We managed to get everything worked out yesterday so that we’d be able to leave Sanur. This included getting a SIM card for Ryan’s phone and getting millions out of the bank as Lembongan has no ATM – I thought the whole point of getting a bank account was to avoid walking around with this much cash!
The Super Scoot shuttle picked us up at our guesthouse at 9:00 a.m. and scooted us on over to the Super Scoot office where I picked up our boat tickets, then scooted us over to the beach area where these boats depart. We boarded the Super Scoot which is a dual hull speed boat which gives the feeling of getting into a large bathtub. All the furnishings inside are green and give everything a Kermit-ish tinge. The crossing took 30 minutes and was not uncomfortable, though I did note that I want to remember to take a seasickness tablet for the longer crossing to Gili.
As Tulamben was a great antidote to PP, Lembongan is a great antidote to Sanur. I am not sure how I will ever re-integrate into civilization when I can’t stand the noises of society. Super Scoot took us to a hotel I had preselected from the Lonely Planet and the internet, which as luck had it, was of course full. A random man took me to a random guesthouse 30 meters away which turned out to be as lovely as the place we had in Tulamben, for the same price. Again, beautifully airy room with high ceilings, wooden furniture, a comfortable bed (the beds in Indo are a huge improvement over the beds in Thailand and especially over our crappy bed at Valentine). There is a swimming pool with a nice deck for sunbathing or reading.
After settling into our new room, Ryan went to borrow a bucket from the guesthouse so that we might do some very much needed laundry. Chores out of the way, we set off to find food and explore.
We found a restaurant overlooking the water, a little bit funky of a vibe and we sat down, famished. The scenery was great, but the food was not. I was very disappointed.
March 13, 2011
We have spent 4 very enjoyable days on Lembongan. For two days we walked for one day we dove and today, packing and relaxing.
Our walks have taken us over a good part of the island, which is substantially larger than I’d imagined. The first day we walked probably 8 or so kilometers from our little bungalow to Mushroom Beach. It took a good 3 hours round trip, stopping along the way, of course to take pictures. Our second day walk took us to Mangrove Beach, which overlooks, well Mangroves. On the way we passed pigs and men unloading telephone poles from a boat sans machinery.
Lembongan is covered in seaweed farming. Looking out at the shallows, you can see grids of seaweed laid out underwater. And on land, again, mats and mats of seaweed drying in the sun. Locals tend and sort and ship so that all this might end up in beauty products and vitamin pills for Japanese and Westerners.
As we’ve walked around, we’ve seen lots of playing children, smiling children and I must say I’ve been surprised a few times by children yelling “Give me money.” When compared to Cambodia or the Philippines, this is not a poor island and it strikes me strange that children would be sent to pander. I’ve noticed that children will also ask you to take their picture, in exchange for money. On our first walk, we passed a group of young boys playing with a ball and one screamed as though having a temper tantrum over and over, “give me money, give me money.” While I can imagine that seeing children of Cambodia pandering outside Angkor Wat would be heartbreaking, these young boys had the opposite effect on me. I felt more like asking them if they were taking the piss.
Balinese women carry things on their heads – in fact, it seems to be the preferred method of carrying just about anything. I did not mention before, I don’t know why, but we were very amused (and incredibly awed) in Tulamben when we saw them carrying completely assembled scuba units on their heads. And I failed to take pictures of this. Baskets of fruits, tubs of washing, bucket of chicken, whatever, it goes on the head. We learned later that Westerners had convinced the locals to stop fishing out the reefs and smartly employed the same people to be tank caddies for the dive industry.
As you all know (in probably much greater detail than us, having access to good internet and a TV), a massive earthquake struck Japan, sending a ten-meter tsunami to ravage the east coast of said country. Ryan and I watched a few moments of the events unfold on Bahasa CNN prior to our meal at our favorite Warung and I have to say that I had a moment of feeling very uncomfortable as I wondered what impact this might have on us here on this tiny island, having no idea where the closest high point might be short of running up the mountain. Ryan accessed the internet through his phone at about the same time that the tsunami should have been hitting eastern Indonesia. I believe that there was more damage on the western coast of the United States than in Indo.
Yesterday, we went diving. And finally I got my manta moment. We spent 72 minutes with manta rays swooping over our heads as we hung out at their feeding station. Very pretty coral below held no interest as we watched these behemoth rays dance around us. Maybe a few pictures are worth a thousand words...
The first dive had some very pretty corals, but was not really fishtastic. It did yield some new interesting critters though. Of note – a crocodilefish and a spiny devilfish and some teeny tiny little catfish and a dwarf moray (guess who's who). We might have to come back for Mola Mola season in a couple of months.
