The little Perama boat cruised away from the long beach at Sanur and beyond the reef, then set a course for the islands we could see out in the distance. As we crossed the channel, the swell increased until the boat was undulating across the waves. On the downside of the waves, the outriggers would plunge into the water sending up plumes of spray, which got us a little bit wet. However, things got worse as we continued, when huge splashes came crashing in over the starboard side of the boat as we descended into the troughs of the waves, blasting through the plastic sheets that had been lowered to give us shelter. After two of these huge deluges, we were all saturated and covered in bits of seaweed and flecks of paint from the outriggers. The journey carried on, with more of these huge waves crashing over us, until we reached the shelter of Nusa Lembongan and approached the island.

Coming into the island, we sailed past attractive cliffs and around a headland until we saw the long beach of Jungutbatung stretching along the length of the island. The beach was fairly thin and backed by low-rise bungalows and restaurants, with lots of boats moored just off the shore. It didn't look as attractive as some of the beaches we had visited, but the views over to the hazy peaks of Bali were great, and looking towards some bungalows on the hillside at the end of the beach we hoped we'd get somewhere nice to stay.

When we got off the boat, we were greeted by a chap in a baseball cap who was keen to show us his bungalows. We said thanks but no, as the beach wasn't very attractive around there, nor the view of the boats and the dark patches of seaweed being cultivated just under the water's surface. Instead we headed up to the concrete path behind the beach and then along to our left to see what was around the corner at the end of the beach. Along the way we passed more bungalows but kept going until we reached one at the end which had been recommended in our guide book. We had a look at some rooms and, although they were nice, the place didn't have a pool nor a great outlook, so we kept on going. Just around the corner from this place, while we were standing by one place trying to figure out the way to keep walking up the coast, the cap guy who had greeted us off the boat turned up. He told us 'That place is full, don't check there' talking about the bungalows we were standing near to, but had no intention of checking out. He then proceeded to walk into the place, talk to the owner and return to tell us in fact they did have a room and that we should have a look. We realised then that he was just trying to get into places ahead of us so he could claim he'd brought us there and get some sort of commission. He then tried to suggest some other places to check out. We told him politely but firmly that we were quite happy looking for places by ourselves and could he please leave us alone.

We walked around the corner from those bungalows, but here the accommodation petered out, and there was only big patches of fragrant seaweed drying in the sun. We doubled back and then stopped outside one place to have a drink and a rest. The whole time we were there, cap man sat about 10 feet away chatting to some of the staff. When we got up and started off down the path back towards where we had come off the boat, he trailed along behind us like a lost puppy. When we reached a point where the path ended and we had to walk on the beach again, we looked behind us and there he was, sitting on a motorbike. I asked in a friendly but meaningful way 'Oh, so you're still following us?' before telling him once again that we didn't need any help finding accommodation thank you very much. He replied 'yes, yes, of course' then we left him to walk around on the sand to where the path started again. As soon as we reached the path again, who should we see but our own personal island stalker. He followed us all the way to the end of the beach, where we started looking at some more expensive but much nicer places on the hill, with views along the whole beach and of Bali in the distance. Every time we looked at a place then left, he would run up to the reception desk to speak to the staff, or would try and get ahead of us to speak to them before we arrived at a place. We were starting to get really pissed off, so kept turning round and taking photos of him to try and put him off. Whenever we turned around he would casually stop and lean against a tree or turn away as if we wouldn't be able to see him. We then started walking ahead of him and hiding behind pillars until he approached, then stepping out to surprise him. When we did this he would quickly turn into the nearest bar as if that was where he'd been heading the whole time.

This incredibly irritating game went on until we found a nice bungalow high on a hill overlooking everything, with air conditioning and everything else we needed. We managed to bargain a reduced price and then collected our bags and brought them up to the room. We resolved that if we saw cap man again, we would make sure to be as annoying to him as possible, if not report him to the tourist police for harrassment just for being so annoying.

