Bali …. and beyond (Nusa Lembongan)

So we to left New Zealand, and following an 8 hour flight we arrived at Denpesar Airport (I Gusti Internasional Ara Uaal Ngurah Rai). Alan managed to get a free upgrade to Premium Economy and luckily Helena was close by and only sat only 2 rows behind, but she was located in Economy

Disembarking the plane we walked into a balmy 29 degrees, straight into an interesting 3 stage process of entry into the country:

1) Helena had to get a VOA (Visa on Arrival) as her 2 month application had not been processed in time. Obtaining a visa through the official site should be easy – but not if you use an Apple device or an iCloud email account as emails won’t be received and the full functionality of their website won’t work.
2) Paying the Local Bali Tourist Tax of $15.65 that you can obtain or go online at https://lovebali.baliprov.go.id, or pay at the airport.
3) Processing the Customs Declaration form that you complete online at https://ecd.beacukai.go.id – this process is completely free, so watch out for 3rd party sites that try to charge for this service.

With all of the entry steps completed our first stop was to acclimatise to the country, so we spent 3 days in Kuta on Bali. Acclimatisation completed we headed across to the island of Nusa Lembongan – eventually we’ll be coming back to explore Northern/Central Bali.  I think it’s fair to say after 3 days we were ready to move on from Bali (and the hordes of Australians)and start to experience the ‘real’ sights of Indonesia.

At 0945 we left the ‘Island Bali Hostel’,  headed to Sanur Port using a Grab Taxi (IDR 122.450 (NZ$ 13)) and took the Glory 2 Fast boat to the island of Nusa Lembongan (IDR 154,500 (NZ$ 16.35)).  This started our travels, and for 7 nights we stayed at Bima Homestay (IDR 1,500,000 (NZ$ 159)). This accommodation was just 300 metres from the sea, meaning we took regular walks to the amazing blue ocean. As always we managed to find some fabulous local eateries, that served local dishes or Nasi Goreng, Mie Goreng and Nasi Campur (ranging from IDR 25,000 to 35,000 (NZ$ 2.60 to 3.60)). We also went to the local market each morning for fried banana’s,, fried sweet potato, fried vegetables and Ketoprak – Rice, Tofu, Peanut and Soy – (costing IDR 5,000 to 10,000 (NZ$ 0.55 to 1.10)).

We attended a local temple which was holding a festival that celebrates Dharma’s victory over Adharma (good over evil), and our host at the Bima Homestay assisted us dressing up in Balinese dress, to participate – it was actually great fun dressing up, but it was very warm. To finish off the local hospitality we had fish and rice prepared, free of charge, by our hosts mum – it was delicious.

To see the sites across the island, we jumped onto a scooter (Helena’s favourite activity) and toured Lembongan Island and we also crossed the yellow bridge to visit Ceningan Island. During these travels we visited the Devils Tear Blow-hole, Gale Gale underground house, Mahana Point (watching big wave surfing), Secret Point beach, Secret Beach (this one was amazing) and the Blue Lagoon. This last stop was so cool, as we explored the cliffs looking down at the stunning blue water, plus we were lucky to spend some time watching a pod of dolphins just off the shore.

….. on our final evening we took in the beautiful sunset, sitting right on the edge of the cliffs at ‘Sunset Point’ – topped off with another sighting of dolphins..

Our time here is now at an end and we head further east to the islands of Gili Air and Gili Meno. We will be staying on these islands for 2 weeks, which are off the North West coast of Lombok.