After many meals in Bali and a disappointing first meal on Lembongan, I was starting to think that food in Indonesia was mediocre at best and incredibly expensive. Admittedly, when we first arrived with Andy, we were a bit on holiday mode – having 3 course meals with beer and fruit shakes. But even after Andy left and we decided to become a bit more reasonable, food was still costing us a lot. But finally, on our way back from our first walk, we found a little Warung at the end of our street that serves quite a decent meal and a very reasonable price and suddenly we’ve seen our bills drop from 120K per meal to about 150K per day. Tonight we will try the Warung across the street which is well reputed as well.
Tomorrow off to Gili where it might be time to do a bit of work…
March 20, 2011
We’ve been on Gili almost a week. The first few days I was grumpy from being sick yet again. I can’t seem to kick this – whatever this is. Gili is our work destination – where we feel we have the best chances of finding a job. The Gili Islands are three tiny pieces of land that fall off the western side of Lombok like tears. There is Gili Air, Meno and Trawangan. We have landed on the largest of the three – Gili T.
You could walk between the islands and then to Lombok, they are that close. But don't try swimming it, the current rips between the channels something fierce and apparently every so often some stupid tourist dies trying. So Gili T overlooks the other two and in the distance the spectacular hills of Lombok. The water is so blue and clean and clear. Close to shore it is turquoise, then it turns a deep royal blue – I’ve already asked Ryan to go collect me samples. Like PP, there are no motorized vehicles, but it is so much more peaceful than PP. I’ve yet to get grumbly walking down the street. There are lots of bicycles, but they have more room to maneuver so are not such an irritation. And a spattering of horse drawn carriages offer island tours.
Only the eastern, or leeward side of the island is developed, but a path does loop all the way around the island, making for a very nice 1 ½ hour long walk. There is a small viewpoint hill in the center where you can see cows and goats grazing in luscious green pastures, reminding me a little bit of Normandy – I even said to Ryan, “Holy crap look at all those cows, where are we? Normandy?” Then we talked about cheese and wondered if the goat cheese salads we see at the delis here are made with local goat cheese???
The southern tip of the island has the surfer beach – it’s the surfer beach because there is actually a decent bit of surf that breaks into it – seems to me like a nice little beginner beach – not that I’m planning on a new activity.
And smack in the middle of town there is a yoga studio. Oh how I miss Keira’s classes – you can’t replace exceptional, but it’s a lovely studio and it’s an opportunity to practice until we get settled and I buy a mat again.
In the center of town there is a turtle hatchery maintained by the locals – maybe their way of giving back to the turtle community they probably affected by making turtle soup. Or maybe it’s farming – who really knows. We’ll stick to believing that it’s turtle conservation. There are at least two kinds of baby turtles there at the moment – hawksbills with which we’re very familiar and ridleys which are new to me. They are funny the little baby turtles. The ridleys seem to be positively buoyant as they swim swim swim downwards and the minute they stop flapping their little arms they float back up to the surface. I wonder if they get better buoyancy control as they get older or if this plagues them their entire lives.
We have been quite lucky and we’ve already been offered a job. We are considering the offer. In one sense it’s a good opportunity as we would be the only two instructors and we would finally get to work together again. We would have run of the place as there is no staff there currently. But we are a little confused as to the circumstances that have made it an empty spot. Think back circa January 2010. The shop itself looks a little run-down – a good coat of paint and updated signage would do it a world of good. But, it is attached to a resort and, even during this still low season, the resort is full. He claims that he ran 33 open waters, 5 advanced and 18 DSDs in January. That’s an impressive amount of work. And finally, it would put us in a senior position to maybe have some say in who is hired as the season progresses – as I think back to some of my old friends from PP.
The other offer that is possibly on the table is in Hawaii. We will be speaking to the contact there on Monday, which is really Tuesday for us. I am very intrigued and tempted by this possibility. Why? It’s closer to home. It’s the only way we’re ever going to be able to be dive instructors in the “real world,” full time, permanently. Oh, and we can work there legally which means we’re not at the mercy of changing immigration laws. We are lucky, in Indo, it seems to be old school – like Thailand used to be. But it won’t always be this way. The thought of going back to the grind is very unattractive to both of us, but the thought of living a more western lifestyle while still making a living doing what we love is very attractive to both of us. And that is the appeal of Hawaii.
So decisions are going to be made in the next few days – stay tuned.
March 22, 2011
Ryan talked with the dude from Maui this morning and I was thinking that would be the end of our decision/indecision game as I suspected that the man might want to hire only one person, but no, he wants both of us.
So decisions still need to be made - stay tuned.
As always, Peace...and don't forget to wear sunscreen.
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