We have had a couple of travel days and a no WIFI evening. Yesterday, Made Sudarta, drove us to Sanur, a seaside beach town in southeast Bali. On the map, it looks to be a part of Denpasar’s metropolitan area. This is the location of the ”fast boat” that we will use to get to Nusa Lembongan.
After checking into our hotel, we walk the beach front and main street to get a picture of the area. There are some very posh beach resorts along the strip. We have been wondering where all the grey haired people were as we didn’t see very many in Ubud. Well, we found them! They are all staying at the posh resorts, relaxing on the beach under umbrellas. Didn’t feel the need to join them!
We found supper and wandered back to our hotel. I picked this hotel as it was half a block from the fast boats and knew it was, at most a 3 star hotel. As we walk to our room, I realize it is about a 1 star hotel. In its prime, the resort would have be exquisite. Cottages, large and small, huge swimming pool, gardens, restaurant all in pristine condition. Today, many of the grass roofs have holes in them. Windows in cottages are boarded up. The pool is well kept! Our room is tired looking, the sofa lumpy, the bed linens very dated, the taps in need of some CLR and there is no WIFI. But, we make the most of it and it is only for one night. We went on bed bug alert and made sure no bags sat on the sofa or the floor through the night. I did have some teeny ant like critters in my bed……gross!
In the morning, we pack up and trundle to Rocky’s Fast Boat office right on the beach, under some umbrellas. We check in, they tag our luggage and give us wrist bands and then we also sit in the shade of the umbrellas to wait for the boat. The interesting thing about these boats is that we load off the beach, so we are wading into the surf and stepping onto the boat at the back, next to the SIX outboard motors. I hiked the legs of my shorts up as high as they would go to try and not get wet. Worked pretty good.
The trip across the strait is 30 minutes and not rough at all. The boat is filled with vacationers and a few locals. On the Nusa Lembongan side, we disembark onto the beach again and wait until the workers unload our luggage. They are very efficient at it, carrying three large suitcases at a time, about 50 kg or more!
Nusa Lembongan is more laid back than Bali. No cars, only motorbikes, scooters, golf carts and small trucks that are used for large taxis. The narrow main road is lined with shops and restaurants. There is more garbage here than we have seen so far. I think we will get along just fine on this little island.
Tomorrow, we dive!