Although our bungalow was nice, we couldn't help being a bit underwhelmed by our first impressions of Nusa Lembongan. It didn't seem to be the paradise island it was made out to be, with the beach at Jungutbatung especially being rather ugly. We decided since we were tired out from walking around in the heat that our judgement may be affected, and that we should also wait until we'd seen more of the island until we formed an opinion. Nevertheless, we didn't get the same great island vibe we'd had on the likes of Koh Lipe or Pulau Tioman

After taking a shower and relaxing in the room to cool down for bit, during which a well-timed torrent of rain poured down outside, we went down to the restaurant at our accommodation for some lunch. We had a tasty but quite expensive (compared to the Southeast Asian prices we'd become used to) meal here, then set off for a walk along the coastal path in front of our accommodation to see a bit more of the island.

The path took us along in front of lots of fancy resorts built up the hillside, with more being built further along. Soon the paving stones gave way to dirt, and the path rounded a corner before descending down some rough stone steps to a small cove flanked by rocky outcrops. We crossed the sand here and climbed more rough steps on the far side, then followed a path through some trees and in front of very fancy looking private villas, before once again descending to a beach, this time a longer but equally quiet stretch of sand with attractive low-lying cliffs framing it at the far end.

We had a look around this beach, then cut up a path between two fancy villas to a rough road which climbed the hillside towards the interior of the island. We wandered along more of these rough, steep roads through the jungle, making a path roughly back towards Jungutbatung, on the way passing basic local houses, pig pens and innumerable shrines and little food offerings left on the ground in leaf pouches.

Eventually we found ourselves at a big, weathered white temple compound at seemingly the highest point on the island. We took a turn here and headed down another road passing tall radio towers until we saw Jungutbatung far below us. We took a turn along a road running along the top of the hill behind our accommodation then found a path down through one of the fancy resorts along from ours, which led us back to the path in front of our place. From here we walked along and arrived sweaty and tired at our place. We stripped down to our swimmers and climbed into the cool pool by the path, just floating around for a while.

After climbing out the pool and drying off we went up to our room where we watched the recently set sun colour the clouds overhead in fantastic shades of pink and orange. We could see the full size of huge Mount Agung over on Bali, which had been shrouded in clouds for most of the day, and were surprised at how tall it actually was.

We had a shower in our room, then changed and headed out for some dinner. We walked down the steps from our hillside bungalow (107 steps) to the path, then along to the shoreside path running along the main Jungutbatung seafront. We followed the sketchy concrete seawall which made up the main route in front of the shops and restaurants on the shore, before asking for some directions to a warung (local family-run eatery) we had read about online. We were directed to turn in at a temple up ahead which we'd passed on our accommodation search earlier, to the main road, then follow this along to the restaurant. We did as instructed and found ourselves on a narrow but real road, which ran the length of the town behind the beachfront businesses. We'd had no idea this road was here, nor that the town was as large as it was, with temples, houses and little shops lining the road and further little alleyways leading off it deeper into the island.

We walked along the main street, by the patchy light of the widely-spaced lamp-posts until we found D&B Warung, the place we'd been looking for. We took a seat at one of the handful of tables outside what looked like a family home, and perused the menus handed to us by the friendly owner. We ended up ordering a bit of an odd mixture to share, namely nachos, tomato soup, fried noodles with chicken and a tuna salad. All the food was tasty and was much much cheaper than at our accommodation, or most of the other places we'd checked out in town. After our satisfying meal, we left and walked back along to our place via the main road then the coastal path. Despite our tasty meal and a generally enjoyable day, our sense of disappoint with the island persisted. We resolved the next day to hire out a motorbike and explore some of the other beaches, hoping that we might find a nicer area to stay or at least see some aspect of the island which earned it its glowing reputation.

At our accommodation we grabbed the laptop from the room then sat down at the bar area around reception, overlooking the town stretching out a bit below us. We were the only people there, and had peace and quiet to enjoy the sea breeze blowing in and the decent wifi connection. As we sat, I felt the exertions of the day take their toll and began to nod off in my comfy armchair, while Lucy called home to her mum on Skype. With the call concluded and my energy reserves just about depleted, we climbed the steps for the last time and crashed out in our big four-poster bed, cocooned in a mosquito net.

