A Birthday in Paradise

Starting with two public service announcements; firstly although the blog has post were written by Sam, we wanted to add that we have been writing the posts jointly (the slightly more dyslexic paragraphs are easily detectable as Alex's!) and secondly we have received some comments re Sam's 'David Beckham' sarong moment, he'd like to make it clear that sarong wearing is compulsory at the Javanese temples!

We left you heading towards the island of Lombok in time for Sam's birthday, in fact we were actually heading for a tiny paradise island, located off Lombok's Southwestern Peninsula; called Gili Gede.

The final leg of our journey to Gili Gede was by a small outrigger fishing boat, across turquoise waters, towards what seemed to be an almost deserted island. Its fair to say we were very excited.

With only three small villages, electricity only after dark and the sound of the waves on the beach the only noise; we were set for a very relaxing few days.

Alex had promised to book the accommodation, which she did in secret, and what a lovely surprise it turned out to be. Our very own wooden beach bungalow, with a shady front porch and an open air bathroom out back. A very fine spot to wile away a few days.

My birthday was mostly spent snorkeling amongst beautiful fish, turtles and coral, enjoying cold beers, relaxing in hammocks and strolling through the lush, tree-lined interior of the island.

I received a lovely 'Happy Birthday' and had a candle to blow out alongside slices of chocolate cake decorated with beautiful local flowers. Alex also bought me a local Indonesian novel which has turned out to be a wonderful book - highly recommended to anyone who can get their hands on it (The Rainbow Troops by Andrea Hirata).

After four days in paradise, it was time to tear ourselves away. We could see our next challenge looming above the clouds on the distant horizon; Gunung Rinjani, Indonesia's second tallest volcano.