Hey there,
I hope you have a great summer! Today I would like to share with you the second part of my What we ate in Indonesia post. Enjoy!
Have a great week!
xx, Sophie
What we ate in Indonesia Part #2
Schlagwort: Indonesia
What we ate in Indonesia Part #1
Hey there,
today I don’t want to talk a lot, I prepared some Food posts for you. In the following weeks I will share some meals we had in Indonesia, Thailand and Australia. As you will see, we had local food, as well as some western meals on some occasions. I hope you enjoy :)!
Have a good week!
xx, Sophie
Self-Discovery or Self-REdiscovery – Nusa Lembongan
Many people go traveling in order to find themselves and to achieve happiness.
Through all these different influences, cultural experiences, inspirations and new ways of living, people do change during their travels.
Some people hope that they may find out what kind of job they want to do because after graduation they had no idea,
others hope that they can break bad habits and start something completely new,
some try new things and find new passions.
What if I tell you that in thirteen weeks of traveling, I have experienced „self-rediscovery“ rather than self-discovery?
Actually, I cannot completely explain this but I just feel more like myself.
When I left my town I thought that I would leave many things behind. Former hobbies, my old mind-set, stress and insecurity. And yes, I feel that through traveling I became more stress-resistant and I gained self-confidence. I learned a lot about myself and I know what I am capable of and what I should not do, or either what I do not need.
I rediscovered myself because I found hope that I can actually keep doing certain things and that I can trust myself.
For example, when I left I thought I would also leave my passion for dance behind. I assumed that I have to move on, try something new – I thought I was not good enough at ballet and dance in general and that even if I put a lot of effort into it, I would get nothing in return.
I was wrong. For thirteen years, dance has always played a big role in my life.
How could I expect my body to give up this passion that has always fulfilled me, a passion that guided me through good and bad times?
I cannot just let go of it and I do not have to. I love ballet and I cannot wait to start dancing again when I am back in Germany.
Additionally, I realized that I do not have to search for escape because there is nothing to escape from.
I love my family and I love my friends, which is most important because these people will always give their best to help and protect you.
I learned to love „home“ but I also appreciate being elsewhere, or even far away from home. As I already stated in my birthday blogpost, it will not matter where you are as long as there are your people surrounding you and you are able to do the things you love.
Of course, memories are often linked to certain places and situations, but maybe we must have to take a step forward and create new ones.
Sorry for this labyrinth of thoughts, which might cause some confusion, but I just had to put some thoughts on paper.
However, I hope you enjoy these pictures of Nusa Lembongan (click here to read my last post about this small island)!
Have a good week!
xx, Sophie
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
Aperture & Wanderlust 