Nusa Lembongan

When I boarded the public "slow boat" from the big island Bali to the little Nusa Lembongan, I didn't know what to expect. I stepped ashore ninety minutes later on the white sand beach pleasantly surprised by he relatively comfortable journey, despite having to splash through waist deep waves with my suitcase held above my head upon embarking and disembarking the rickety wooden boat.

a view of Mount Agung, Bali's big volcano

Three days in Ubud, three days on Lembongan. That was the plan. Three days of sightseeing, and three of relaxing on the beautiful white sand beaches before heading to the capital city, Denpasar, for the last night before flying home.

the beach at Nusa Lembongan

The beaches looked absolutely stunning, with some of the clearest water I've ever seen. The reason that the water is so clear is because the sand, being mostly small pieces of coral, was incredibly corse. Not being so finely particular, it didn't cloud the water at all. It kind of hurt to walk on though, so I didn't do much swimming. 

Ganesh - the majority of Bali is Hindu

The island itself was quite small, with two small villages and lots of smallish hotels and resorts. Most tourists rent motorbikes from their hotels to get around. There aren't many sights to see, aside from the beaches, some small seaweed farms, or local village life, but one of the things I heard about was some sort of suspension bridge that linked Lembongan to its much smaller neighboring island, Ceningan.  You could walk from one side to the other in two hours or so. That is, if you don't accidentally take the long way through the mangrove forest!

walking through the jungle

The bridge itself wasn't much, but the little island on the other side was nice. It was swaying like crazy, although people didn't really seem too bothered by that as they drove their motorbikes across. It was so narrow that pedestrians have to stay close by the side railing as motorbikes drive just inches past them.

finally!

I didn't explore the other island. I heard that there was another village there and some private bungalows that you could rent. From the bridge I could see a small, empty temple.

Nusa Ceningan

I decided to get a ride in whatever the Indonesian verson of a songtaew is called (covered pickup truck with benches) back to the hotel. On the ride, I got to drive through one of the small, colorful villages.

the ride back to the hotel

My trip in Bali (eight days, including two that were spent traveling there and back) was over too quickly! The last night in Denpasar was pretty uneventful. The cheap hostel I booked was pretty far away from the few sights that the city has (mostly it's a jumping-off point for the rest of Bali), and it started raining, so I got some local food and called it an early night. The next morning I checked out and headed back to the airport. Four hours later, I was back in Bangkok.

sunset

Goodbye, Bali! Hopefully I'll be back sometime.