Lofalitsidwa: 23.04.2017
On Tuesday evening, my dear friend Laura arrived. Unfortunately, her luggage didn't make it to the other end of the world with her, but in our girls' apartment, we had all the essential things and managed to survive the first day of vacation in Bali :).
Spontaneously, we decided to go to Nusa Lembongan over the upcoming weekend. And wow, now on Sunday evening, I can happily say - I couldn't have imagined a better weekend.
On Friday, I had my first Indonesian language lesson. I had been eager to learn the language for days. The first lesson was... okay?... We were given basic vocabulary and helpful phrases, and I diligently scribbled everything down in my vocabulary notebook.
The highlight of the day for me: 'Oh... Mahal!' (which means 'Oh... that's expensive!'). I wish I had known that a bit earlier, especially after Charley and I were clearly overcharged several times when buying fruit at the market in the past few days.
After university, we took a taxi to Sanur and from there, we hopped on a speedboat to Nusa Lembongan. The boat ride felt like a visit to the Hamburger Dom. I love the Dom. Anka loves it too. Charley and Laura don't. While I managed to sleep for half the ride as the boat hopped over the waves, Charley and Laura fixated their gaze on the headrest in front of them with a rapid heartbeat and an upset stomach, sending prayers. But the thrilling ride was definitely worth it: we reached paradise in less than 30 minutes of a Dom tour.
On Saturday, the alarm clock rang early because we had a snorkeling tour scheduled for 8 am. Although we had announced the night before that we would like to have breakfast at 7:30 am, our guesthouse owner seemed overwhelmed by the unusual situation of an early breakfast and sent us on the four-hour snorkeling tour on an empty stomach. Our snorkeling guide kindly offered us Nasi Goreng at 8 am, which was actually meant for lunch. But we politely declined for now. It was a bit too early for Nasi.
The tour cost approximately €10 per person, and from the moment we sat on the boat and headed to the first spot, I thought I would have paid double just for this boat ride. Goosebumps at 30 degrees, I don't think I've ever experienced that before. That place stole all my senses and sanity. Between Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan, it looked like something out of Pirates of the Caribbean, and when we sailed past Crystal Bay in Nusa Penida, I finally knew how all those paradise beaches that you only see on postcards look in real life.
The first snorkeling spot was meant to see Manta Rays. Everyone seems to see them there every day. But of course, not us on that day. We climbed back onto the boat after about 20 minutes of searching for Mantas, feeling quite disappointed. Next stop: Crystal Bay. The mood lifted again after we saw almost every fish from Finding Nemo and beautiful corals in crystal clear water. Anka and I had Nasi Goreng afterward. But Charley and Laura didn't because the boat was a bit too much in action for them. The third and final spot left me speechless again. Surrounded by thousands of colorful fish, you can find 9 Buddha statues on the seabed between Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan.
After our boat trip, we rented scooters (which would definitely not be allowed in German traffic) and drove around the island from one dream beach to another. We could also cross over to Nusa Ceningan via a narrow bridge, where we had the most beautiful view from the Blue Lagoon.