Week 19 & 20 & 21 (Laos, Thailand and Bali)

Pakse – Don Khone – Don Det – Don Nangloy – Luang Prabang – Chiang Mai – Bali – Gili T

Sabaidee! Hey folks, it’s little old me, back for another update. It’s been a hell of a few weeks, half of which being on my own left me feeling a little worse for wear, but I’m feeling brighter. Mol was probably right when she told me it may not have been the wisest choice to go from 6 weeks of company to a tiny island with no hostels. Ups and downs baby. Despite all of this, I’ve had another few weeks of some pretty beautiful views, some lovely and wholesome moments and I definitely feel I’ve been in the thick of Laos. It’s back to island life for me this week to finish off this special trip. I plan to lay like a whale on a lounger and bask. 

After my goodbyes to Purav I was off to Pakse on a night bus. I was so pleasantly surprised by the nightbus, it was honestly such cosy vibes. I had this little double bed to myself, two cushions, a blanket and pretty much slept for the majority of it. One regret was my choice of snacks. I completely panicked at the shop and ended up buying water, marshmallows and a bag of BBQ crisps. Super random, and safe to say it didn’t really scratch the itch. Aside from the lack of snackage, the journey was super easy and I arrived in Pakse the next day at about 7:30am. I wasn’t able to check in for a couple of hours, so I set off to buy some malaria tablets as I had no idea it was a high risk area down south, managed to buy shit loads of Oxycontin for like £2, they literally hand out antibiotics like it’s candy. LIVING. I took myself for a noodle soup at the market round the corner, put far too much chilli in it and sweated my tits off, what’s new? Managed to check into my hotel at about 9am, got into bed (no windows in my room which is immediately a bit depressing x) and spent about 4 hours bingeing The Queer Ultimatum. Who’s watched it?! UNREAL TELEVISION. So refreshing to watch so many queer couples navigate love/life/relationships, albeit in some very problematic ways, but seriously amazing television. I find it so incredibly refreshing watching couples make their own rules, I guess that’s one of the joys of queerness, the mainstream rules (sadly?) don’t always apply in the same way, so I guess there’s a luxury in getting to make them up yourself as the expectations are different. There’s obviously far more to it than that, and many more nuances, but it was lush to watch. After too much time looking at my phone, I decided to take myself for a wander around Pakse. I was feeling incredibly tired and sluggish, but I am so glad I got up and out because it was exactly what I needed. I also had a pinch me moment when I was feeling bummed out and a bit lonely, and then remembered I’m walking down the fucking Mekong river. Life is wild. Wandered around Wat Luang Pakse, one of the biggest temples in the area, through the town and ended up at Dao Heuang Market, the biggest local market in the area and pretty amazing actually. Rows and rows of stalls selling pretty much everything and anything. Quite funny when a little boy walked past me and whispered “You so tall……..”. I took myself for lunch, and then a foot massage HEHE, and then I was back at the hotel watching a beautiful sunset over Pakse and journaling with Norah Jones in my ears. A very wholesome day actually.

The next day, perhaps where the beginning of my slightly off week began. I’d decided to take one of these malaria antibiotics on an empty stomach because I am a complete idiot and after about 2 minutes a tidal wave of nausea hit me and I was vomiting blue liquid for a good 15 minutes. Not really a vibe to be honest, but I took myself downstairs and nursed myself to health with some toast and tea. Today was the day I was heading down south to the four thousand islands, and first up was Don Khone. I’d chosen this because it was meant to be quieter than the more backpacker-y Don Det, and it felt right that feeling a bit lonely, I go and make myself even lonelier and sit on an island with no one around. Bizarre moves from me. Anyway, I ended up being the only one on the minibus to Nakasong, which is the port where you can get a boat to the islands. I then ended up being the only one on my boat, and this was a pretty lovely boat journey. He dropped me off right next to my guesthouse, Dokchampa, where I had my own bungalow for 2 nights and I think this might have been one of my favourite places so far. It was set right on the Mekong river, with a perfect view of the sunset and had AIR CONDITIONING and a very comfy bed. I took myself for a bite to eat down the road and then pitched up on the hammock for the rest of the evening to watch the sunset (my one and only sunset, thanks rainy season!!!). I finished my book, Tin Man, was moved to my core by the complexities of being human (lol) and had an early night. 

