Nusa Lembongan

We have arrived in Nusa Lembongan after a 2 hour trip (car - boat - car) and checked into our accommodation for the next few days. We're staying at a place called Nanuks Bungalows, which I chose because it looked peaceful and the reviews said the staff were lovely.

First impressions of the place (both the island and the bungalows) are fab. Despite my distaste for travel by sea, the boat ride was a mere 25 minutes as promised and we couldn't have got a nicer, sunnier, calmer day. It's all blue skies and gentle winds. This is the view we got when the boat first arrived:




Nice, huh? We then got into a very rusty, rickety old tray-truck for a ride to the bungalows.



It was so bumpy, this was the best shot I could get.

Our place has eight two storied bungalows with thatched bamboo roofs.




The ground floor has an outdoor bathroom




And a lovely bedroom up a steep set of stairs. My favourite feature are the day bed areas underneath each bedroom, which are fully outdoors, but shaded.



It isn't a huge place, but there's a nice saltwater pool and lovely gardens filled with birdbaths.








All I can hear are birds and the occasional boat motor from the sea which is less than 200m away. Nice.

I think today will be a low-key relaxation sort of day. Tomorrow we're thinking of a three hour snorkeling trip, if the weather is good. Unlike the Gili islands, you can't just wander into the ocean here and stumble across sea turtles.

Today is also a festival day in Bali called Kuningan, which is tied to the festival of Galungan which was last week. On Galungan, the family ancestors come to earth and stay for ten days until Kuningan, when they return to heaven. During the ten days between Galungan and Kuningan, there is a tradition of young boys grouping together with a couple dressing as a dragon and the rest playing instruments or wearing masks. They walk the streets doing mini performances and then collect donations. They've been fun to watch and Phil and I have caught a couple on our walks. Here's a kid in one of the masks:


And a couple more with their donation basket.



And the dragon:



On our way to Sanur to catch the boat, it seemed that every Balinese person was dressed for temple to celebrate. And apparently this afternoon we can walk to a village temple ten or fifteen minutes away and watch a big ceremony with a baring dance. Should be interesting!

**Sadly both the kindle and the Ricoh camera have died since we arrived in Bali in January, so it's going to be mobile phone pics from here on in.

Enjoy the weekend wherever you are!