Surprise …another good day, apparently this is the best month of the year on Nusa Lembognan: still good weather but a lot fewer tourists. Waking up here is kind of special with the cockerels in the background and chirps & whistles of the birds in the foreground, overlaying this symphony are cymbals and incantations flowing up the hill from the temple in the village below us……very zen! BTW the island is 100% Hindu and we found everyone calm and smiley…
As we walk to breakfast, the smell of incense accompanies us from the offerings placed by the owner in homage to their deities. Breakfast is on the patio/deck:
… and then we are off to the town below us. As we walk along we come upon a gas station (smoking while filling permitted):
…..carrying on we reach the promenade, but this time walking west ….this is a much more upscale version and there are some really nice villa compounds working their way up the steep slopes as well as restos along the shore…..
…and several hundred meters offshore another floating playground:
The objective is to checkout the little beaches tucked in between the rocky foreshore, where the promenade ends we are forced to hike through some trails in the forest until, we meet the next beach….quite a pleasant jaunt:
After arriving at Tamarind Beach we are met by an old man who welcomes us to Bali, questioning us as to where we came from, where we are staying etc. On learning we are staying at Bukit Taman. he is quite excited as he says that this is family …finally with many tooth gapped smiles he lets us go on. Ketut later confirmed this was possible as the land has been owned for many generations by her family and it is a large clan. Time for a break, we sit on a deck overlooking the water having a cappuccino and banana milkshake.
A boat anchors just off the beach and the offloading begins, these guys are bringing just about everything you need for an extended stay > the waiter tells us they will be building some villas next door to this resto:
….and, if anyone doubts a scooter is an all terrain vehicle …check this out:
Retracing our steps we stop for lunch at The Deck…not surprisingly overlooking the ocean and playing Jamaican tunes……Bob Marley is still king on this island > A+…. this resto would not be out-of-place in North Van with the food quality & service pretty darn high, albeit at a higher price > 2 wraps and two beers = 300Rp = 30 Cad.
We hustle back up the hill and relax poolside for the rest of the afternoon, supping on classic Indonesian fare at our place > nice treat were some chilli prawns on toast:
…..let it be known that Annie has yet to have a burger, the Indonesian fare is just too tasty!! Till tomorrow.