Today we landed on the beautiful shores of Lembongan Island, just off the coast of mainland Bali. Miss Alex and i took the 10.30 am public boat from Sanur and battled through the very deep, very long swells over to the island. On approach to Lembongan we both got very excited, it looked like we’d arrived in heaven with 3 to 4 metre waves rolling through. Picturesque cliffs in the distance, waves crashing in against the cliffs and sea mist in the air. The main source of income on this island apart from a secret 12% tax on your meals, is seaweed farms. Literally there are fields of seaweed grown in the shallow surf and local ladies work in the fields all day, picking big basket loads. This place is surfers heaven!! Australia has a place called Surfers Paradise and it must be something special to top this place.
Once onshore, a local man offered us a room at his guest house for a lot cheaper than what we were prepared to pay, in the past we’d have took him up on his offer and probably ended up staying there, regardless of the condition of his room, even if only for one night then moving on the next day, but we’d made this mistake last night and stayed in one of our worst rooms yet!! I’m still surprised how, either of us didn’t end up with bed bugs. Anyway I think we both sensed another crap room and made our excuses and headed off in search of a decent room. We looked at 3 guesthouses right on the beach front and each one got better than the last. Pacific Inn was our chosen destination. Even now as I type this I can hear the waves crashing onto the beach just 10 metres from the room. The room is a cracker. It has air con, this may not sound much to you as you read this but the walls were concrete. This is a must for me as wooden bungalows often invite unwanted little guests through the gaps in the nucks and crannies.
This afternoon miss Alex and I took our usual first day tour, we both thought a little afternoon stroll to burn off lunch would be a good opportunity to look around the place. 4 and a half hours, countless miles and hills, an hour were we got lost, and 2 cwoffees later we got back to Pacific Inn exhausted. Having looked at the map tonight, we walked around the island in a full loop.
Tea was cooked for us by our guesthouse owner and his wife. Fish slowly cooked on a tiny BBQ right on the seafront, rice and vegetables prepared by the guesthouse owners wife. By time we finished eating our fish, its remains looked right out of a Tom and Jerry cartoon, just the spine, tail and a full head, (including eyes) Miss Alex is not the biggest fish fan but even she loved every bit off it. We asked the wife what fish it was and we got the famous “Dime Bar” look. I’m guessing it was Snapper.
Whilst on our walk today I stumbled across a gym, which I ll be hitting hard first thing in the morning. Teach these Balinese how to lift some weights.
Slightly gutted we didn’t bring a couple days more money. The island has no ATMs and our supply only takes us through to Sunday. But we are really looking forward to our stay here on this island.
Speak soon xxx
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