Nusa Penida

Our next destination was Nusa Penida, a small island that belongs to Bali. Once again, we took a speedboat, which lived up to its name. The captain was obviously a race car driver and whipped through the waves like an executioner. On numerous occasions, all the passengers held their breath when the boat crashed onto the water with a loud thud. Philip had taken a motion sickness pill in foresight, which is why he "only" had a fear of death. Jana was also seasick and spent most of the journey with other sufferers in the fresh air at the back of the boat. After a very long 2.5 hours, land came into sight and we were able to safely disembark. Hallelujah, that was a ride. We had already reserved a scooter at the harbor, as always here, easily done via WhatsApp. The scooter, this time a slightly larger one to Philip's delight, was already waiting for us and we could dash to our accommodation about 30 minutes away with our proven packing technique and all our luggage. Our beautiful bungalow stood on a hill in the greenery, a bit away from the coast. We were greeted by Gustu, the hotel owner, who was just in his late 20s and very friendly. He told us that Nusa Penida had only been developed for tourism since 2018, and the pandemic had hit the island hard due to the drop in tourism, during which time he worked as a fisherman with his father. Overall, there was much less going on here than in Bali, and everything felt rural and relaxed. After the wild boat trip, we didn't do much and just looked for a delicious "warung" - that's what everything from street kiosks to restaurants is called in Indonesia, and unlike proper restaurants, no taxes have to be paid on the dishes here - where we had dinner for the next few days: delicious, fast, and cheap 😋

On the next day, we explored the west coast. Despite beautiful beaches, swimming here was not easy as the waves and currents were surprisingly strong and the water was a bit cold. In Crystal Bay, we saw a few diving boats and wanted nothing more than to go underwater again, but we were really glad that we took our diving course in the calm, warm waters of Gili Air 😅 Unfortunately, diving was not possible anyway, as after Philip's ear infection, Jana was now also in pain - so the ear drops from the island doctor were doubly useful. So we splashed around in the water for a bit and then went to our second destination, Tembeling Beach. Before getting off the main road onto the turnoff, you could hire a driver to drive you down with the scooter. We had already read that the "road" should be a bit bumpy, but what awaited us was truly adventurous. It shouldn't even have been called a dirt road. It went steeply downhill over sand and broken stone slabs, over small stones and roots. Somehow we managed to get down on our own without any problems and, as so often, we were amazed at how Indonesians seem to have motorcycle riding in their blood. They happily honked as they passed us at breakneck speed and without helmets, each with a clinging tourist on the back seat. When we arrived at the parking lot, we had to go down many stairs as usual before we finally reached the coast. Swimming here was strictly forbidden, the waves crashed against the cliffs with an impressive force, so it would have been really reckless to go into the water here. Instead, there was a small natural pool from which you could calmly observe the wild activity of the sea. We met two girls again who we had met on a jeep tour in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia - it's a small world. After that, we took the same path back up and then back onto the main road, which, as we had to realize, was the only serious asphalt road on Nusa Penida - so the expansion for tourism was not that far yet, but it gave the island a certain charm. On the way, we saw a tiny baby cat, which means we had to stop immediately and pet the cute little thing. Unfortunately, we couldn't take her with us and zoomed through the wild, green nature of the island after a few strokes. Our next destination was the famous Kelingking Beach. The rock formation around it is also called T-Rex because the cliff looks like a dinosaur head 🦖. The highlight is not necessarily the beach itself, where, due to the waves, swimming is not recommended again, but the view from above. It was really beautiful! We walked a few more meters along the neck of the T-Rex and enjoyed the great view. A few monkeys balanced on the railing around us, one even tried to steal Jana's ice cream. Strengthened with a cool coconut, we set off for the last destination of the day, Smoky Beach, where we wanted to watch the sunset. We reached the "beach" over rough terrain, which looked like a meadow in the Allgäu. A few cows grazed around us, and hardly anything was going on - that's the advantage when the access is so difficult. Here, too, you could observe waves that were splashing super high against the cliffs, and we enjoyed a very beautiful sunset.

On the second day, we had booked a snorkeling tour that should take us to Manta Bay, where Philip, in particular, wanted to fulfill his dream of snorkeling with these giant rays. The weather was sunny, the sea seemed calm, but the closer we got to the bay, the higher the waves became, and the captain had to turn around as we couldn't drive into the bay, let alone get into the water there. That was very, very unfortunate! Instead, we went to three other spots where we saw many colorful fish, starfish, and beautiful corals, much more colorful than in front of the Gili Islands! Afterwards, we tried our luck at Manta Cliff and Manta Point, where you can sometimes see mantas from above - but once again, we were unfortunately out of luck. We'll have to make up for that in Australia! On the way there, however, as compensation, we met another baby cat, who was lazily lounging in the middle of the road and, of course, was extensively petted again. The last destination of the day was two beaches in the east of the island. We only saw Diamond Beach from above, but we climbed down an incredible number of stairs to get to Atuh Beach. The beach was very beautiful, here too with intimidating waves and currents, so we watched everything from the shore with a beer in hand. After Jana took a long nap, we crawled up the stairs at a snail's pace - you really don't have much energy in the heat - and drove back to our favorite "warung" through the sunset, where we had a delicious dinner. The next day, we packed our things, relaxed at the in-house pool, and then took the boat back to Bali at a moderate pace and in calm seas.

All in all, we really liked Nusa Penida, it was like a mix between the laid-back Gili Air and the bustling Bali. The nature is beautiful and it hasn't been overrun by mass tourism yet. The roads are quite challenging, but they somehow make the island charming. Soon, we will be starting our last few days in Bali and in Southeast Asia.