In the morning we woke to the sunlight illuminating our room through the big sliding doors leading to the balcony. We had a great view out over the town and island below us, across the channel to Bali where Mount Agung could be seen in its towering glory. Even with this magnificent site, something still didn't 'click' and we felt that maybe the island had more to offer, and wanted to discover it.

Once we were up and about, we went down the steps to the restaurant for our breakfast. We had some tasty banana pancakes, fruit salad, juice and tea and coffee then chilled out for a little while with the laptop. After nipping up to the room to pick up some stuff, we set off towards town to find a motorbike to rent for the day. We didn't have to go far before a chap sitting outside a shop offered us one for rent. After checking that decent helmets would be included, and haggling the price down to something reasonable, we followed him along a path to the main road where he gave us the keys to a smart little lime green Yamaha scooter.

We set off on our scooter to the main road, then turned and began the ascent up the hill we had ended up walking to the top of the day before. The irregular road switched back a couple of times and climbed up some rather sharp inclines which tested the little motor in our bike, but we soon made it up to the white temple at the top of the hill. From there we took a road leading downhill again, thankfully on a gentler incline. This brought us to a small village on the slope, full of compact family temples, where we took some turns following signs for Mushroom Beach. Passing some little warungs and guesthouses, we rounded a few more corners then the road popped out on a concrete platform above a gorgeous sandy cove, with a few boats moored off the shore. We immediately liked the laid back feel of this beach and its cosy atmosphere more than Jungutbatung, so decided to have a look around for some accommodation.

We parked the bike and walked down onto the sand, then along in front of some very fancy looking resorts to some smaller ones at the end of the beach. We checked out one place where the rooms were really cool traditional Indonesian huts with curving thatched roofs and the bedrooms up on a raised storey above a general purpose platform below. The room we saw was nice but only had a fan and no mosquito net, which wasn't a great combination with the open-edged roof all around. We looked instead at a resort next door to this one, The Tanis, which we'd seen online and liked the look of. As soon as we walked in past the two smart swimming pools and were greeted by the friendly staff, we liked the feel of the place. We had a look at a few rooms, which were all in little bungalows off a path running up a slope through a pretty garden, then an ocean view room on the 1st floor of a larger building up at the back of the garden. Although it had a shared balcony and we'd be next door to someone else, we loved the view from this room, over the garden to the bay off to our left below. In the distance we could also make out the cloudy volcanoes on Bali. We haggled a price for four nights, and arranged a free pickup at our place in Jungutbatung for the following morning.

After sorting out our accommodation, we nipped along the beach to a pretty cafe and took a table under a tree looking out over the water towards Bali. We had a tasty lunch of pumpkin soup and a salad with roast beef, which we shared. After this, we got back on our bike to go and explore some more of the island.

We drove back up the bumpy road towards the little village, Lembongan village, then took a turn to the right, following signs for Dream Beach. We drove down some more rough and twisty roads until we popped out of the trees onto a flat, grassy headland. A short distance away we could see a restaurant overlooking the ocean so we parked up there, where we got a view over the small but pretty Dream Beach below us, a compact crescent of sand between low, jagged rocks at either end. We walked through the restaurant and down some stairs to reach the beach, where powerful waves were pounding on the sand. After looking around for a little while, with Lucy continuing the neverending cowrie search, we made our way back up to the bike.

Just beside the restaurant we were parked at, a thin dirt trail led out over the flat grassy expanse on the headland, with a signpost indicating that it led to the 'Devil's Tear'. We laughed at the way that any strange geological or natural formation was always called 'The Devil's this' or 'Devil's that' as we bumped out along the trail on our wee scooter. Soon we had to stop as the path petered out along with the grass, above level but ferociously jagged formations of igneous rock extending out over the ocean in wild shapes sculpted fantastically by the elements. We wandered out over the rocks, above hollows into which the waves, the most beautiful shade of blue imaginable, pounded, crashed and sprayed. We walked around the rocks, curving around the coastline, and saw lower levels encrusted with bright green algae or some such plant life, as well as still pools, rimed with salt, perched on the levels of rock above the churning ocean below, with sheer edges like naturally-made infinity pools.

