Week 91 - Ubud, Nusa Lembongan, Sanur, Kuta Lombok (Indonesia)

We left Amed after breakfast the following day to start the trip back to Ubud. I’d figured out a route that would avoid most of the main roads and take us through some of the more picturesque villages. We turned inland from the coast and wound our way over the mountains and through paddy fields via some extremely bendy roads. The local people were curious to see white people out of the tourist centres and waved and shouted as we passed. The road led us from Amlapura to Rendang, around the southern slopes of Gunung Agung then on through Muncan to Bangli. Although we decided against stopping at Pura Besakih (the biggest temple in Bali, where i’d had my xray the previous week), we stopped at Pura Kehen in Bangli, supposedly a miniature version of Pura Besakih. It was almost empty and after avoiding the scams to buy temple sashes that you get given for free, we wandered about, climbing the ornate stairway into the first courtyard and to the inner courtyard beyond, it really was quite beautiful.

Rhys at Pura Kehen, Bangli, Bali.

We reached a straighter road and sped up to cover the ground to Tampaksiring, where we intended to visit the ancient monuments at Gunung Kawi before stopping at some temples we’d missed because of my injured foot close to Ubud, in Bedulu and Pejeng. We passed some coffee plantations and saw signs for luwak coffee, (civet coffee) and having always wanted to try it we decided to pull over. As soon as we pulled into the carpark the back wheel kicked out, half of the spokes had sheered off but as we were already at the cafe we thought it would be a waste not to go in. We hadn’t realised it involved a quick tour of the process (the wild civets eat the red berries and the seeds come out in their poo and they collect it, rinse it and roast it) and then the girl sat with us while we sampled 8 different types of tea and coffee. If we weren’t worrying about getting the bike fixed we would have enjoyed it a lot more. The civet coffee was delicious but pretty expensive.

When we left the coffee shop we limped the bike owards Ubud and stopped at a bike garage (a little concrete hut at the side of the road) to get the wheel sorted. They tried to just replace the spokes (we think, they didn’t speak English) but struggled and disappeared with the wheel down the road. We sat on plastic chairs by the road for 2 hours before the wheel came back all shiny and new. The repair cost a whopping £7.50, we were so relieved. By then we decided we’d be better off just getting back to Ubud and skipped the temples (we’re coming back to Ubud in a couple of months to see everything we missed with my foot). 

Me studying the map while we wait for the bike to be fixed, Tampaksiring, Bali.

Back at the nice hotel in Ubud we dropped off our bags then took the bike back to town. We walked around the market for a bit then stopped at a restaurant overlooking the park where there was a local football game being played, for dinner. 

We had a shuttle bus booked for the next day to drop us at the port in Sanur where we took a ferry to Nusa Lembongan. The trip was painless and we arrived on the island before lunch. We checked in to our hotel and didn’t waste time jumping in the pool. I could easily have spent the afternoon just sitting there but Rhys was itching to explore the island. After walking the length of the main beach we headed back to the hotel to enjoy the pool until dinner. We had arranged to meet Grant (who we’d met in Bromo) for drinks and walked back to the beach, weaving between the seaweed piles drying in the sun, to a happy hour bar. We ended the night in another beach bar with live music.

Arriving at Nusa Lembongan, Bali.

The next day we had an early start to meet our boat driver for a morning snorkel trip. We joined two Cornish guys and headed out. Once the boat was through the reef that protects the bay, the waves started getting bigger and bigger. By the time we rounded the island to Manta Point where we hoped to snorkel with manta rays, the waves were so big it was a little scary, if you fell overboard or the boat capsized you’d have been swept and smashed against the rocks before you knew what was happening. Our captain made the call that the swell was too big for us to get in the water (not that we would’ve if he told us to go for it) and we continued around the island to Crystal Bay, a cove on Nusa Penida. The water was till pretty choppy but we jumped in. It was hard to fight the waves with only one flipper (of course I couldn’t fit the other one over my injured foot) but we saw some decent sized fish and colourful coral. It just wasn’t that enjoyable as you constantly had to check where you were and ensure you weren’t getting swept into the rocks. 

