We arrived on the Indonesian island of Bali from Java. The journey was a nightmare and took us much longer than expected. The 7 hour train ride from Surabaya was largely uneventful, but from here it went downhill as there was not enough seats on the nice aircon bus which we were supposed to get which meant we had to get another bus. This other bus could hardly be described as such as it was missing doors, windows, parts of the roof and the entire front end. Even the locals didn't get this bus it had come from one slum and was destined for another. The bus was largely filled with chain smoking drug addicts who were high as anything and poor men. Women didn't catch this bus as I assume it wasn't safe enough for them to travel on it alone. One local drug addict was so high his eyes were popping out of their sockets. Due to the atmosphere on the bus we decided to take all of our baggage with us when we got off on the short ferry. This was not an easy task on steep narrow stairs and corridors. Thankfully when the bus departed he ferry on the other side the driver turned off what was left of the interior lighting so that we couldn't see the state of the bus for the rest of the 4 hour journey. The bus drivers driving also left a lot to be desired with us overtaking slow moving traffic such as sports cars and family suv's etc. On numerous occasions we were almost involved in head on collisions, but eventually we arrived in Mekati where we had to take an hour long taxi to our hotel in Legian. We did however eventually arrive safe and sound.
Since we were in Indonesia to travel and experience the culture and not to spend on our time on a so so beach we left Legian after a couple of days in order
to head to Bali's cultural capital, Ubud. Since no buses really run in Bali we decided to take a private car in order to get here. This was in stark contrast
to our usual method of transport; the humble non aircon local bus. During our time in Ubud we stayed in a private bungalow overlooking some rice terraces with
our own garden and small lake including frogs, geckos and a token rabbit. We had somehow managed to stay in the best place in Ubud which was somehow still only
a short walk from the centre. Everyday in Ubud is a rainy day and the moisture in the air means that everything is damp and nothing ever dries no matter how hot
it gets.
On our first full day here we decided to rent some mountain bikes in order to explore the rice terraces and greater region around Ubud. The ride wasn't very long
(in distance) but took a long time due to the steep ascents and declines. Kat managed to fall off of her bike as well due to it being a dodgy Indonesian bike and
has still not fully recovered from her injuries as I write this a week down the line. The next day we decided to take a long walk around some of the local rice
terraces where we had a stray dog follow us most of the way. On our way back down we enjoyed a nice drink and homemade ice-cream overlooking the lower rice terraces
as the local women harvested the rice paddy in front of us. The next day we headed down to Sanur of the lower east coast of Bali.
Upon arrival in Sanur we were surprised by just how quite it was given how busy and party-ish Legian and Kutu had been. We found the beaches in Sanur to be quite poor in comparison to the west coast with them being filled with both natural and non-natural debris. The water just didn't seem as inviting. We had to leave for Nusa Lembongan from Sanur and so stuck it out until then. Having said that our guesthouse was great if only it was located in a better area. If I was to visit Bali again and stay on the mainland I would choose to stay in Legian. The next day we boarded a 90 minute slowboat to make the 12 kilometre crossing to the island of Nusa Lembongan.
We arrived directly on the beach in Nusa Lembongan and were surprised by just how nice both the beach and sea were just a short hop from Sanur and thus why so many
people stayed in Sanur rather than here. During our first afternoon here we went for a short walk round the north of the island which ended up turning into an 8
kilometre hike to the Mangrove forests. On route we saw many locals drying out seaweed that we latter learned many of the islanders were farming.
On the next day we ended up renting some push bikes. We hadn't realised at this stage in the morning just how hilly Ceningan or Nusa Lembongan was going to be as we
only had a dodgy local map which didn't list geometry. The max island height was only 56 metres but we ascended and descended this rapidly many times throughout the
day. This nearly killed us and I can see why almost everyone else had rented a motorbike. Thankfully the two bikes we had rented this time were brand new and had
never been ridden before by the looks of it and hence they were well maintained. We started off by taking the scenic route through the local villages towards the
closely neighbouring island of Ceningan. The two islands are joined by a rickety wooden suspension bridge and exposed to some very strong winds. This made it difficult
to cross on a push bike; however we did eventually succeed without holding up the motorbike traffic too much. Once we arrived on Ceningan island we started off by
travelling the length of the island to enjoy a well deserved drink overlooking a nice beach near to a cliff jump site. From here we headed down a long and difficult
path to a place known as secret beach where we found crystal clear waters and beautiful sand in an isolated cove and were surprised by how many people had been looking
for the cliff jump but ignored this little secluded spot. From here we headed back onto Nusa Lembongan over the wooden suspension bridge before we endured a difficult
ride to a place known as Dream beach. Dream beach really was a dream beach with the whitest sand we had seen all year and crystal blue waters. We enjoyed a late lunch
here before we headed down for a swim in the extremely violent waves that existed on this beach. The waves were so strong that they really dragged and through you about
and you had to be careful not to become overwhelmed; it was however an extremely refreshing dip. From here we headed back to our accommodation on the other side of the
island. This meant enduring many steep ascents and descents on our already tired legs and by fluke led us by the best viewpoint of Lembongan village and beach on the
island. From here it was all pleasantly downhill home.
The next day we spent relaxing and recovering from our long ride before we headed on speed boat to the Gili Islands.
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