We followed these striking, alien rocks around the headland to where we could see another small bay with fancy looking villas perched on another headland on the far side, and a restaurant with a pool behind the small beach. We decided to walk back to the bike, then drove back along the bumpy track to the road, and followed up for a bit until we managed to navigate down to the beachside restaurant, called the Beach Club. We parked here and took a seat overlooking the bay, then had a drink and chilled out for a bit. Although we'd already eaten lunch the menu at the place got our mouths watering, so we decided we'd come back for dinner one evening.

After our drinks we got back on the bike and drove back up to Lembongan village. We took a turn down a hill passing a massive tree with dangling tendrils and loads more small temples before we spotted a sign pointing down an alleyway to an 'Underground House'. Intrigued, we turned down the alleyway and parked beside a gap in a wall leading into a cobblestone courtyard. There was a board here detailing the history of the underground house, built by a local guy in the 70s after inspiration from an episode in a Hindu epic, beside a rough staircase descending into a dark hole. I clambered down into the hole and when my eyes adjusted to the dark, I could see a warren of tunnels and little chambers carved out of the rock all around me. I began picking my way through this subterranean maze, until I found myself by a well under a shaft of light entering from above. I looked up to see Lucy's face peering down through the hole, then heard another voice up above. Soon some electric lights burst into life, and I could properly see the crazy tunnels all around me. I crawled through some more, before emerging through one of the many other rough staircases to the courtyard above.

Here, I found Lucy as well as the source of the other voice, a local woman who demanded some money for seeing the house. There had been no signs or anything to indicate that an entrance fee was required, but seeing as she'd turned on the lights I reluctantly parted with about a pound's worth of rupiah, which she seemed very pleased with. Leaving this apparent scam artist, we got back on our bike then drove around the narrow, temple-lined streets of the village before heading down the hill from the underground house, to a road running along the southern edge of the island.

From this road we could see across a channel filled with small boats to the smaller nearby island of Nusa Ceningan. The road led alongside this channel before turning in, past a few small shops and up a ramp to a very rickety-looking yellow suspension bridge. Thankfully the bridge was barriered off so we couldn't even contemplate crossing it. We parked the bike and took a closer look at the bridge, with rusty steel cables holding it up, and workers out in the middle beyond missing and damaged planks doing some maintenance. Boats were parked near the bridge, loading up with people to be ferried across to the other island. We decided we'd leave our own exploration of the island until another day, if we went at all, and turned around to drive back towards Jungutbatung.

We followed the rough and windy roads back up the hill, past the temple, and down into Jungutbatung, where we drove up the main road between the little houses and shops. We continued beyond the warung we'd eaten at the night before, and followed the road as the buildings thinned out on either side to be replaced by palm trees. Soon we reached the northern end of the island where the road turned at right angles to the right and carried on past little warungs along the shore, local houses with patches of seaweed out drying in front and kids playing. Everything seemed very peaceful and laid back up at this end of the island, with the water lapping on the shore and the view across to the hazy hills on Bali. We enjoyed the drive along the straight road, where we only had to stop to pay an entrance fee for the mangrove forest which was up ahead. The road led out along what turned into a spit of land, between the sea on the left and the mangrove forests on the right, although the little bars and warungs continued alongside the road until it petered out into sand near the end of the spit. We parked the bike up here and walked around the quiet little bars and the huts of the seaweed farmers and fishermen. Just off the shore were little clumps of mangroves, and across a short distance of water on the inland side of the spit, the tangled roots of thousands of these alien-looking plants combined into one immense whole. Boats puttered up and down the little channel, and the locals all tried to sell us tours of the mangroves, but we were happy enough looking from a distance having already been in a few different mangrove forests on the trip.

