This is part three of my posts on Nusa Lembongan, Indonesia. You can read part one here and part two here.
The
15th of July was a holiday on Lembongan. Some sort of
local Hindu Christmas brought out festive colors, religious ceremony,
and a day off of work for the dive shop. Nathalie and I were eager
to get back in the water and continue diving. We had to leave the
country the next week and we realized that due to our upcoming travel
plans, we wouldn't be able to dive for a few months. This give us
incentive to stick around and do one more dive day, but this time
with a slightly different company.
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| Bali, Indonesia |
Ripping Off The Band-Aid
We
met up on the morning of the 15th and got geared up.
Marianne, the instructor/guide who got us through the strong currents
a week earlier, was working as the guide that day and we, having
gained great respect for her for teaching us how to deal with real
current, wanted to make a point of diving together. The dives
themselves went fine and after returning to shore, we began to have a
discussion with her and her boyfriend, Jurgen, as to what to do next.
Throughout
the two weeks in Lembongan, we always had a small voice quietly but
persistently nagging us over whether we had made the right choice by
staying. Maybe it could'\
ve been because we're both indecisive, or maybe we felt guilty for being in Indonesia and only seeing a minuscule sliver of the country. Despite our efforts to rationalize these doubts, one thing was certain: we were running out of time.
ve been because we're both indecisive, or maybe we felt guilty for being in Indonesia and only seeing a minuscule sliver of the country. Despite our efforts to rationalize these doubts, one thing was certain: we were running out of time.
We
had initially only wanted to stay three days in Lembongan. We had
planned on returning back to Bali and work our way up the eastern
coast, visiting the kitsch town of Ubud, heading to what was supposed
to be the chilled beachfront city of Amed, and winding up at Tulamben
to dive the USAT Liberty, an
WWII-era shipwreck. Following the advice of Marianne and Jurgen, and
feeling a bit out of place on the island, Nathalie and I decided we'd
make a run for it. By this point, we only had five days left in
Indonesia and wanted to at least see the wreck. We canceled our
hotel room for the evening (we found another room, albeit not as
good, at the same hotel as the one with the awesome terrace) and,
with the assistance of Marianne and Jurgen, were able to book a
transfer back to Bali and a car up to Tulemben. That's right, we
were getting out.
We
made the decision to leave at 02:30 in the afternoon. Our boat was
at 04:30. From the time we
made the decision to the time we had made all the bookings and closed
the loose ends, we had all of 45 minutes to say
our good-byes and soak in the last couple of bits of the island.
Taissa, having taken the day off was predisposed and, despite her
astonishment that we were actually leaving, was unable to meet us as
she had a prior engagement. Nathalie and I decided to grab a beer
with Marianne and Jurgen to thank them for helping us arrange
everything and before we knew it, it was time to go.
We
got whisked away to the port and
onwards to the 'terminal' for the ferry. While waiting for the boat,
Nathalie and I became uncharacteristically quiet. Usually, we'll
make small talk or some stupid joke or pass the time on our phones.
Instead, we stood in silence. After a few minutes, we began trying
to reassure ourselves that we had made the right decision. We kept
on trying to rationalize that leaving was for the best and that we
should take the opportunity to see other places in Bali and not limit
our experience to one tiny island. However, the more we tried to
rationalize it, the more we began doubting ourselves. We wanted to
believe that we made the right decision, but we couldn't sell
ourselves on it. When the announcement came that the boat was ready,
we were the last to leave the waiting room.
It
was low tide and that meant that we'd have to wade through ankle-deep
water for 100m/300 ft to reach a small motor boat that would shuttle
us over to the ferry sitting in deeper water. Beneath the water
laid not sand but coral. As we slowly walked out barefoot, we were
constantly stepping on rocks. Nathalie, being particularly lucky,
stepped on a jagged piece of coral and sliced the bottom of her foot
open. The island was making us pay for leaving.
Bruised and feeling defeated, we made it to the boat, transferred to
the ferry and headed back to land. Marianne and Jurgen had arranged
a private car to take us up to Tulemben (bus service in Bali is
spotty at best). We met the driver at the opposite port and we began
the two-hour car ride up the eastern coast. Nathalie and I felt
miserable. It was almost like we'd broken up with someone we were in
love with or if we had been dumped ourselves. As Nathalie cleaned
her foot, we stared in silence as night fell over Bali.
We reached Tulemben and checked into our hotel. The room we had was
basic but overpriced, however we weren't there for the room, rather
for the diving. We had dinner, I didn't care for mine and had a
second, and we went to bed feeling drained.
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| The agitated sea at Tulemben |
As it would turn out, though, the sea was abnormally rough. The day
we arrived, no one could go diving as the waves were 3 meters/10 feet
high. The day we decided to dive, the conditions had marginally
improved. This made getting in and out of the water either a great
challenge or a lot of fun, depending on how you look at it. We
managed to do two dives, the first one at the wreck, the second one
just next to the hotel. Both dives were extremely enjoyable and we
were treated to both big fish and small, bizarre creatures we had
never seen before.
In between dives, Nathalie and I discussed how we felt. We agreed
that it was a mistake that we left Lembongan and we were trying to
figure out what to do about it. Should we leave it as is, knowing
that the good-bye we gave wasn't correct? Should we go back? Should
we stay in Tulamben for the remaining four days in Indonesia? Should
we try visiting somewhere else?
As it would turn out half of that question would be answered shortly.
We were told that the sea was predicted to be rough the next day and
that the staff at the dive center couldn't guarantee that there would
be diving the next day. There really wasn't any other activity to do
in Tulamben so we looked into moving around Bali. We set our sights
on Amed, a town 30 minutes down the coast also known for it's diving
and charming bays.
