West Coast

Different country - same habits, of course I pressed snooze on my alarm for the volcano hike on Friday and nothing came of it :D But the backup plan was not bad either!

On Friday I went to Amed to snorkel. I chatted with a waiter and he said that the famous Amed Beach is no longer as beautiful as it used to be because tourists are destroying the coral reef, so he gave me a insider tip - the Vienna Beach - quite fitting :D It was really fantastic there and he did not promise too much.

On Saturday we were woken up just before 6 because the turtle babies had hatched. So we all got up quickly, cleared a path, and made sure all 36 babies safely made it to the sea. An unforgettable experience!

Afterwards, I went with Sophie (an Austrian from my project) to the westernmost point of Bali - now I have seen every side of Bali.

On the way there (over 3 hours by scooter), we made a stop at a few waterfalls. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Incredible!

In the afternoon, we visited another organization involved in coral reef restoration using electrified steel sculptures to grow corals. Really interesting and beautiful to see while snorkeling.

The final destination was a small uninhabited island called Menjangan Island. We stayed near the island and did 2 dives there today on Sunday. Unfortunately, part of the coral reef there was already dead, but still spectacular to see.

We also passed the West Bali National Park by boat, and it's truly a dream. Kilometers of white beach where only occasionally a few deer (yes, they are there, I was also surprised) or monkeys appear, and water so turquoise that it almost looks unreal!

On the way back home, we made a detour to Lovina Beach to watch the sunset and then headed home. On the way home, we wanted to have dinner and went to a beach promenade recommended by a local. Since we were the only tourists there and the menu was only in Indonesian, I decided to just randomly point at the menu and be surprised. I ended up with an avocado juice with chocolate sauce and boiled corn kernels with extra chili - well, you can't always be lucky :D So we stopped again a bit later on the way because I was still hungry. Again, only small stands by the road and again, everything in Indonesian. I thought twice that I wouldn't have bad luck again and ordered something random. Then I got my order, a freshly squeezed orange juice - not exactly what I wanted. But all good things come in threes! So I ordered something again and prayed - and finally! Yellow rice with tuna, glass noodles, and various beans and nuts.

The funny thing is, since these were all places where only locals eat, everything was at local prices, so I paid about 2€ for my 2 drinks and 2 dishes in total - really crazy :D

In 3 1/2 hours my alarm will ring because I want to try climbing Mount Batur again at sunrise tomorrow. Whether I manage to get up, you'll find out in my next post.

Martin