We were picked up from Legian bright and early on 4th September by our shuttle bus driver who took us to the coastal town of Sanur where we hopped on a fast boat ferry over to the Island of Nusa Lembongan. There are 3 small islands only a 30 minute boat ride away from Bali called Nusa Lembongan, Nusa Cenningan and Nusa Penida. After some research on the islands we had decided to make Lembongan our base for the week and just do trips out to the other islands, so we had some lunch in the restaurant overlooking the beach and checked into our little bungalow. We clearly booked the accommodation hastily as we soon learnt that we had no air conditioning (only a fan that wasn’t too effective) and no hot water... though we soon adjusted to warm nights and cold showers!

Still on the hunt for a hairdryer, we decided to have a little walk around the town to get our bearings and see if we might get lucky... which we kind of did. We finally found a hairdryer, but it was rubbish. We then headed back to our bungalow accommodation and plonked ourselves in some comfy beanbag chairs on the beach where we spent the next several hours (blogging and what not) and watched the most beautiful sunset. While enjoying our sunset drinks we met a bunch of Australian lads who joined us and we stayed up till the early hours chatting and drinking with our new friends (still on the beanbags).

The next day we were picked up at 8am on the beach for a 3 hour boat trip that stopped off at 3 different areas for snorkelling. The first stop was a beautiful coral reef with lots of tropical fish to see. The second was Crystal bay which was beautiful crystal clear water, but unfortunately not a lot of fish... except a weird snake/eel thing which freaked us out. The final stop was Manta Bay to see manta rays. The boat driver had told us to get our snorkelling gear on ready because the mantas can disappear quite quickly so we had to be ready to dive in as soon as he instructed us too. We jumped in but the water was so choppy that I wimped out and swam back to the boat, whereas Gaby managed to catch a glimpse of one... before following suit with the wimpiness. We saw some mantas from the boat though which was pretty cool. Plus I’ve previously swam with reef sharks so I’m still a badass. The boat then headed back to the hotel and we enjoyed some lunch and a well deserved afternoon nap. We headed out in the evening to one of the nearby beachfront restaurants and enjoyed one of our favourite Indonesian meals; Nasi Campur, which is a mixture of meats, rice, vegetables and Sambal (their version of hot sauce). We also drank wine. We drank a lot of wine this week. Because we’re on holiday and we can.

The next day we decided to do see what other beaches were on offer, so on the recommendation of our hotel owner we hired moped taxis to drop us to Dream Beach, which is apparently less touristy than the popular Mushroom Beach. It was a nice beach but quite small, very busy, and you couldn’t easily swim in the sea as it was so rocky. So we weren’t too impressed with this recommendation. It was near the popular viewpoint ‘Devils Tears’ (named because of the shape of the coast... I think!) so we were able to go and take in some pretty ocean views and snap a few pics. And then laid on the beach and I particularly got very sunburnt. Mid-afternoon when I could see and feel the effect of the sun on my poor skin, we contacted Karl (the hotel owner) for him to arrange for the drivers to come back and collect us. We had a nice cool off in the beachfront pool when we got back, then took to our new favourite position on the beanbags ready to enjoy the sunset with some gin and tonics. After a late dinner we had an early night.

The next day I NEEDED to stay out of the sun, so we had a nice lay in then after breakfast we decided to wander round the town in hunt of a spa for some pampering. Obviously a massage was out of the question for me and my poor rosy skin, so we opted for a pedicure and it was the best pedicure I’ve ever had! Shame it only lasted 24 hours before the sun melted my nail varnish enough to allow sand to become ingrained in my freshly beautified toes. Money well spent! While we were there we noticed they offered hair washing for the equivalent of £1.50. And not wanting to spend too long in our cold shower, we paid to have our hair washed while we were there. Honestly, we’re not very good at this “backpacking” malarkey are we?! We had a couple of drinks on the terrace outside of our bungalow when we got back, then went for dinner in a restaurant that had a movie theatre with lots of beanbags/mats to lay on so we got to enjoy a movie afterwards! We then went for drinks in our favourite beachfront bar called Agus Shipwreck (only because they stayed open till about midnight then let you stay on the beach drinking after they closed... as opposed to everywhere else in Lembongan that had its lights off by 10-11pm and kicked you off their beachfront!) We met a few brits there so ended up drinking till the early hours again. Still needing to hide away from the sun, and having the excuse of being up late the previous night, we enjoyed a lazy day the next day that was pretty uneventful.

For our last but one day we had booked a tour of Nusa Penida with a lovely Australian couple called Suzie & Mark who were staying at the same property. Our driver picked us up at 8am and took us to a stretch of beach where we hopped in a little boat that took us over to the island where our private driver met us. We drove on VERY bumpy roads through the island to 2 beautiful lookout points to take in the breathtaking views, and then Crystal Bay where we got to spend a couple of hours on the beach (fully dressed for me... that was fun and not at all sweltering in 30 degree heat). Our driver then took us back to our boat and we headed back to enjoy our new tradition of G&Ts during sunset. Suzie & Mark had recommended a restaurant in the town called Lemongrass so we decided to eat there and we both had a delicious Nasi Campur meal (and bumped into Suzie & Mark who joined us for a bit).

Our final day was spent exploring the beautiful island of Nusa Cenningan. We hired our moped drivers again to show us around (one was Karl’s brother... the other was a worker at the hotel). We LOVED this day. Our first stop was to Mangroves (which was actually still on Lembongan) where we hopped on a little boat and a man rowed us through the Mangrove Forrest using a bamboo stick. It was like nothing I’ve seen before... so pretty and peaceful! After that our drivers took us over the yellow bridge to Cenningan which has the most beautifully clear water & golden sand beaches. They took us to a few stunning viewpoints including Blue Lagoon and Secret Beach (very quiet & secluded but you couldn’t swim due to the rocks and huge waves), and over to a spot on top of the island that has a zip wire going over the ocean which we both did and loved! We then stopped at the beach for a dip in the crystal clear waters and photos on one of the swings (that are in the water... photos to follow!)
We then left the island of Cenningan and headed to the Gala Gala Underground house in Lembongan which was built in the 1950s and was like an underground maze... but apparently someone used to live there! We then got taken to Mushroom Bay which was so beautiful we asked the guys to leave us there and come back to pick us up later. So we lazed about the beach for a couple of hours, had regular dips in the sea and a very tasty lunch in one of the fancy resort restaurants (seriously... I’m not even calling it a ‘backpacking’ trip anymore. We are clearly flashpacking!)
After our drivers picked us up and brought us back to the hotel we took up our usual position on the beach ready for another sunset and we signalled for our usual tipple to be brought over. We had to get packed & ready to leave in the morning and were in bed nice & early. We were then picked up at 11:30am the next morning after a very disappointing breakfast down the road from us, and the fast boat took us back over to Sanur where our next driver was waiting to take us over to Ubud.

Nusa Islands really are hidden gems and we could not have enjoyed our stay more... unless my pedicure hadn’t gotten ruined! Speak to you all from Ubud! Xxxx