Our accommodation on Gili T was a bungalow which was essentially a room with an open air bathroom attached at the back. By open air it meant high walls (for privacy) and a roof but a big gap instead of eaves. This meant that it was always the temperature of outside.

On the face of it this sounds lovely BUT there were drawbacks. Given that I am a critter magnet every time we went to the bathroom we ran the risk of flying biting things getting in the room who would then feast on exposed flesh all night (yes this did happen. My legs are not a pretty sight)

You have to accept that though as part of the tropical island experience. What we didn’t expect though was what happened on the morning of our departure.

Picture this, we had a 6.30 check in at the other end of the beach & we had to haul our cases 20 mins along the lumpy bumpy road as horse & carts were not awake. So we were up at 5.30am to pack. At 5.27 Kevin heard a scratching sound and he leapt up thinking that there was a creature in the room. Lights on and a quick search proved nothing. He said the sound seemed to be coming from the ceiling!!!

Anyway he strips off and nips onto the bathroom for his (cold) shower when suddenly he realised that he was surrounded by a swarm of bees!!!! Yes bees. Not a great position to be in when you are starkers. He dashed back into the room faster than I have ever seen him move.

Needless to say we were in a dilemma. Never mind the shower, how could we get our toiletries to pack them and we had very limited time????

I wrapped myself up and very bravely (I thought) made a forage at lightning speed to pick everything up. That morning was the first time I have brushed my teeth at the tap meant for washing the sand off your feet when you leave the beach.

Some bees followed us into the room and so we had to dress and finish packing whilst taking great care to avoid them. Our departure was rapid to say the least which was unusual for that time of the morning!

Fortunately we escaped without being stung.

On the positive side, the advantage of leaving so early was that we were able to witness the sunrise over the Bali Sea.