The next morning, and for the rest of my time down south actually, the rain came and it didn’t really leave. I’ve been so spoiled by sunshine for the last 4 or 5 months, I’d forgotten about the rain! At first it was kind of cute and wholesome, but I’ve got to admit, I’m a little over it now. My own fault really for coming to Laos in the wet season. Oopsie poopsie!!!!! Anyway, I waited for the rain to subside, meditated on my terrace and then took myself for a big ol’ cycle over the famous bridge connecting Don Khone and Don Det, and around Don Det. Cycling through puddles of mud (muddles?) was quite tiring, but felt good to get a bit of a sweat on. The island is so quiet, and with the grey skies almost a little eerie. I got around the whole island in about an hour, and took myself for lunch at a cute little spot just by the bridge and started Elliot Page’s memoir. My concentration has been trash for a few days, plus I left my kindle on Don Det (more on this, riveting I know!!!!) so I haven’t properly got into this yet, but so far so good. I imagine I will be (even more) furious at the state of the world, and in particular gender-affirming healthcare after reading this. After my lunch pit stop, I cycled back over to Don Khone and to Li Phi Sompamit Waterfall for a wander around. This was really beautiful and there was basically nobody there which was pretty wholesome. A particular standout moment was finding a little beach, deciding to walk towards the water and my foot started to sink in the sand. As you can imagine, I freaked the fuck out and had a realisation that nobody would have heard me scream and I would have died alone by quicksand 🙂 That’s not really the way I want to go, but to be honest, waterfalls in Laos may not have been the worst way. Although sinking in sand would probably be pretty slow and painful, but anyway, I always find it’s best not to catastrophize. After getting the fuck away from this beach, I wandered back towards my lovely pink femme bicycle, relieved to still be alive, and started on my journey home. 2 minutes into my journey, the heavens opened with serious force and I spent the next 15 minutes cycling back to my bungalow in actual shitting rain. It was actually quite nice, and getting out of wet clothes into the shower is kind of lovely I find. I also remember seeing a cow and its calf running after it in the rain and I was quite moved and I wrote in my journal that “I’ve finally seen the humanity in animals.” I don’t know what that says about me? I’m not sure why, but my mind was wandering a lot this evening and I basically started to think about what I was going to do when I was home, and next thing I know I’m looking up psychotherapy courses around the UK and trying to figure out how I would afford to study. Not really how I’d envisioned my evening, and it actually became quite stressful, which it didn’t need to be, obv. I feel quite frustrated at this idea that we all have a purpose, or one thing that is supposed to light us up. It quite clearly doesn’t work like that for many of us, surely we should be encouraged to try many different things?! I guess a stable career is pretty appealing, and obviously completely necessary for the majority of people, but purpose feels so weighted, and like an incredible amount of pressure. It’s also incredibly unfair how much it costs to study, SO UNFAIR ON SO MANY LEVELS. I also had a realisation that if I was to study, I’d qualify when I’m like 33/34, which is fine and would absolutely be in my prime, high, fly and beautiful, but what if I suddenly decide I want children? As it stands, I have absolutely no interest, but I guess it’s kind of wild to think that’s even a consideration. How on earth did that happen? After a few hours of going back and forth, not settling on anything, but deciding that psychotherapy/counselling would be something I really need to start thinking about in the next year, I took myself for a lil dinner down the road. It was slim pickings on the island, but I went for a steamed chicken in bamboo leaf, which was actually very tasty, despite looking pretty odd. I actually have a bit of a weird feeling in my throat if I think too much about what it looked like. 

