Chickens in plastic bags and pseudo Tsunamis – Nusa Lembongan, Indonesia

After it took us two hours to pack our backpacks, we finally left our beloved Surf Camp in Seminyak and went to the port in Sanur where we planned to take a boat to the small island Nusa Lembongan, next to Bali.
Well, since nobody could really tell us when the slow boats usually leave, we decided to take a speed boat and payed 200K Rupiah plus 25K Rupiah for our luggage. It turned out that the guy who grabbed our backpacks just took advantage of us – THERE IS NO LUGGAGE FEE.

Additionally, we found out that there is a Slow boat from Sanur to Nusa Lembongan departing every morning at 10:30am for only 100K RP!!
Just in case you are planning to go to Lembongan one day.
In order to get on the boat we had to walk through the water and climb on the small speed boat. The boat itself was quite crowded and there were only two seats in the front left. We sat down and after a while we wondered why the bag next to the captain moved and made strange noises. Turned out it was a chicken in a plastic bag. Not a big deal in Indonesia.

Poor chicken in a plastic bag

While wondering if chickens can get sea sick, I enjoyed the 30 minute ride through the crystal clear water. The water became more and more turquoise until we finally arrived in paradise.

The Taxi

When we arrived at the small port a Taxi driver convinced us that our hostel was quite far from the port and we payed 100K to get there. Hm, after a five minute drive to the other side of the island, we realised that that they screwed us AGAIN. 😁

The hostel was okay, it was a bit smelly, guess they had a problem with their drainpipes…
However, we spent the afternoon walking around and exploring the island by foot.
After a ten minute walk from our hostel we reached a big bay and could not believe our eyes – the water was gone.
To be honest, my first thought was „Damn, water always pulls back to the ocean when a tsunami is coming.“ but it was just low-tide. Anyway, it looked really cool, there were small boats stuck in the sand and kids playing in the middle of the bay.
We had lunch in a Warung and payed 50K for Nasi Goreng Vegetable, which is quite expensive for such a small island. We expected the food to be way cheaper than in Bali, but the prices were mostly the same, due to the tourism.

Low-tide

Later we found a very small lonely beach (thanks to Maps.me) where we took some pictures.
In addition, I realized again that Indonesia definitely has a waste problem, there is trash everywhere. Plastic bottles laying around between gigantic Banana trees and trash piles next to beautiful, lonely beaches.
Walking through paradise, breathing the fresh salty air, laying down under palm trees next to trash piles, it breaks my heart.

The next morning we woke up at 8am and walked to another beach, called „Dream beach“.
This beach belongs to a hotel where you have to pay 50K to use their showers and the infinity pool.
However, the current was really strong, the water turquoise and crystal clear, and nobody was there. At 11am we decided to walk back, since it got a little bit more crowded.
Don’t get me wrong, we’re talking ten people at the beach, which is almost nothing.

Dream beach

On our way back we found a PADI diving centre and booked a snorkeling trip for the next day.
Nusa Lembongan is very popular for its Manta Rays in the north of the island, but the conditions in the north of the island were not good for snorkeling that day so we had to pick another stop, which was in front of Nusa Penida.
We saw many corals and lots of fish, it was pretty cool but not as good as scuba diving of course.

We spent two days and three nights on this island and really enjoyed the silence and the lonely beaches.
On our last day we had dinner at Dream beach and watched the sunset.
However, we missed Bali and especially our Surf Camp a lot, so we decided to spend our last five days in Indonesia with Kima Surf.

The day after we took a speed boat around 8am back to Sanur, Bali.
Fortunately, we negotiated with the guy at the ticket counter and only payed 150K each and our camp picked us up in Sanur and we arrived early at the camp and enjoyed our beloved camp breakfast.

Over all, Nusa Lembongan is a nice island, perfect for diving, snorkeling and renting a scooter.
Next time I go to Bali, I will definitely visit the Gili Islands which are supposed to be magically beautiful.
Nevertheless, I can highly recommend visiting Nusa Lembongan and Penida, since these islands are not that popular and they appear to be like Bali fifty years ago.

Thank you for reading my little Nusa Lembongan travel diary, these pictures were all taken with my phone by the way 🙂

Have a good week!
xx, Sophie

Werbung

Five Reasons I would love to go back to Bali

If someone gave me a flight ticket and asked: „Wanna fly to Bali?“, I would scream „Yes of course!“ and directly take a cab to the airport. No doubt.
To be honest, I do not really know what I love most about this island.
Even though the island is almost surfeited with hotels and tourists, I still know five reasons why I would love to go back immediately.

1. The people

One of the greatest advantages of our Surf Camp in Bali (besides learning to surf) was that we met so many locals in camp. Some of the surf guides were from Sumatra, others from Java and some were Balinese. During my travels in Thailand I found it quite hard to get in touch with locals, since I do not count talking to receptionists as local contact.
But in camp, we spent our days with the Indonesians, played the guitar together, went surfing and talked a lot. I learned so much about Indonesian culture and their beliefs.
The people from Indonesia are also very helpful and open.
One day our car broke down during rush hour and our surf guide just asked three people on the street for help and they immediately stopped working and pushed our car so that we were fortunately able to drive back to camp.

2. Catch good waves all year long

Bali is a surfer’s paradise, the whole island is about surfing. Surf shops everywhere, surfers everywhere.
For me, the conditions in Bali are perfect, there are beaches for every level.
No matter if you are a beginner, an intermediate or a pro, you will (almost) always find some nice waves.

