach for about an hour before deciding I was too hot! 

 

I walked back to my bungalow and jumped in the pool! It was so refreshing and the area around the pool is gorgeous. So green and bright and pretty! I laid by the pool and read/napped all afternoon! 

I met a really lovely girl at the pool from Vancouver! She's a yoga teacher and was living in Ubud for a couple months. We chatted for a good couple of hours which was really nice! The accommodation is so chill and relaxing. Such good vibes and so easy to just lay around...by the pool, in a hammock, on your porch or wherever! 

 

I decided I should grab dinner so I hopped in the shower and got ready to find something to eat. I walked along the beach and finally decided on the Lembongan Beach Club. It was fancier (a pricier) than I was looking for but I was hungry so I didn't mind. After dinner I walked back and chilled on my porch reading my book for about 30 minutes before calling it a night! I was exhausted from all the travels and was excited to get a good night sleep IN a bed!  I am diving tomorrow afternoon and am so excited! :) 

Ho Chi Minh•day 11

Today was a slow moving morning. Lindsay wanted to check out the war museum but Gabby and I had already done that so Lindsay got up early and went to the museum. Gabby and I got to sleep in while we waited for her to come back! I definitely think we got the good end of the deal. Check out wasn't until noon so I basically laid in bed all morning, reading and sleeping. I had breakfast upstairs with Lindsay before she left and then laid back down. 

 

She got back around 11:45 and we got our stuff together to check out. We left our bags down stairs and went out for lunch. We went to the same spot we ate at last night because it was THAT good! 

After lunch we decided to treat ourselves to a spa day! Lindsay got a much needed aloe vera massage, Gabby got a massage and I got a foot massage, scrub and pedicure. We all had such a good time! Feels so nice to be pampered! 

After our massages we went back to Royal Saigon for an early dinner. We just didn't want to risk a bad last meal when we knew we would be really happy with whatever we got there! We had about 45 minutes minutes to kill so we went to one of the bars on the strip and had a glass of champagne before heading back to the hostel to get our stuff and head to the airport. 

We called an uber and head out to the airport around 6:40. Gabby and I fly out at 9:35 and Lindsay doesn't leave until 11 something. Lindsay wasn't able to check in yet so we just hung out with her until about 8:15 and then decided to head through security. We said our goodbyes and gave hugs and we were on our way! Only a few more hours before our 2nd trip is finished and we are back in Saraburi! I'm sad that it's over already but excited to sleep in my bed tonight!! 😊

Hoi An✈️Ho Chi Minh•day 10

We didn't have to leave Hoi An until 1:00 which was nice because we had the whole morning to relax and take care of our last minute errands. We had to go back to the dress shop at 9:00 to try on our dresses. We were all extremely nervous and stressed out about it...would they be finished...would they fit...all of that jazz. We got up and moving, had breakfast and checked out of the hostel. We walked over to the dress shop and got there around 9:20. A couple of my dressss were already there but the other 5 were on there way apparently. Right off the bat we were like oh great, the dresses aren't even here yet! 😬 Two of mine were already there so I tried them on. I was so nervous to even put them on because I had no idea what the outcome was going to be. Dress one was Perfect! 

It was a looser fitting style and everything fit really well! I was so happy! One down, two more to go! The second dress was the long dress. 

 

When she was measuring me I wanted to make sure it was long enough. I was afraid it would come back and be up to my ankles (or even higher) so I really stressed the length when she was measuring. When I tried that one on it fit great as well!! Everything fell into place as it should! The only thing that needed to be fix was the length. She made it pretty long so that I could decide how long to make it! The third dress got there shortly after and I tried that one on. This one was my least favorite out of the 3 when I tried it on. I just didn't love the way it fit on me...the straps did something funky that made the whole dress look weird in the front. I was kind of bummed until the seamstress came right over, tugged and pulled at the straps a little and then had me look in the mirror...fixed! Exactly how it should look! The girls tried their dresses on and loved them too! Gabby needed all 3 of hers taken in a bit and Lindsay's was fine! They told us to come back in about an hour and they'd be finished...okkkkkk. So we left to grab coffee and kill an hour. On the way to the coffee shop we passed a tailor shop with a sale on pre-made dresses. We stopped to take a peak and I ended up with 4 new things! I hate shopping so this was a big deal for me! But I needed some new clothes and I was really happy with what I got! 

We went and grabbed our last Vietnamese coffee in Hoi An at this super cute cafe and then headed back to the dress shop. 

 

All of our dresses were there and ready! We tried them on one last time and were super happy! I couldn't stop smiling! Again I never buy ANYTHING so having SEVEN new pieces of clothing in one day is a big deal! 

 

We had one last Banh mi place to check out that was highly recommended multiple places! This lady is called 'The Banh Mi Queen'. She is probably 70 years old and has been running this shop for a long long time! Her sandwiches were by far the BEST Lindsay and I had so far! 

 

Gabby couldn't eat here because they only had one option...pork. So after we finished we walked back over to Phi Banh Mi, Gabby's favorite spot, so she could get a sandwich. We all ended up getting one to go for the airport later! It was almost 1 so we headed back to the hostel and got a grab taxi to head to the airport. The drive was about an hour to Danang, putting us there around 2. We all ended up having to pay to check a bag because we bought so much stuff in Hoi An. That was instantly frustrating so we went through security and grabbed a beer. Our flight was delayed about 30 minutes so we just hung out reading our books. We got to the Ho Chi Minh and jumped on the city bus. We were staying at the same place we stayed at when we arrived so we knew exactly where to go. We got checked into the hostel and chilled for a little bit. We had talked about going out tonight but by the time we got to the hostel we all seemed pretty exhausted. We got downstairs and realized we had no idea where we were heading for dinner and there was 10 minutes left on the buy 1 get 1 free hostel happy hour so we ordered margaritas before we left for dinner. 

 

We decided on Royal Saigon, which Gabby and I came to when we were here before. The food was so amazing! 

 

We were all so happy with everything!! 

Although we had no intentions of going out when we left the hostel earlier this evening, by the time we were done with dinner we decided on staying out and just grabbing a couple more drinks and maybe some hookah. This ended up turning into a 3am night. We laughed and danced so much all night! Such a fun last night in Ho Chi Minh! Can't believe tomorrow is our last day in Vietnam!