After looking around we drove back down the road, but stopped before the turn back to Jungutbatung to have an early dinner at a warung we had read about. We took a table in the little place, which we had to ourselves, with a view out over the channel to Bali in the distance. It was very peaceful and the lady who owned the place was very friendly. We ordered some spring rolls to share, then a chicken curry for Lucy and fish cooked in banana leaf for me. Our spring rolls arrived shortly, accompanied by a little dish of satay sauce. We tucked in and found them delicious, but our enjoyment was hampered somewhat by some flies which descended as soon as the food appeared, and were relentless in their attempts to land on it, us, or anything else which would annoy us. When our main dishes arrived, the group of flies had increased to a swarm, which almost completely overcame us as we tried to eat. It was so annoying since everything else about the place was great. The food was delicious, particularly my fish which had been cut into chunks and packed into tubes of banana leaf with herbs and spices before being grilled over a fire. It was succulent and flavoursome, and accompanied by a big bowl of beansprouts and spinach-type vegetables as well as rice.

As soon as we'd finished our food we had to leave to escape the flies, which the owner apologised about. We reassures her that it wasn't her fault and that the food had been amazing, before getting back on the bike and making our escape. We drove back into Jungutbatung, then cut down one of the numerous little dirt lanes leading between the buildings to the beach. We looked along the shore for some cowries while the sun sank low in the sky, but had to call off our search when a trio of dogs who had been play-fighting near us began to jump up at us and start snapping at our heels. We once again escaped our animal agressors on our bike, nipping back up to the road and along to another path which took us down to the concrete seawall/pavement just above the beach. We took a seat here and watched the sun set, silhouetting the boats moored in the bay against a warm orange glow as it sank behind the island.

With the sun down, we drove back up the main road then along the little dirt track to where we'd picked up the bike in the first place. We walked back to our accommodation, picking up some Bintang on the way, then went for a quick cool down in the pool before going up to the room to sit on the balcony. After seeing more of the island, and finding our great new room in Mushroom Beach, we had changed our opinion of Nusa Lembongan and were much more relaxed and happy.

After a while on the balcony, watching big geckos creep around on the walls catching bugs, we nipped down to the restaurant area where we made a really long Skype call to my brother before calling it a night and heading up to bed.

In the morning we got up in time to pack all our stuff and carry it down to the restaurant for breakfast before our arranged 10am pickup. However, as we were still eating breakfast at our table overlooking Jungutbatung beach, a tiny fiberglass boat puttered in to the bay and one of the two guys on it shouted and waved up to us. This was our pickup. When Lucy saw the tiny little boat she was a bit nervous, but I told her we'd be fine as we were just nipping around the coast to the nearby Mushroom Beach. We finished off breakfast, paid the bill, then left with the two guys to go down to the beach and climb into the little boat.

We sailed out between the waves breaking on the reef a bit offshore, then followed the low-lying cliffs around the island to Mushroom Beach. We pulled up onto the sand without incident, unloaded our bags then checked in at The Tanis.

After drinking a welcome orange juice and transporting our bags up to our room, we slapped on our sun cream and pulled on our swimmers before going down and claiming two shady sun loungers by the lower of the resort's two swimming pools. We alternated between splashing around in the pool playing with a football and relaxing on the loungers reading, before having some lunch at the resort's restaurant.

In the afternoon we went from relaxing by the pool to relaxing in the room, where the air conditioning kept it nice and cool but we still had a great view over the garden to the sea. I went down to the beach for a snorkel, but found the combination of low tide, fairly strong current and lack of coral didn't make for the best conditions. I returned to the room and sorted out our room's showerhead, which was blocked with lots of scale from using brackish water, then we took it easy until the evening.

When we got hungry again we went out to get dinner. We walked along the thin, high-tide strip of sand on the beach then wandered a bit up the road towards Lembongan village, past a few little warungs. In the end, however, we doubled back and ended up going for dinner at the restauarant we'd had lunch at the day before, right on the beach. We sat at the same table under the tree, with colourful lanterns hanging from its branches, and ordered our food. Unfortunately, it soon started raining so we had to move under the cover of the restaurant's roofed section. We had a tasty dinner of pasta and a chicken burger, followed by some fried banana, then wandered back along to our place where we read before climbing into our bed, surrounded by its hanging mosquito net. We got a reasonably good sleep, though it was interrupted at one point by some creature, presumably a bat, which was flapping around unseen in the room, having come in through the gap between the roof and the top of the walls, and at another point when I was woken by an awful pain in my ear which had been giving me trouble again for the previous day or so.

