After five weeks of travel in Java we were now ready to hit the beaches of Bali. Our first stop was the beach resort town of Sanur, a suburb of the capital Denpasar. Sanur turned out to be a relaxing vacation from our travels. By this we mean, not only relaxing on the beach, but also the added bonuses of clean, flushing, western style toilets with toilet paper, the many English speaking service employees and good Western food in the restaurants. We even had steak one night for dinner; our first taste of red meat in 5 weeks and a nice change from rice three times a day.
September 2000 - Nusa Lembongan, Bali, Indonesia
From Sanur, we took an hour and a half boat ride to the island of Nusa Lembongan. We arrived during high tide in which the water came right up to the edge of our guesthouse. After a short nap, we woke up to find that at low tide, the water recedes from the beach revealing a vast network of seaweed farms. A good portion of the population of this small island earn their living by farming seaweed between the beach and the edge of the offshore reef. During high tide, you would never know these farms existed but in low tide it is interesting to watch the locals gather the seaweed quickly before the tide comes rolling back in. Popular with surfers and budget travellers alike, Nusa Lembongan is a laid back island perfect for doing nothing. However, we did manage one day to walk around the entire island. The walk took about five hours and on the way we discovered several intricate Hindu temples (unlike the rest of Muslin Indonesia, Bali is 95% Hindu), two great lookout points with views over the entire island and an underground house. The underground house was built by a Balinese man during the last 15 years of his life. From 1961 to 1976, he carved out of rock an enormous, if a little cramped, space including two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a sitting room and a meditation room. His inspiration came from the ancient Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, in which the 5 heroic Pandava brothers are exhiled from their kingdom and seek refuge in a cave. We spent the rest of our time in Nusa Lembongan pretty much just reading, sleeping, drinking and sunbathing on the beach. It's a very tough life.