3. Bali’s boutiques

Actually, I would advise you not to bring too many clothes, you will be overwhelmed by Bali’s small boutiques and the beautiful and unique clothes.
If you are interested in good quality and boutiques, make sure to go shopping in Seminyak and Canggu.
Many Indonesians are also selling clothes on markets or in small shops on the street. You will find some cute cotton beach dresses, sarongs and baggy elephant pants in their stores and everything is extremely cheap. Additionally, the more you buy, the cheaper it will be. Do not forget to negotiate, if they want to have 200.000 Rupiah, ask for 100.000 and try to make a good deal. Do not worry, they will still benefit from your purchase.

4. The weather

Some people may say the air is quite humid and it is too hot, but I think the climate is pretty perfect. You can wear shorts, skirts, beach dresses and all the gorgeous clothes Bali’s cute boutiques have to offer. Yes, it can get very hot but it is not as bad as in the big capitals in Southeast Asia where you will be running from one air conditioned store to another.

5. Bali has a big variety of experiences to offer

You can go shopping in the Kuta area, go scuba diving on the east coast, go surfing at the beaches of the Bukit Peninsula, visit beautiful temples everywhere, do Yoga in Ubud, climb one of the volcanos and enjoy the sunrise, or explore the beautiful nature in the north of the island with its waterfalls and rice terraces.
There are so many things to do and places to see in Bali, it is impossible to see everything at once. People come to Bali ten years in a row and they still have not explored the whole island yet. Bali is an everlasting adventure and I would love to come back as soon as possible!

 

I hope you enjoyed my Bali posts, I know that I may be a little bit overexcited about this island, but I simply fell in love with it.
Fly to Bali and get an own idea of what it is like!
These pictures were taken at Balangan Beach by the way 🙂

Have a good week,

Sophie

Exploring the North of Bali #1 The Rice Terraces

If you are planning a trip to Bali, you will love to get out of the touristy places and explore the north of Bali! I can highly recommend booking day trips on the street, since you can hire a driver who will take you wherever you want to go. We booked a tour with seven people and payed 750IDR in total.

We arrived at the park and had to pay another 400IDR (instead of 450IDR) per person for the guided hiking tour. I suppose you cannot go on your own, but the tour was really cool! You should really try to negotiate, they may give you a discount when you are booking with a group of people.

After having payed the fee, some locals took us on their scooters and drove us to the Rice Terraces. We started hiking from there and the view was really beautiful! The first stop was a view point where our guides gave us young coconuts and we took a short break.
Walking through the Rice Terraces was thrilling, since you have to watch your steps if you do not want to fall over. I guess this kind of hikes would not be possible in Germany, as it was slightly dangerous some times.

The next stop was a natural waterslide which was really amazing. At first I was really scared, as they will ask you to sit down on a rubber tyre and push you down the rock-waterslide, but it turned out to be really cool and save though.
After our little waterslide adventure, they brought us ginger tea and fresh fried bananas. (I love fried bananas!!!)

We continued our hike and after half an hour we arrived at a small waterfall where we were able to jump into the water and swim in a natural swimming pool.
My GoPro did a nice job, we took so many videos! I still have to edit them though which will take a lot of time probably, since I am really bad at editing videos…
Anyway, this was not the last waterfall we were supposed to see but I would like to split this blogpost into half, since I took far too many photographs!

Enjoy the view and stay tuned :)!

Trying not to fall in the mud…

You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy a flight to Bali!

Enjoying my coconut

Durian, definitely not my favourite…

Have a good week!
xx, Sophie

 

Three partys you shouldn’t miss out when visiting Bali

I recently spent three weeks in Bali, Indonesia. My friend and I stayed in a Surf Camp and besides our „Eat-Sleep-Surf“ rhythm, we occasionally went out to Bali’s most famous party places.
As I had to be fit for my surf sessions at six o’clock in the morning, we did not went out that often.
Anyway, today I would like to share with you my three favorite places/parties you should not miss out when visiting Bali.

Single Fin – Uluwatu

Uluwatu is located on the Bukit Peninsula and it is really beautiful! There is a big pro surf spot where the surfers have to go out in the water through a cave in order to surf the nice, big reef break waves. Besides the little bars and Warungs, there is a famous bar on top of the hill with a nice sea view, called Single Fin.
Every Sunday they have a big party with a DJ, a live band and dance music.

 

 

 

I can highly recommend taking a taxi or an Uber to Uluwatu in the afternoon and visiting the surf spot before sunset.
Around six o’clock you can sit down in a Warung and have some good cheap Nasi Goreng and a Bintang for little money while watching the surfers surfing in the sunset.
Later you will be happy to join the free entrance party at Single Fin, where you will meet lots of people.
The location is really nice and you will have a great evening with lots of dancing and fun.

 

 

 

Old Man’s Wednesday Night Party – Canggu

Canggu is kind of a hippie village above Seminyak which is in the Kuta area.
Above the famous reef break surf spot „Batu Bolong“, there is a bar called „Old Man’s“. Every Wednesday they have the huge open air party „Old Man’s Bar’s ‘Dirty Ol’ Wednesday“ with lots of drinks and food.
They usually close around twelve, but people told me that there are other beach partys around if you are still not tired of dancing.

 

La Favela – Seminyak

„La Favela“ is one of the most famous clubs in Seminyak, Bali. We were even able to walk there within 10 minutes from our surf camp.
The club itself is really nice, the DJs play good music (they are mostly playing charts) and the atmosphere is just great.
They also have different floors, open air seating and smoking areas and they even have a Photo Booth. Even though it was pretty expensive (50K per print), we loved taking pictures and fooling around in front of the camera.

 

What I loved while we were in the Surf Camp is that the people often go clubbing together, which is really nice. Just be careful when walking back home or taking a scooter or a cap, never go alone, it is always better to go in a group.

 

Let me know if you ever went clubbing in Bali :)!
I’m sorry for the bad quality of the pictures, I took them with my phone.

Stay tuned!
xx, Sophie