The next morning I got up a bit earlier and took myself to the waterfalls for a little dip in one of  the swimming areas. This was such a wholesome start to the day and I’d forgotten how nice it is to start the day with a swim. I mooched home for some breakfast, checked out and headed over to Don Det for my stay at Crazy Gecko guesthouse. Shortly found out why this was named that, geckos galore. Safe to say I’m still not really at peace with the bug situation, despite how badly I want to be at one with all of God’s creations. Anything that flies, or crawls, or basically moves freaks me the fuck out. Despite this, the guesthouse was so beautiful. Set on the river again, I had a river facing view, a little bungalow, pretty simple; a bed, mosquito net and a fan, but the balcony had the most lovely hammock and seating area, and it was the perfect place to sit and watch the unrelenting rain. I cycled into town, which is basically a row of a few shops and bars, and found a chic looking coffee shop where I perched up and had a delicious coffee and a freaking focaccia panini which blew my bloody socks off. Probably because I’ve not eaten a panini in a long time, but the salami was buff. I read my book for a little while, talked to the wonderful owner of the cafe, and then cycled around the corner to get a massage. With only a few weeks left I’ve decided it’s pivotal to get a massage at every opportunity, and for £2 I had a Laos style massage (very similar to Thai) and it was sensational. No oil, just a handsy firm vibe. The masseuse had long nails which made me feel a bit weird at first, but actually it really added an extra element. Me likey!!! I mooched on home to spend the rest of evening perched up on my balcony. I remember feeling quite bored this evening, which is unlike me but I think the 3 days on my own weren’t doing bits for me. I went to the restaurant part of the guesthouse to eat, but was quickly swarmed by flying little pricks who loved the rain, so I ended up eating my coconut curry in the dark on the balcony alone. This was a bit of a downer I will say. I’ll blame the lack of lights. 

The next day I’d planned to go to an island called Don Nangloy to another homestay called Vera’s. I’d stumbled across this on google maps and the guy that runs it basically hosts people for £8 a day, including accommodation and three meals a day, and if you want you can volunteer/help out. His website said that he ran a school out of the homestay where kids from the island can come and learn extra curricular English with visitors. I kind of assumed I wouldn’t have much to do with this as he’d explained online that if you’re staying for less than a week then it’s not ideal to be with the kids as it isn’t really fair. Completely made sense. Anyway, I was kind of expecting to turn up, and maybe help with some cooking or gardening in return for my accommodation and food. Anyway, the bus driver dropped me off at an intersection in Thapo and two little kids drove me to the port 3km down the road which was super random, they would also not accept more than 20K (75p) for the journey. I found a man who was willing to drive me? Row me? Boat me? to Don Nangloy and after 15 minutes I was dropped at the homestay. After climbing up the mound of mud and crossing a field filled with shit loads of cows, I climbed over the gates to the most beautiful plot of land on the river, with no one there except some chickens, a few dogs (one of which had an arse hole that looked like it had relapsed – I’ve honestly never seen anything like that and I pray to God I never do again). Pon Pet was the man that ran the homestay, and he arrived fifteen minutes later, showed me to my bamboo cabin and explained that there wasn’t really much to do the next few days and some kids may or may not turn up and it’s up to me to basically fill the time with them. I was also the only person staying here. He also offered me some weed named AK47, which I declined as I was pretty sure that would send me over the edge. It was all pretty random, and very casual, and I actually felt a bit of pressure as I didn’t have experience teaching kids and it felt like quite a lot of responsibility. A few kids turned up on the three days I was there, and they were absolutely lovely, and they shamefully surprised me with how well they spoke English, considering they were all aged 8-12. Looking back on these few days kind of fills me with various emotions, it was just a really random few days, nothing to do in the days except kind of mooch about and sit on my hammock. Worth nothing that I realised on my first evening I’d left my Kindle on Don Det and absolutely cried in my bungalow. I think the tears were probably down to more than just my kindle, but just a feeling of being incredibly overwhelmed. Pon Pet was such a lovely guy, and he and his wife really went out his way to take care of me. I guess the project is just in its infancy and there isn’t really much to be done there in the off season, plus it rained everyday, so on reflection I’d like to have come at a different time where I could be more helpful. And have smoked less, because I was honestly smoking 30 a day. Vibes.

