Day 11: Relaxing in Gili T, Indonesia (Monday May 22nd, 2023)

Today I woke up at 9:45 and slowly made my way to get breakfast. The hostel provided a free pancake breakfast with bananas, coffee, and reach - which was nice. I don't usually eat the free pancake breakfast, but I'm glad that I did. The pancakes were delicious! Unlike western pancakes, it was a thicker - maybe rice - flower.  

I ate slowly as I woke up and recovered from my (slight) hang over. Afterwards, I went to do some yoga. My leg is still so sore and tight from the klingkling hike! I used yesterday as a rest day, but needed to stretch it out today. I did the yoga in the lounge above the main floor of the hostel, which made it more like hot yoga. Then I ended with an ab circut and meditation. 

I was hot and gross, but didn't feel that showering in the middle of the day would have been worth it. So I jumped in the pool at the hostel instead. 

By now it was around 1pm and I was hungry for lunch. I went out with two people that I met at the hostel to find some food. We went to one of the little restaurants in the beach and enjoyed a good water view. We decided to rent bikes and bike around the island, which was about 5mi in circumference. 

We went back to the hostel to get our things and then headed out! Our first stop was a quiet little sandy beach where we hung out and enjoyed some fresh juice (I got pineapple because they didn't have mango). 

We stayed there for a while and then continued biking further around the island. It was almost time for sunset, so we found a beach restaurant that had a good happy hour to hangout at. We all enjoyed Pina Coladas while we watched the sun set. 

Once the sun was down, we noticed a lot of men walking out in the shallows of the water with lights and sticks. It turns out they were spear fishing for octopus! They used the light to attract them and then the bamboo stick to spear them. 

It was dark by now, so we had to continue back to finish our circumference of the island and return the bikes. We headed back to the main strip using flashlights to see the road. At first we didn't use any light as the moon and night vision was enough, but eventually the unpaved road, pot holes, puddles, sand, etc. made it necessary.

Once we were back, it was around 8pm and we still needed to eat dinner. The night market was open so we went there. I went to a different vendor this time. I got a beef and fish satay with a spring roll, eggplant in a spicy tomato sauce, seasoned tempe, and a fishy green bean (I was not a fan of this one! It was too fishy for me). 

After dinner we all parted ways and went back to our respective hostels. (They had both extended an extra day but now had to change hostels).

While we were biking back, I had seen that Suma Suma - which is the reggae bar - had live music setup. So later that night, I wanted to go to that to have more of a chill night out, but still experience some more of Gili T. 

I went back to my hostel after dinner to shower and got a beer while I waited to meet up with the others. I had invited them to come with me, but only one did. I met her near her hotel and we walked down to Suma suma. Just as we got there, the reggae band was finishing up. But shortly after they had another hand come on. They played all American music, but they were really good! It was fun to have live music, dance, and to experience another local scene. 

I headed back to my hostel around 12:30 since I needed to be up at 7 the next day to catch my ferry back to Bali.