When I think about my ideal destinations for contemplation and meditation, I think about mountains, swimming and views of nature. I used to think that beach was everything. That is no longer the case. When I met Megan in Flores and described to her my ideal meditative paradise, she immediately demanded that I go to Nusa Lembongan and just chill there.
Nusa Lembongan has historically been a seaweed farming community. In the last ten years, roads have developed and the economy has radically shifted to tourism. The sad part is that the seaweed farming industry is now dead. The good part is that the locals have not abandoned ship. When you stay on Nusa Lembongan, you are in extended homestays. It might seem like a hotel but it's really just an extension of a family's private property. You are treated like family and greeted with smiles, like elsewhere in Indonesia.
Nusa Lembongan has some great hikes where you can check out the impressive nature. Truckloads of tourists dump groups of 20 at a time at the most famous sites. These are day trippers from Bali. Luckily, they were only in the way in the beginning. I soon found my way around on my own. I'd discover the joy of sneaking into hotel pools and getting those great sunset shots. No trip to Nusa Lembongan is complete without riding by the local rooster market where you can pick up a caged rooster of your choice.
There's also the mangrove boat tour. Fans of my blog will remember my Celestun, Mexico mangrove tour and Pahia, New Zealand and how I realized that I LOVE MANGROVE FORESTS. Well, it's true folks. I still love them and they make me feel love inside. After feeling so good from all of this nature, I naturally decided to the best fried chicken ever. Jaya Fried Chicken is an Indonesian chain and it's THE BEST because it's skinless and crispy and spicy.
Nusa Ceningan is a short walk over the famous Yellow Bridge, which tragically collapsed after a ceremony at the adjacent Hindu temple a few years ago. It has since been rebuilt. You can walk around the whole island in about an hour. I skipped around between nature and infinity pools. One of the hotels had a mini-golf course for some reason. This reminded me very much of the mountain hotel I stayed at in Fiji where the Australian owner was building a concrete mini-golf paradise. I asked the local Indonesian workers if the owner was from Australia and he said yes. What's with Australian foreign hotel owners and this weird idea that people want to play mini-golf next to the beach? I also witnessed some incredibly awful environmental destruction: the side of a cavern blown to smithereens to build some ugly hotel-huts. Tragic.
Blue Lagoon, Nusa Ceningan.
Finally, I spent a day on Nusa Penida. I was warned that Nusa Penida was treacherous to get around. People remarked that they were thrown all over the place in their cars. My driver arrived in a motobike without helmets for us. The roads were so incredibly dangerous. Once you arrive at these sites, there are tourists everywhere. You can credit the fact that you don't see tourists in my pics below with the fact that I spent the extra time walking around to get the right angles where you cannot see other people. You cannot really find a spot to enjoy the beauty in peace, unfortunately. I recommend that any one who goes to Nusa Penida exercise caution and maybe consider skipping it due to safety concerns. It was not a relaxing day.
