Nusa lembongan-June2014-C

***photo disclaimer-my phone camera is horrible so if I'm with others, we share our pictures. So if some pictures look awesome (like most of the retreat photos) they were probably taken by someone I was with. Today, after saying good bye to all my fellow retreaters, I got picked up to go to a fast boat (Scoot) to Lembongan. I bought a round trip ticket from Bali to Lmbgn to Lombok and then back to Bali for about one hundred dollars including all the hotel pickups. The boat ride was about 30 min and the sea had huge rolling waves. It was very fun, but I imagine it could make someone very sick! The island is GORGEOUS so far and I've only seen a bit of it. After taking some pictures, I found the Exotic hotel and booked a room for two nights. I then got to business. I had two huge problems. My card wasnt working in the ATM and my phone wasn't holding a charge. I would be fine without a phone, except I don't have another camera and I would have to spend more time in internet cafes, which are getting rarer now that there its free wifi everywhere. My hotel owner took me to the ”electronics store” aka someone's house via motorbike. The owner got a charger for me ($8) and I used the phone to call my bank. The problem ended up being that the ATM didn't take visa which was of course all I had. So, the store owner took me to a money changer (on motor bike again!) which thankfully takes anything for a hefty fee. Both problems solved AND I now have ridden a motor bike 6 times in crazy Balinese streets. I freak out less each time, by the end I'll be ready to drive my own with 2 adults, 2 kids, a dog and a basket on my head like the locals do!!! There is a lot to do on this island and I only have a day and a half, so I'm trying to go to bed early to get up and do all of the following: Hike to mushroom beach for sunrise Scuba and see a mola mola kayak the mangrove forest Cross the suspension bridge to ceningan Cliff jump at the blue lagoon AND full moon party at blue corner beach club-super moon!! Wish me luck!

So I did the hike to mushroom beach, but I was a little late for sunrise. The beach was not that spectacular but the hike was very interesting. All the school children were going to school on their motor bikes, and I would guess there were kids as young as 10 driving. There is not a lot of traffic here, but there is some and the roads are crazy. Totally crazy to see. The scuba boats were full unfortunately so I decided to have my hotel call a kayaking place. I got to ride another motor bike to Lembongan water sports and meet some sweet Australian girls there. They were doing a kayak/lunch/snorkel package and I decided to join. The snorkeling was good, there were some decent fish, but nothing like Caribbean. The kayaking was chaos!!! No one else in my group had been in a kayak and we were going through narrow mangrove trails against the current. The girls were exhausted, the coupler with us were fighting and the pair of guys weren't talking to each other. Totally made me appreciate the rhythm Heidi and I have even more. Everyone else was struggling hard fighting over control and paddling not in sync. Then, to top it off, the guide tried to get us to go through these boats to get to the beach but the current was so strong that the couple typed over spilling all their stuff in the water, including their thankfully water proof camera. Out took about twenty minutes but the guide did find it. Super sweet guy but no clue how to read a group. I then walked around the island to get to the suspension bridge to cross to cenigan (sp?) The tide was out and there were these massive sea weed gardens between the islands. I kept walking around C and realized there were no other tourists. I did make it to the cliff diving point-which was stunning!-but it was way too dangerous at that time of day. It took a lot longer to get to the jumping point than I thought so now I was worried about making it home in the dark, so, my new favorite thing to do itswave down the next local and ask if he's going my way and if I can jump on the back of his bike. About 5 minutes walking I found a guy who took me all the way to the suspension bridge. Probably saving me 30 minutes. The roads on C are barely roads covered in potholes, chickens, cows, old people walking etc, so I was more nervous than I had been, but after I made a weird screaming sound when we flee down the hill, he assured me that he has been driving since the age of ten and he's seventeen now-I couldn't believe that actually made me feel better! I crossed the bridge and met up with an Aussie surfer when I picked up some water. He was walking off his Bali belly and we walked the next hour together back to my hotel. THEN we joined with a French guy (its so easy to meet people) and we all made plans to meet up tonight, where the Aussie girls and I had decided to go, to dance under the full moon. The full moon party was such fun dancing. Fireworks, rain, fire dancers, hippies, a pretty good dj....I met up with the Aussie girls and the Aussie guy from before, and while looking for the French guy, I met two Norwegians. One became fast friends with one of the girls I was with and I spent most of the night with the other. At the end I caught a ride home on a motor bike and after being shamelessly propositioned by the driver I realized that my keys were not in my purse :( I caught another motorbike back out to the party and was lucky enough to be able to stay with the Norwegians-such a waste of my nice room :(. I got into my room in the morning to the 4 continuous hours of loud speaker singing prayer, slept, and now I'm pdf to Lombok.