I made my way back to Pakse by minibus, after waiting for two hours at a random intersection where a lovely lady bought us a beer to share… at 11am, but I took it. I also had to walk into the forest behind the cafe and take a shit because it was that or shit myself on the bus. I felt like an actual dog. Pretty horrible. The driver turned up to collect me with my kindle in hand because he was an angel sent from heaven (and I’d asked/begged to arrange it). This was one hell of a journey up north, starting with a 6 hour wait in a coffee shop where I caught up with life admin (face times) and ate a garlic bread bun thing because I couldn’t not order the bread and garlic item on the menu. Next up was my twelve hour night bus journey back to Vientiane. A different bus this time, but still pretty cosy in my little bed. This time the driver was like something out of fast and furious as we drove round bends at least 100kmh and I am pretty sure I saw flames coming out the back of the bus. No, I’m joking. I didn’t sleep so much on this journey, but it was ok because I had such relief to be back in a city and surrounded by other humans that I was in a great mood. I perched up at another cafe for a good 6 hours and then headed to Vientiane train station to catch the new and fancy train to Luang Prabang. The Laos-China railway was only opened in Laos a couple of years ago and runs from Vientiane to Boten where Laos borders China. It’s pretty snazzy and VERY strict and organised. I’d booked myself a first class ticket because I thought I’d treat myself (the theme of the trip, self love in abundance xx) and after a couple of hours I’d arrived in Luang Prabang at about 5pm. After 30 hours of travelling, I checked into Downtown Hostels and took myself straight out for a pizza and a glass of red wine. It was bloody lush. Although, I’d stupidly ordered a pizza with caramelised onions and you guys KNOW how I feel about caramelised onions. The devils work. Along with chutneys. Well actually I like mango chutney. 

The next day was a day to mooch. I took myself for a lovely lil smoothie bowl breakfast, got a takeaway coffee and wandered. That evening I met Shiv at a bar down the road with the intention of spending the late afternoon walking around the temples. Instead, we sank about 6 beers each and watched the sun go down while well and truly putting the world to rights. It was such a wholesome evening, and we have lots in common, particularly with our tendency to overthink. It’s interesting as we are both coming to the end of the trip so we were reflecting a lot on if we both felt like we’d done enough, or pushed ourselves enough, as we both find the socialising aspect the most challenging. I think the drunken consensus was that everybody’s experience of travelling looks different, and we’re both pretty fucking brave. I’ve definitely been ruminating on the past 5 months a lot more the last couple of weeks, obviously because the trip is coming to an end (for now hehe?) and have had my moments of asking myself if I’ve pushed myself out of my comfort zone enough. I’ve definitely found solace in being on my own in the hard moments, and I think I feel guilty for not finding it super easy to be in groups of people I don’t know, or being able to walk into a room of twenty people and feel comfortable. Maybe I thought those anxieties would go away after travelling, but perhaps the reality is that’s just something I find scary, and that’s ok, plus the expectation that I’d suddenly no longer feel nerves was probably a bit of a feat. As Mabel so beautifully said “You didn’t go to Vietnam to get rid of your anxiety, you went to Vietnam with anxiety and pushed through it on your own” and I have really had no choice but to push through, and for that I am very proud. Anyway, Shiv and I headed home for a takeaway of pizza because we were beer drunk and carb craving.

I woke up the next morning to go to a yoga class around the corner which was run by a, I’m going to say 60 year old, french man called Laurent. There were only three of us in the class, and I’m not going to lie, the teacher’s moves were interesting to say the least. It didn’t really feel like we were warmed up and we were swinging our legs all over the gaff. I felt like I was straining my body and me no likey that. I took myself for brunch around the corner and headed to the hotel where I was meeting Purav, again… Yep, we ended up spending another week together, it kind of worked out that we were both in Luang Prabang at the same time, and who am I to deny myself another week of smooching and grooving? I love the fuss I made about saying goodbye, drama baby!!!! This hotel was so freaking cute, a lovely little balcony and a big squishy double bed. There was a gecko in my room which freaked me the fuck out as per, and I threw about 12 random items at the ceiling before I had to go and ask someone to help me. The lovely man that ran the hotel hurried up to help, but the gecko had gone. The little fucker played me. Purav arrived that afternoon and we went over the road for some rice and pork from a random little spot and then some beers on the balcony. We were meeting Shiv that evening as it was her last evening in LP. We met her for a cocktail on the old street (which is so stunning, the architecture is very colonial here) and then wandered over to the night market for a beer tower and a fucking delicious noodle soup. I’ve been craving noodle soup non stop since this one. Shiv bumped into some friends at the market and we ended up joining them for drinks. I can’t really remember the names but this lovely Danish guy had a formula 1 car tattooed on his arm and we spent about 15 minutes talking about F1, me pulling all my knowledge from Drive to Survive like I was a real fan, him actually talking about F1 because he watched it. Someone floated the idea of bowling, and without much convincing, the 7 of us were on our way to the famous bowling alley of Luang Prubang where people go after hours!!! We spent the next few hours bowling, sharing £3 litre bottles of vodka with tepid coke. I really went into this thinking I was going to be good at bowling, I could have sworn I was. I was sorely mistaken. We called it a night at about 2am, I don’t really remember getting back but I assume it was straight to sleep.