We woke in the bright sunny morning in time to nip down for breakfast at the restaurant area by the pool. We decided to order 'jaffles' which was something we kept seeing on menus and understood to be some sort of Australian delicacy, available in Bali due to the high volume of that nation's tourists visiting the island. For some reason we hadn't thought to look online or ask anyone what jaffles actually were, so just ordered them, with cheese bacon and tomato. We were presented a few minutes later with a toasty. Where the name jaffle comes from I have no idea, but the toasties actually made perfect breakfast eating.

After breakfast we were still feeling pretty sleepy so went back up to our room to chill out for a bit. Around midday I went out for a walk along the beach then met Lucy back at our place for some lunch. The afternoon was passed lazily in and around the pool, then we went for some dinner at the restaurant next door to our place where we had some tasty Indonesian food.

The next day was much the same, spent reading on sun loungers by the pool with a view of the ocean, and dipping in the water to cool off every so often. In the afternoon we called to the Beach Club where we'd stopped with our scooter for a drink a few days before, and arranged a free pickup from our place at 5pm. At the appointed time, we met a chap at our reception who directed us into the back of a little pickup with benches down the sides, then drove us along a seemingly newly-constructed gravel road from the back of our accommodation to the nearby Sandy Bay, or Sunset Beach depending on who you ask.

Here, we were shown to a table right beside the pool, overlooking the beach and the waves crashing dramatically over the fantastical rock formations on either side. We had timed our visit to coincide with sunset, so spent a couple of hours there, watching the sun descend over the tip of distant Bali while we enjoyed some cocktails then tasty barbecued pork ribs and snapper, with baked potatoes and free reign over a self service salad bar.

After our meal we hung around until the driver was available to take us back to Mushroom Beach, then made our way up to our room where we played backpacker, read and browsed the internet before going to sleep.

My ear still wasn't 100% even by the next morning, so I had sadly ruled out any diving. We decided just to have another lazy day by the pool, so had breakfast then assumed our positions on shady sun loungers. We spent the rest of the day here, breaking for lunch and then again for dinner back at the Bali Bar and Cafe along the beach. After dinner we retired to the room for the last time and got another decent sleep, apart from when we were woken at 6am by a horrendous scratching noise coming from the ceiling, evidently from some kind of rodent. This was accompanied by the sound of little feet scurrying across the thin plywood boards high above, but there wasn't much we could do about our visitor other than try and ignore it as we got another couple of hours of sleep.

Once we got up properly, we slathered ourselves with suncream, had breakfast then had one last dip in the pool, before packing all our stuff and returning to reception to pay our bill and await our boat back to Bali. Soon we were taken down the beach and loaded onto a fiberglass cruiser with two big outboards, along with a couple from another resort on the beach. The boat was soon underway and, although it skipped and bounced across the choppy channel with some at-times disturbing creaks, it got us back to dry land in a much quicker and safer manner than the outrigger we'd taken to the island.

Back on the beach at Sanur, after wading through the surf from the boat with our bags, we wandered down the beach promenade, then stopped at one cafe for a drink. Refreshed, we continued our walk until we found a reasonably priced restaurant right on the beach with free wifi. We installed ourselves at a table in the shade of a tree, had a tasty lunch then whiled away an hour or so on the internet, before heading off to search for some transport to the airport.

We found a bunch of taxis at the end of one of the roads leading from the beach, hopped in and were soon transported through the urban sprawl of central Bali to the airport. We made our way into the domestic terminal, checked in, went through security then hung around for a while in the grimy, smoke-filled terminal space, packed with hundreds of locals waiting for the numerous flights to other parts of Indonesia.

Finally our flight was called and we left the dingy little building via a gate, walked across the runway dodging random vehicles and found our way onto what we hoped was the right plane. We found ourselves in the spotless and new interior of a fancy Garuda Indonesia plane, with screens in the seats of all the seats and Michael Buble singing Christmas songs over the PA system, rather incongruous with the sweltering heat outside and headscarf wearing muslim ladies all around us. After the usual pre-flight blurb we were soon on our way and took off, watching the lights of Bali recede below us as we set off for Java.