Back in the boat and we rounded the island into flatter water where we stopped at a glass bottom boat where they throw restaurant scraps overboard to attract shoals of large fish. It was cool to see but at the same time a little fake and zooish. Our next stop was at another area with a beautiful coral garden but the visibility was pretty bad so before long our captain called us back to the boat and took us to a reef near the mangroves close to the main beach of Lembongan. It was a drift snorkel and there was quite a current so after jumping in you went at such a speed that you couldn’t stop to admire anything for long, definitely snorkeling for lazy people. We must have drifted for nearly 800m before the boat picked us up and the sheer number of fish and the healthiness of the coral was breathtaking, our favourite snorkel spot for a long time. Despite the rocky start to the morning, by the time we made it back to shore we were all smiles. 

Enormous fish off Nusa Lembongan, Bali.

We were back at our hotel before lunch where we spent the rest of the day. Rhys retired to the room to watch TV and I camped out by the pool with a good book. That night we arranged to meet Grant again. After a few happy hour cocktails on the beach we walked to the main street where we found a sports bar. The Cornish guys from our boat ended up joining us and a couple of beers later I headed off leaving Rhys and Grant to watch the football. With the time difference, watching the World Cup is awkward with the first game not starting until midnight. 

The next day we had a ticket for the Perama boat to take us back to Sanur where we jumped in a taxi to take us to our hotel in the south of the town. We had a few chores to run and rented a bike to get out to the bypass to pick up our passports, new visa in place (renting a bike is far cheaper than using taxis). Back at the hotel Rhys headed to the room to chill and catch up on sleep and I wandered down to the beach. I found a little cafe on the sand for a drink and sat watching the world go by. The beach was ok but pretty busy and with a fair amount of building work going on. Back at the room I checked in on Rhys before heading out again to a disappointing ‘Art Market’ near our hotel which was just full of souvenir shops and lots of bothersome people.

We still had a couple of hours until Karen was due to land so we took the bike into the centre of Sanur. We had posh ice cream and wandered around the shops, finding an amazing bakery with homemade bread. Dinner was the last of the marmite on the bread in our room. Karen arrived at around 11pm, having found the hotel this time with no problems. After a quick hello she dumped her bag in her room and whipped out a bottle of duty free vodka which we spent the next three hours polishing off. We haven’t seen Karen since she joined us in Thailand in November so there was plenty of catching up to be done.

Just in case Karen hadn’t got her airport fix with her flight from the UK via Singapore, i’d booked us another flight for the following day. With the price of boats and transfers it just seemed to make sense. Rather than spending 10 hours using the public boat to Lombok we paid about £5 more each and flew, arriving in Kuta in time for lunch, even with an hour delay to the flight.

After a short taxi ride passed a wedding procession with traditional musicians, we checked in to our homestay then wandered down to Kuta beach. We instantly preferred it to anywhere we’d been in Bali. The town beach is a golden arch of spherical, granular sand punctuated by rugged, windswept hills that rise like pyramids all along the coast. The town itself is pretty small, based around two potholed streets parallel to the ocean and one that runs perpendicular, each with a scattering of hotels, restaurants and market stalls, intermingled with local houses and corner stores, it has a real rustic charm. The most annoying part is the hordes of kids trying to sell you bracelets and the women selling sarongs. We didn’t stay at the beach long since it was a weekend and was pretty packed and took a slow walk back to ours, stopping for a beer on route. We stopped by the hotel for showers and insect repellent then it was back out for pre-dinner arak cocktails and pizza.

We enjoyed a lay in the following day, me and Rhys catching the last order for breakfast just before 10am. We rented two scooters for the next two days then, leaving Karen in bed to get over her jet lag, headed out East to explore the coast with one of the bikes. Our intention was to find the best beach to return to with Karen that afternoon. Our first stop was at Pantai Segar, a beach outside the Novotel. It was a pretty cove with some great surf and finer sand than at the town beach. Back on the bike we stopped at the next cove, Batu Kotak. We paid the 25p entrance before noticing the next bay over looked even nicer. We didn’t even get off the bike but turned around to try to find out how to get to the bay. We ended up in a sandy river basin, off the road, following other bike tracks. We took a couple of wrong turns but eventually found a way onto back up to the track where we could access the beach. It was a bit more windswept but had some beautiful hills with views over the two bays each side,a perfect spot for a picnic. 