The next day was a bit of a struggle, but I’d booked us a jewellery making workshop about a 20 minute walk away so we limped over there with a coffee and the closest thing to a croissant we could find, sat and made bracelets with a lovely view over the river. We were both very hungover/drunk so it was a little chaotic in vibes, but wholesome nonetheless. After that serious exertion of energy, we got back into bed asap and spent the afternoon in bed with Hell’s Kitchen, loads of snacks and a burger delivery that was pretty good. Buying snacks has quickly become one of my favourite things to do, and I’ve decided it’s essential to always have cereal on you. You never know when you’re going to need it. We managed to make it out for a low key dinner round the corner which was actually delicious. I had another lovely noodle soup and a side of crispy pork belly. Purav ate something bathed in chilli and we called it a night after that. 

Unfortunately, we didn’t plan ahead and had to change hotels so we moved across (literally 30 feet across) to another homestay run by the loveliest women. We checked in, got ourselves a lovely brunch at Three Little Birds cafe around the corner, and then wandered for a bit before an hour long Laos style massage. That afternoon I had a little wander around on my own, and then Purav and I went to the night market to spend the evening eating with short intervals in between. We watched the end of a sunset with a beer, and then continued walking around the market with the aim of buying souvenirs for people but only really shopping for myself. This was a very wholesome evening. 

As the cultural capital of Laos, LP is known for all its temples so I spent that morning wandering around on my own which was lovely. I only managed a few because of the searing heat, but I saw the main ones, including Vat XienThong (or ‘Temple of the Golden City’) which is filled with the most stunning mosaics. I decided all that walking had earnt me a massage, so off I went to get pushed and prodded in all the right places. I went with Purav that afternoon to get his first tattoo, which was a pretty wholesome experience, and the guy that runs the shop was telling us of the struggles of living in Laos, and more specifically social mobility. He told us that a waitress earns on average $13 a month, so saving enough to move is near enough impossible. It was pretty sad to hear him talk, but he was adamant he wanted as much joy in his life as he could muster. He was amazing. We scooted back home, and headed back out for a very low key dinner at the same place as the other night. 

The aim for my morning was to blog, but my laptop has been seriously playing up, and the screen of death keeps appearing so after a failed attempt, I just mooched around instead. The plan was to go on a sunset boat trip, but Purav was ziplining through the jungle so got back later than expected. Bit of a Tarzan wannabe if you ask me. Instead we found a lovely spot by the river to watch the sun go down with a couple of margaritas and a few games of shit head. We ended up having dinner at an Indian restaurant down the road, and it was pretty delicious. I ate butter chicken because I’m a basic bitch and stuffed my face with parathas. A lush final evening in Luang Prabang.