Amed: Bienvenue et Au Revoir
We arrived in Amed late in the afternoon. We had looked on
booking.com to find a hotel, however we didn't book it as we wanted
to try and go direct with them. We spotted a room on the beach
complete with veranda. We were wise not to book before arriving as
when we showed up and talked to reception, they told us that the room
wasn't available and was already occupied. We've been using
booking.com extensively over the past six months and know with
near-certainty that once a property is booked in a hotel's system,
it's reflected on booking.com's page and the room disappears from the
availability list.
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| On the road to Amed |
Right, so we wound up bailing on the hotel that didn't have the room
they were advertising and began searching on foot, looking for a
room. As Tulemben was effectively closed for diving, most of the
divers migrated over to Amed. As a result, rooms were limited and
expensive. Not being able to find any rooms nearby, we turned to
booking.com and booked a room at a nearby hotel. As it would turn
out, now unsurprisingly, the room we got wasn't as advertised. The
staff tried to deny it, but there was no recourse as this was
Indonesia. We checked in, rented a motorbike and set out looking
for a dive center.
The first item to really come to our attention was how many French
people there were in Amed. Practically every white person in the
city was speaking French. Now I'm not saying this is bad, but the
French have their, umm, 'unique' reputation for a reason. Being able
to understand what they were saying it became clear that Amed must be
the top destination to visit in Bali according to Le Routard,
which is the French version of Lonely Planet. Practically
everywhere we went, we'd here them talk. They usually would remark
about how different it is than France (“Hey Jean-Gerard, did you
know that the restaurant rating system here is different than the one
in France? That's crazy!”...well what did you expect? Really...).
If they weren't complaining, they were bragging about what they've
done. This is French culture, and as harsh as it might sound, French
people are quick to admit to it. C'est juste comme รงa.
So here we are, in the middle of French city, in the middle of high
season, and no where to do any diving. Nathalie and I gave up. We
decided that we'd head out the next day and return to Lembongan.
Coming Back Home
Morning rolls around and we hit the road early. We got into the
habit of waking up betwenn 06:30 and 07:15 in the morning during our
diving binge in Lembongan so getting out of bed and on the road
wasn't particularly difficult. All we needed was a ride. Bali has
a lot of things going for it. One thing it doesn't have is decent
public transport. Instead, tourists arrange private transfers with
drivers. As practically every other person either knows a driver or
is one themselves, it's beyond easy to find someone willing to take
you wherever you'd like to go on the island. The price is always
negotiable but it's important to check around with a few different
people to get an idea of the market rate.
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| Heading back to Sanur |
Remember the volcanoes that were erupting earlier? Well we learned
that they were starting up again and while Bali wasn't closed (yet),
airports on the neighboring Java were shutting down quickly. Our
flight to go to Bangkok was on Monday. The last day our visa was
valid was on Monday. We had a connecting flight out of Bangkok that
we couldn't miss...on Monday. Monday...
Nathalie and I were at a loss. We had just spent the past two days
regretting our decision to leave Lembongan. We put in the time and
money to return to the island in order to spend our last two days in
Indonesia on our little paradise. The very real threat of both
getting trapped in Bali's airport without valid papers and missing
our connecting flight in Bangkok seemed like too much to risk. On
the ferry ride over, we decided that we were going to outrun the
volcano.
Showing up at Drift Divers, we were happy to see Taissa and the other
diving instructors. Practically right after we got our hellos in, we
dropped the news: we were leaving on the last boat of the evening.
Shocked and probably a bit amused, we explained to everyone that we
absolutely had to be in Bangkok on Monday. While disappointed, they understood. Having explained the situation, Nathalie and I went to grab one last lunch at our favorite restaurant, book our plane tickets out of the country, and try to enjoy our last few hours in our cherished slice of paradise.
We had rented a motorbike when we arrived on Lembongan to make the most of our short time. When we finished lunch, we decided we'd go for one last quick spin around the island; a farewell tour of sorts. We passed newly found friends and locals who had become accustomed to us being there, shooting each other smiles and waves as we drove by. Time slipped from us and before we even had the chance to get comfortable, we were saying our good-byes and heading off to the ferry.
We walked out to the boat as soon as the crew gave the go-ahead. This time, we walked through the sand and out into shallow water; no corral lie underneath us like a trap from Lembongan punishing us for leaving. We were at peace with our decision. We took the opportunity to say farewell to a place that had captured our hearts and this closure gave us comfort in what was already a heavyhearted day.
Nusa Lembongan gave us more than we had ever expected. This entire trip has been about learned experiences. Neither Nathalie nor myself ever envisioned us getting pulled into an island. We're people with short attention spans, and we need some sort of constant stimulation that the relative isolation of an island just can't provide. Lembongan taught us how to slow down, love the easy life, and enter at peace with a greatly simplified world. We'll never forget our time there, although I seriously doubt it's our last.
We walked out to the boat as soon as the crew gave the go-ahead. This time, we walked through the sand and out into shallow water; no corral lie underneath us like a trap from Lembongan punishing us for leaving. We were at peace with our decision. We took the opportunity to say farewell to a place that had captured our hearts and this closure gave us comfort in what was already a heavyhearted day.
Nusa Lembongan gave us more than we had ever expected. This entire trip has been about learned experiences. Neither Nathalie nor myself ever envisioned us getting pulled into an island. We're people with short attention spans, and we need some sort of constant stimulation that the relative isolation of an island just can't provide. Lembongan taught us how to slow down, love the easy life, and enter at peace with a greatly simplified world. We'll never forget our time there, although I seriously doubt it's our last.
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| Nusa Lembongan |
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