Pantai Segar, Kuta, Lombok.

Batu Kotak, Kuta, Lombok.

Batu Kotak, Kuta, Lombok.

Further along the coast we came across Tanjung Aan. One of the most popular beaches in the area. We parked up and wandered onto the white sand, noticing a golden bay at the far end of the beach that looked almost deserted. We followed the road around to the fishing village of Gerupak before deciding it was time to turn back to Kuta to collect Karen. We had one last try to reach the deserted golden sand beach and once there, found a little rustic cafe on the sand with sun loungers that was perfect. 

Trying to find the yellow sand beach, Kuta, Lombok.

Kids playing on the beach at Gerupak, Kuta, Lombok.

Just as we pulled in to Kuta, the electrics on the scooter died, Rhys managed to get us within a 100m of our homestay before it refused to go any further. Luckily the owner had seen us and as soon as we walked in to the hotel he gave us the keys to another, better bike. By then, Karen was awake and we picked up the second scooter and headed off, with Karen on the back of Rhys’s bike and me venturing out for the first time (other than real short straight rides) by myself. It was brilliant, I could be very tempted to buy scooter when we get home. We went to the quiet cafe we’d found earlier at the end of Tanjung Aan beach and settled on the sun loungers for a couple of hours. Back in Kuta we went for happy hour cocktails again before dinner.

View from our sun loungers on Tanjung Aan, Kuta, Lombok.

Karen was awake stupidly early, unable to sleep through the call to prayer blaring from the nearby mosque. She’d already been for breakfast by the time we got up and was ready to go, albeit tired when we finished. We took both bikes out again, this time heading West instead of East. We followed the same plan, to bunny hop along the coast and find the best spot to return to that afternoon. The road was beautiful, winding up through the windswept hills with rice paddies in the saddles, swerving the potholes and the occasional herd of oxen. We turned off just past Astari at Mawan where we found a beautiful horseshoe beach hemmed in by hills and with huge waves crashing to shore. Next, we followed a sign to Mawi. The track leading to the beach was in terrible condition and was pretty testing for me being new to the whole scooter riding thing (I have no idea how Rhys manages to ride with someone on the back, I took Karen 100m and wobbled all over the road). The beach wasn’t as good but the surf was epic, most definitely not for beginners. Even if the beach had been amazing I don’t think any of us wanted to ride the track back to return later.

Back on the bikes we made our way back to the main road and continued to Selong Blanak. It was a very pretty beach with powder white sand. We walked to a quiet end of the sand and spread out our sarongs. Rhys went for a quick swim before walking to the end of the beach leaving me and Karen to enjoy the sun and watch the world go by. After an hour or so we decided to move on and went back to the bikes to ride the road towards Blongas, which according to Lonely Planet, was spectacular. We rode for a couple of kilometres, asked a guy for directions and decided to turn back, it’s all pretty spectacular along that stretch of coast so we didn’t feel like we’d miss out too much turning back. We pulled back into Mawan Beach, the closest to Kuta and found a spot where we set up camp for another hour or so. Rhys walked around the bay and had a sign language conversation with a fisherman. Around 4pm we packed up and started the trip back to town, a chilly wind was picking up and although it had been overcast for most of the day, we’d still caught the sun.

Fisherman on the rocks at Mawan Beach, Kuta, Lombok.

Rhys and Karen enjoying the beach at Mawan, Kuta, Lombok.

On the ride home we pulled in to a restaurant with views over Kuta where we stopped for a quick but expensive drink to take in the scenery. We made it back to the homestay before sunset and spent a couple of hours chilling before delicious dinner in a hippy restaurant nearby where Karen made friends with the owners kid.