It was time for our two day journey to Chiang Mai. I’d decided to spend a couple of days in Thailand again before catching a flight to Bali. We’d debated the slow boat, but decided it would take too much time, three days instead of two. We were in a cab to Luang Prabang station at about 9am after breakfast, a no-egg brekky for me because I’ve decided to cut them out to see if that’s the thing that keeps giving me the shits. Maybe too much information but I want to remember that I haven’t eaten eggs in a week and da poopie woopies are feeling much better. Kind of sad if I’m intolerant to eggs isn’t it? Our train journey from Luang Prabang to Nateuy was about two hours through the countryside and we arrived in Nateuy at about 1pm. In order to cross the border we had to get to Huay Xai where we then had to get another bus the next day, so we were shuffled into one of the many minivans heading to the border, and I will say that I’m pretty certain I slipped a disc on this four hour journey because the driver held no prisoners going over potholes (craters) and we were flying all over the place. If I even began to nod off I was brutally awakened by my head flying forward as we took a corner at 400 mph. We made a pit stop at a market type thing, pretty pathetic but I remember my vape dying here and feeling a little panicked. We made it to Huay Xia at about 5pm, got a tuk tuk to a guesthouse on the main street who had a room for us and settled into our abode. This hotel room was one of the more questionable ones I’ve stayed in, it was giving a musty beige and we even had a little cockroach under the bed who popped out to say hello. I was manically checking the sheets all evening to make sure he/she/they hadn’t crawled into the bed. We wandered down the road to a little rooftop bar for a beer and to watch the sunset, and then found a spot to eat down the road where I treated myself to a noodle soup. They ran out of Khao Soi (the Laos version which is like a tomato-ey meaty soup vibe) which was pretty devastating so it was a more simple soup. A simple soup for a simple soul. We slept amid the cockroaches that evening ready for another early start for the final leg of the journey to Thailand.

Our tuk tuk driver picked us up at 7am the next morning and dropped us off at the border point where we had to check out of the Laos side, and then jump on another bus to take us to the Thailand border. It was all pretty smooth and we had a couple of hours to kill on the Thailand side before our three hour bus to Chiang Mai. The bus journey was super easy and full of loads of snacking, including a very dense custard bun that was pretty odd, and some dried sweet ginger which was actually a bit of a vibe. We got to Chaing Mai bus station at about 5pm and it felt really strange to be back. Felt like such a long time ago I was here, and it was the beginning of me being on my own so as you can imagine that made me feel a little pensive, in a nice way. We’d booked one night at BedStop hotel before getting back to hostels, so we settled in and then headed to the night market for more food food food. We did a little tour of the market which was a vibe, we started with a Khao Soy (Purav’s first) and then we ate pork on a stick (sounds way nicer than it sounds), a chilli corn salad which was absolutely unbelievable but unbelievably spicy and I think a couple of other things but I just can’t remember. I’ve definitely fallen more in love with food on this trip, sounds bizarre but I’ve never considered myself a foodie and I definitely feel like I appreciate eating more, one it’s a luxury, and two it just brings so much joy!!!

The next day Purav’s friend Harry was joining him in Thailand for a couple of weeks, so I mooched around in the morning el solo, headed for breakfast at the cafe Emily and I had been to a couple of times when we were in Chiang Mai together. I met Purav and Harry at our hostel Big and O’s, the three of us were sharing a dorm room which was cosy to say the least!! 

The next couple of days basically revolved around eating and drinking beer, with the biggest highlights being the Khao Soy we all ate which was unlike anything I’ve ever had. Mine was beef and the meat was just so tender and the soup was thick and rich and just fucking perfect. The other highlight was the waterpark we went to which was basically a giant inflatable course and it was SO MUCH FUN. I felt like a child again and I don’t think I’ll ever forget Purav being pulled by his life jacket out of the water by a lifeguard because he couldn’t manage it himself and is truly not built to be in the water. I’ve never seen someone fall over so much, everything he put his feet on he slipped off. I was crying with laughter. I’m pretty sure I heard someone say ‘Oh here we go’ when he attempted to climb across three massive giant inflatable balls. In true brits abroad style we ate a double cheese pizza for lunch with a cookie and cream milkshake. We were all quite hungover and I’m not really sure if this made it better or a lot worse. Probably the latter. For my final evening in Thailand we played pool at a bar in the night bazaar and just stuffed our faces with copious amounts of food. 

