Nusa Lembongan

The next two weeks of the trip was filled with two new island paradises dedicated to diving, snorkeling, scooting, and coconuts on the beach.  On the way to the dock, en route to Nusa Lembongan, we crammed into the front seat of the van next to the driver who turned into our tour guide for the next two hours telling us about everything from the sculptures on the side of the road to the meaning of life.  Indonesia is the highest populated Muslim country in the world with 240 million.  However, Bali is the only predominantly Hindu island of the country.  He leads a life based on good karma and following that philosophy makes him a happy man. During his "tour" we weaved in and out of traffic, passed cars on blind curves going up hill, and nearly ran a few scooters off the road.  This is typical of all the transportation we took on Bali. Most of the streets/highways of Bali are just about as wide as what I would call one lane.  The chaotic, congested streets have two-way traffic full of cars, vans, buses, and lots of motorbikes all passing one another. The horn is used frequently to let the other cars know you're there and not going to move, that you are passing, to please move aside so I can pass, to ask if you need a ride, or to say wow you have really blonde hair!  We made it safely to the dock and he was in charge of getting the slow boat tickets for Andy, me, and another couple in our van.  He gave the tickets to some other people in line and then looked at us blankly when we asked where our tickets were.  He then got confused and said, "you all look the same".

"Don't puke don't puke don't puke..."

Nusa lembongan has no ATM or rather one ATM but it doesnt have cash in it yet.  Credit cards are rarely accepted so you need to stock up on the cash pile before making the voyage.  The slow boat over to the island was a simple vessel.  Wooden slats sufficed as seats and it had a nice cover to protect from the sun.  After an hour and a half, we trolled into the bay noticing the the shallow reef below where algae grew in perfectly cut squares.  The island harvests algae and sells it to Japan and Hong Kong where it's used for cosmetics and supplements.  The locals only use it as agar, or thickener in sweets and as interesting fried seaweed snacks.

Manta Ray Point

JUMP!! 

We glided onto the sandy beach and leaped off the back of the boat into knee high, crystal clear water. All around us there were diving boats mixed with small fishing boats and canoes to carry the algae from the plots to the shore sprinkle the small bay.  The main beach was lined with small, humble beach bungalow inns alongside plots of land with piles of drying algae.  We settled into a place where the outdoor lounge/restaurant/lobby is steps from the beach with a view of the entire bay and a front row seat to the show the expert surfers put on.  The locals and foreign surfers shred gnar about half a kilometer off shore on the reef break.  

Andy's man crush

The back of our place led into a long dirt alley of about 200 meters, just wide enough for two motorbikes, the favored mode of transport, that led to the main road.  Only dirt roads exist and with a population of about 5000, traffic is no worry. We rented a scooter and explored the island from the east beach, to the northern mangrove forest, to the secluded beach on the western side and anywhere in between. You can ride around the entire island in about 40 mins, not including a detour to the neighboring island that you must cross a rickety old bridge to get to the other side.  The other smaller island has a few incredible spots where you can grab a beer on a cliff top bar or do a cliff jump 15 meters into the ocean.   The catch is you must drive through a dozen small villages and turn down the correct alley or there is no hope of finding these magical spots. There were two little girls selling homemade jewelry on the side of the road that caught my eye. One spoke English and taught me a few Bahasa Indonesian words.  When I purchased a necklace from one girl, the other was visibly upset and about to rage at her friend for taking a customer. To keep from breaking up a friendship, I bought a bracelet from the other girl and turned it into a win/win/win situation.

Wooo!

We intended to stay for 2 days, ended up staying a week, and seriously thought about becoming dive instructors and moving to the island.  We met a group of Aussies on the boat over from Bali and then ran into them again two days later.  They are three Aussie siblings, Jacqui is a dive instructor and an expat for the better part of 10 years, and her two brothers, Sam and Ben.  Ben is the sweet older brother that they joked was a know-it-all when he started telling Jacqui how to dive.  Sam is the younger brother with an adventurous side and no shortage of entertaining stories to tell. Jacqui was teaching her bros to dive and we joined them for the next few days in search of manta rays and sun fish (mola mola). We searched to no avail but in the meantime explored the incredibly beautiful corals and tropical fish.  Instead of diving one day, we ventured to manta point for a snorkeling trip.  We swam with these gentle giants for an hour watching them gracefully glide through the water. From afar, they look like large table clothes floating in the water.  The mantas can grow up to 6 meters and 3000 lbs but swim weightlessly through the water.  These incredible creatures make you fell so small and insignificant in their world.  They don't seem to be bothered by human interaction.  The curious ones will swim close and others just ignore you.  

The last day of diving we went solo with another dive master named Jaya.  He runs the dive shop and is very on top of everything but will take every chance to take a snooze. On the way to our dive site he climbed onto the bow of the boat laid down and slept through the bumpy ride to the site.  Andy and I sat behind him with faces full of salt water from the splashing wake of the boat.  With a few dives under our belt, we were comfortable in our fins and immediately descended to 20 meters.  We swam along the reef and stopped half-way through, to check the current, but really there was a school of angry Trigger fish with triggers raised. These aren't too dangerous but have been known to bite a toe off once in a while.  Once they swam away we continued along the reef.  

We swam past schools of large fish, moray eels, turtles, eagle rays, small neon-colored nuddibranchs, and countless other fish.  The whole time a remora followed us and tried to stick to our wetsuits.  They are the small fish that attach to bigger fish.  Sort of like the mosquito of the ocean.  He even followed us up to the surface and attacked Andy while he was taking a whiz.  The boat capital called out, "Fish! Fish!"  and hysterically laughed as Andy hurried into the boat. 

The last night there we teamed up with our diving buddies and headed to a restaurant that our french dive instructor, Francios, recommended.  The tables brought me back to my childhood.  All of the tables housed classic board games underneath glass like Chutes and Ladders, Chess, SORRY!,  and Chinese Checkers but unfortunately we never had the opportunity to play.  When we tried to order, we quickly found out that rice and chicken were the only items left on the menu.   This would have been fine but the waitress continued to tell us they were also out of beer right as the power went out.  The group took that as a sign to move to the next food establishment and hopped back onto the scooters (3 people to 1 scooter).  The next joint offered tables on the beach and the owner/cook/waitress asked if we would be ok with a special family style buffet for the table. Thirty minutes later we feasted on banana leaf tuna, BBQ'd tuna, chicken satay, roasted veggies, nasi goreng, etc.  Amazing!!!  By far, the best meal I've had in Indonesia thanks to the good company, delicious food and ice cold Bintang.