Bali- Nusa Lembongan

the next stop on our trip was Nusa Lembongan, a small island about 30 mins (fast boat) off the coast of bali, across the badung straight. we departed from the small beach area of sanur, which is a bit more "typical tourist" bali, with a lot of western-style hotels, beach shops and more expensive restaurants. we were glad we'd decided to head to the islands!

we paid for our fast-boat tickets and had an hour to kill, but as we had our bags with us, we essentially sat in the shade and waited. we befriended a french couple traveling with their 5 year old son. interesting fact: we met more french travelers then any others. dozens. droves! it was easier for me to introduce myself in french and assume they were french then to speak english. it was odd. we asked them if bali had been well-promoted in france or something. none of them knew. and they were just as surprised to see the quantity of french tourists!

when it was time to get on the boat, we sauntered down the beach with our bags and started counting the other people waiting. turns out, it was going to be a full boat with 18 passengers and bags. i'd like to point out that this boat was approximately the same size as the speedboat my grandparents had when i was a kid, which we used on the safe, flat river and only ever took 8 people. ok, well maybe not that small but it wasn't big. at all. and this boat was going to carry 18 people, all of their bags, and 2 workers across the open ocean. not just open, but rough, large waves and strong currents. yikes! we waded through the water and climbed aboard. amazingly enough, we all "fit", though my left butt cheek was so cramped by the end of the ride i could barely stand it! john had a friendly passenger fall asleep on his shoulder, which amused me to no end! (and still makes me giggle a bit)

after our short ride across the ocean, we pulled in to jungubatu beach. we waded to shore, grabbed our bags and headed to our hotel, which was also one of the diving centres. luckily we'd booked ahead, as almost all the people we met told us how difficult it had been to find a place. peak season in bali runs from july-october, mostly due to europeans taking summer holidays.

lembongan is one of 3 islands- nusa penida is the bigger of the 3, and nusa ceningan is the smallest, so lembongan is technically the goldilocks of the islands. with an estimated 5000 people on the 8km squared island, there's a bit more of a sense of isolation then on bali. there are no cars and minimal shops, most of which are little beach shack types. the primary attraction to lembongan (other then the fabulous isolation) is the coral reefs for snorkelling and diving, and the 'killer' surf breaks.

the islands economy revolves around, of all things, seaweed farming. the lucrative substances are agar- a vegetable gel used in cooking, and carrageenan- used in cosmetics and foodstuffs. according to my rough guide, seaweed is quite fussy stuff to farm, requiring a flow of water but no strong current, and must remained covered even at low tide. there are a variety of seaweed types that are grown, but the most valuable is the green cotoni variety, which is worth at least twice as much as other varieties. once it is harvested, the seaweed is then dried, which provides a strong, difficult to describe, interesting smell (i use that in the mom sense). the seaweed beds are hardly noticeable during the day, but when the sun starts to set and the tide goes out, it's quite the sight.

and we couldn't have had a better view of the sunset and low-tides then from the restaurant at our hotel. which happens to be the best and cheapest (my two favourite things!) on the island, according to most travel guides. nothing like some good food, a bintang (for john. local beer) and the sunset to help you fall into utter relaxation.

the hotel itself was great. we had a nice little garden view room, which was in a newly built compound behind the hotel. we had to walk behind the hotel, through the local shacks, coconut trees and drying seaweed to get to our area. and once you walked in, it was hard to tell where you were...until you smelled the drying seaweed and constant smoke from the burning of offerings to gods, garbage and other such things that can be burned. it takes a bit of getting used to. in fact, it takes a lot of getting used to.

essentially, the time we spent on lembongan can be summed up as follows: eat, relax by pool, drink fresh coconuts, read books, snorkel/dive, eat, sleep. repeat. ok, so we may have done a bit more, but that's the jist of it really. our few adventures on the island are still to come...

xo