I was up pretty early for my 9am flight to Bali, so I said my goodbyes and was off to the airport. After a couple of nights of not much sleep I was feeling pretty worse for wear, but the connecting flights all went pretty smoothly. On my stopover at Kuala Lumpur I ate a big mac meal on my own which actually felt like quite a pathetic moment, but we move. I got to Bali at about 8pm, and it was a bit of a flap getting out. It took a good hour to collect my bag (which took forever and I was about two minutes away from finally having to use my really expensive travel insurance to cover my lost baggage x) and then I was eventually met at the airport by a lovely chap called Hoi who was so relieved to see me as he thought he’d missed me because his phone died and therefore he couldn’t write my name on his sign. He kept saying “Oh Lily it’s so so so good to see you, I am so happy!” which was pretty wholesome and I kind of feel like that’s how I should be greeted by everybody in my life? Hoi took me to Made hostel which was run by his nephew, and gave me a rundown of his experience in Bali on our 30 minute journey. He explained how much Bali has changed, but he was grateful for the tourism for work, but not grateful for the young and drunk people who’ve really kind of spoiled places like Canggu apparently. That evening I was feeling a little emotional and tired, so I spoke to Al on facetime who seems to be the recipient of all my teary calls God bless her and called it a night early in my lovely bunk which was super private and SO squishy. Such a lovely feeling when you get a dorm room that’s private and comfy. 

My alarm was set for 6:30 the next day to get picked up at 7 for my boat to Gili T, and for maybe the first time ever in my life I slept through it. I’m no idiot though and I always set about 2 – 300 alarms just in case, so the 6:45 alarm woke me up and I was pretty flappy in the 15 minutes I had to get ready. Lucky for me the driver turned up early so I was honestly flailing around that dorm room like a madwoman. In my haze I tripped down the ladder of my bunk and threw my water bottle across the room. The poor girl who was also getting ready to go looked really afraid of me. I don’t blame her. We were dropped off at Padang Bai on the coast where we had an hour to kill in this little coffee shop before getting onto the boat at about 9am. I was SO excited to be by the sea again, I’ve really been craving beaches and sunsets. I arrived on Gili T at about 11am and walked the five minutes to TipSea Turtle hostel where I’d booked a few nights. I upgraded to a private room for my first night because I was so sleepy and fuck it? That was yesterday, and before I could check in I took myself for a lil lunch at Thyme coffee and ate an unbelievable sandwich and green juice. I checked into my room at about 2pm and then wandered over to the sunset side of the island to pitch up for the afternoon. I found a lovely spot at a bar called Exile and the sunset that evening completely blew my mind. The sky looked like it was on fire and I’m not sure it gets any better than watching a sunset on a beach with a Bintang. I mooched home round the island, stopped for a bite to eat, found a stall that sells elf bars and paid £15 for one without having probably worked out the conversion. The flavour is Sakura Grape in case you’re wondering. The shower in my room was outside, so I had a lovely shower before getting into bed and watching the first episode of And Just Like That season 2 baby!!! Anything Sex and The City related just gives me all the feels and makes me feel bizarrely powerful and kind of makes me want to be single in my 50’s. Single, and rich, and living in New York. I slept for a solid 9 hours last night which is exactly what I needed!!

Today has been a lovely beach day. I found a really lush beach club/bar on the east side of the island and spent a good few hours soaking up the rays. I also had the most amazing avocado and tomato on sourdough with feta which hit every spot. I checked into my dorm room earlier and I’m sharing with a girl who’s currently suffering from Bali belly which is a vibe. Everyone talks about getting ill in Bali so I’m praying to the belly Gods that it doesn’t strike me. Let me end on a high God dammit!!!!!!!

So that brings me to now, where I’m tip tapping away on my laptop that is hanging on by a thread on the rooftop of this hostel. There’s happy hour at this hostel every evening so I’m going to get my socialising on tonight, the vibe here is pretty chilled so that’s lovely. I can’t quite believe this is my final week in Asia. I have so many mixed feelings about the fact it’s coming to an end. Sadness, excitement, relief, nerves. What a fucking trip. I reckon I’ll do one more blog post to sign off at the end of the week, but for now I want to make the most out of this last week. I want to be as present as I can and take it all in. I fucking did it!!!!! I know this is a really long post, so if you make it to the end, I appreciate you. 

Here’s to my final week in paradise and to not knowing what’s next!!

Until next time,

Lily xx