When we finally arrived at the main beach, the island seemed less than tropical, and a thoroughly underwhelming substitute for the Gili Islands. The hotels there imposed two-night minimum stays, which, though a mystery at first, became abundantly clear: most people would not choose to spend a second night at Nusa Lembongan's Jungut Batu Beach.
(Having said that, Nusa Lembongan is famous for its surfing, and it was cool to see surfers catching the massive waves that broke offshore.)
We spent the first afternoon feeling sorry for ourselves as we sat under a cloudy sky on the pool deck, but that evening displayed a brilliant sunset, and as the sun sank into the ocean our sentiments began to change. We had a beer, reflected on our trip, and, laying under the night sky, realized that we didn't have it so bad.
Pool, beach, ocean: A winning combination.
This sunset helped us turn around our moods
The next morning, we decided to make a day of Nusa Lembongan, and rented a scooter to tour the rest of the small island. This ended up being a GREAT decision. Hiding on the other side of the island, we found a beautiful and secluded beach called Dream Beach. The beach housed one small resort and no boat traffic. It was a great place spend a couple of hours having a delicious lunch and soaking up some sun (and a lot of clouds - even a little rain).
Our Dream Beach lunch table
Our self-guided tour also took us to some other fun places on the island: across an old bridge to tiny surfing beach, to a small mangrove forest, to Mushroom Beach (which actually housed a very impressive resort) and through some local villages. By the time we reluctantly gave the bike back, we had made a great day of exploring and enjoying Nusa Lembongan. Though the second day was much better than the first, we still had no interest in extending the stay, and took off on the first boat for mainland Bali the next morning.
Intense.
Devil Tears Beach at high tide.
Because the following evening was the last night of our trip, and we felt sorry for ourselves for missing the Gilis, we decided to splurge and stay in an actual hotel, instead of just a budget hostel. When we got to our destination, the Kuta Beach area of Bali, we set out looking for a hotel. We were disappointed, however, in mega-resort after mega-resort that charged too much money for an impersonal and manufactured experience. Our spirits were pretty low after walking over a kilometer in the 85ยบ heat with all of our bags, but when we were on the verge of giving up and heading back to the 'budget' section of town, things took a turn for the worse. Jessica stepped on an uneven part of the sidewalk and severely rolled her ankle. We got Jessica set up in a restaurant with her foot elevated and wrapped in ice, and as we sat there sweating, Jessica in a great deal of pain, her ankle swelling up before our eyes, things seemed pretty bad. In a last-ditch effort, Preston ran up and down the block looking for a place to stay, and, miraculously, we found exactly the type of hotel we were looking for. The Vira Bali, just down the block from where Jessica sat, was small and beautiful with an incredible staff and gorgeous pool. Both the luxurious room and comfortable pool turned out to be great places for ankle rehabilitation.
We spent the last night of our trip in style. We enjoyed Pina Colada's poolside, dined at the hotel's fancy restaurant, savored our bathroom shower which could magically produce both hot water AND high water pressure (both a first in months!), and watched movies. It was a great way to both celebrate the trip and pamper ourselves in preparation for the 30 hours of travel we have coming up tonight...
Though Bali has had its downs, its had some great highlights as well, and we are happy to have spent our last few days here!
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