Nusa Lembongan – 08/06 to 12/06: 5 days

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We used Perama boat to travel from Sanur to Nusa Lembongan. Perama company organize transport around Bali and the island. Cost effective and reliable, it is also possible to have some discount (10% off in majority) for every travel made with them. The journey is about 1 hour. Hopefully the sea wasn’t too bad.

Through Wikitravel we organised a stay at Swara Homestay. New opening in 2012 with only 3 rooms. Due to misunderstanding and/or mis-communication, we had to find another place to stay for just 1 night. We were happy to finally stay at Swara as Made has been during our stay a great host. Always smiley and laughing, he has been genuine and wasn’t trying to get our money like all the others. Guesthouse and homestay are the best way to meet local people and also others travelers from different countries.

We manage to hire a scooter from Made’s uncle to discover the island and went also to Nusa Cenida. The view from the suspension bridge is fantastic. During our 5 days there we discovered Mushroom Bay, Tamarin Beach, fishing villages, where locals cultivate seaweed. Our disappointment again was to discover field of rubbish. Seems like they don’t know about recycling!

Our best spot as between Tamaring beach and Mushroom Bay. We were by our self and it was lovely to watch the sunset.

People live from pity jobs and have lots of chicken in their garden. The hens are kept to be eaten and the roosters are taken care as they use to be used for cockfighting but now it is just as pets almost. Therefore in the morning –around 5.30 / 6 am you can expect to be waken up by them and the scooters!

There is no cars on Nusa Lembongan, people use scooter, motorbike or walk. Some cars are used for commercial used : gaz transportation and building purpose. Roads are not in good shape so we had to be careful.

For food we tried only 3 warungs : D&B owned by Diasa and his wife. BoeBoe owned by Maria and a warung for cheap and good chicken satay. (small piece of chicken barbecued on a stick with rice).

D&B was great for breakfast: fruit salad, pineapple pancake, paw-paw juice, avocado juice with chocolate! We also went there often for lunch : capcay, mie goreng, nasi goreng, vegetables, curry. Average price: 20.000rp=2£ not too bad he!

Boeboe was our place for diner. The chef Maria’s husband is a great cook and Maria is so welcoming. We almost feel at home. They do a massive fold pineapple pancake with chocolate on top. To share for desert otherwise you can’t finish it. Of course you can have plain or with banana if you want to!

The best day was on Monday morning as we went snorkeling with Diasa. He is from the island and a professional dive master. We went to a place called Secret Manta. And yes, we saw 3 Manta Rays and swam with them. Beautiful creatures. It was so great to be so near to them. Clive’s dream has been realized. He was just the happiest man in the world at that moment!

The second point was Crystal Bay and we snorkeled with beautiful fishes.

Nusa Lembongan has been a great place and we will recommend it to anyone.

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