Week Twelve

Week Twelve.
Our Bali trip continues, this week we set off for a small island off the South East of Bali called Nusa Lembongan. This is a rocky island undeveloped with many cliffs, small coves and good surf. The journey there is by speedboat from Sanur which takes around 40 minutes at around 40 knots on a large speedboat with 5 250HP outboards mounted all across the back, they always seem keen to be going fast around here so it was a bit of an epic 40 minutes with Wendy gritting her teeth throughout!
Upon arrival – which amounts to running aground on the sandy beach – we were decanted and collected by a songthaew (two bench bus) for a ten minute trip along the most windy roads all single lane, to our destination – The Cliff Top Villas. I guess the clue should have been in the title. We had to climb 65 rickety steps to go to the restaurant morning noon and night. When there we had unbelievable views of the bay but oh what a journey in the heat. Nusa Lembongan is like a very quiet and unspoiled version of Bali, with very little infrastructure and a very laid back vibe. They are just starting to build decent quality hotels now but up to this point it has been popular with young surfers – who frankly will sleep in any shack and that is what there are plenty of here. As for ourselves we were all cosseted in a fine hotel with luxury rooms ?.
We were only there four days, and to be truthful, that was enough. Whilst this small island has outstanding un-spoilt natural beauty the zillions of steps endured every day on our old frames took a tool. No falls thankfully but lots of aches. During our time there we simply chilled either in the pool or on the small beach. On one day Karen Kevin and I took a boat trip to snorkel with the Manta Rays. Wendy decided she did not fancy the boat trip in the small boats on offer. In hindsight this was a smart decision! We hooked up with a young German couple making five of us in the boat and off we set at 07:00. The journey was around 45 minutes, we had to go past Nusa Lembongan, then past a smaller island Nusa Ceningan and finally to Nusa Penida where Manta Bay is located. Now the waters off Lembongan were like a millpond, as we passed between Lembongan and Ceningan it was a little choppy but then we approached the

straights between Ceningan and Penida. We are in a 20 foot open fronted pleasure craft powered by 2 x 40 HP outboard motors with no sea faring equipment – like life vests etc. as we entered the straights the waters were rushing from our right to left at a solid 10 knots but the waves seemed to be coming from our right. This was the meeting of two bodies of very deep water.
We were forced to steer towards the land to stop being washed out to the sea, whilst the waves came from the side at us. I am not kidding when I say the waves were around 20 feet. Blacking out everything to our right at times. On one occasion whilst holding on and grimacing a particularly massive wave appeared, all I could here was Karen praying that it did not break on us, somehow we managed to ride the wave then on the way down the engines spluttered and stopped. Now I felt we were in deep trouble we momentarily looked at each other all ashen faced whilst the little Bali ‘captain’ tried to restart the engines. Miraculously he managed to get them going again, and our slow and dangerous progress continued. At this point I was simply thinking of making shore and finding some other way back, but as soon as the panic came it seemed to leave us as the seas calmed and we passed the straights. Phew – but we had to get back! Once we arrived in Manta Bay, fortuitously alive, we settled to looking for any dark shadow that might be a manta. We didn’t have to wait long. The large deep grey shadow of these great leviathans appeared in no time and they brought with them a soothing feeling of calmness. In we hopped with our fins like school kids on a trip, the fear of a few minutes ago seemingly forgotten. In no time at all we were face to face in crystal clear waters with at least six giant Manta Rays. Cruising through the waters with their mouths open scooping up the abundant plankton. We collectively estimated them to be around 12 to 15 feet across. Considering their size they appeared and disappeared constantly, but then they swim or fly so effortlessly through the water. It was a wonderful hour or so we spent watching them. Alongside a fine array of reef fish and photo plankton glowing in neon blue and green – I had never seen them before either. Finally exhausted by the choppy waters we returned to the boat and prepared for our trip back. Our captain offered us to continue to see crystal bay and other sites of beauty but having seen the Rays our collective focus was on returning to tell the tale. Either sensing our fear, or acknowledging our earlier peril, he took us back a longer but mildly safer route and after only a few silent prayers we soon appeared in the calm waters of Nusa Lembongan. As the days have passed the Manta got bigger and the waves taller but in any event this is a day I feel none of the five on board the “Agus” will ever forget. By the way none of us had waterproof cameras apart from the German couple, and we have exchanged e-mail addresses and they promised to forward us some photos when they return to Germany. Watch this space.

In no time at all our four days were over in Lambongan and it was back to Bali and on to our new residence, Parigata Beach Villas Sanur. Set behind the manic streets of Sanur lays this tranquil oasis. We enjoyed individual villas with your own pool and most importantly NO STEPS.
On Tuesday 9th May – just put that in so we can remember where we were in the year – we took a day trip into the centre of the island. Our driver was a charming man called Anton, who is a good friend of Karen and Kevin, they helped him start his business by funding a car for him years ago and their relationship with him and his family has developed to a very close one over the years. Emotional introductions done we all set off into the hills, through Denpasar, the capital city, and onwards. We rise over 1000 feet to lake Tamblingam which is Caldera lake formed in an old volcano. Despite the lake being higher up than Mt Snowdon is high, it is clearly overshadowed by the towering Mt Lesung at 1900m and 3000m Mt Agung in the distance. It all provided a splendid backdrop for a coffee. We shied away from the Kopi Luwak poo which is prevalent here and had a simple Cappuccino. We did have the opportunity to meet a Luwak cat, which is a very pretty little thing, perhaps, half cat half ferret looking. Wendy also took the opportunity to have photos taken with a giant fruit bat, iguana and a Burmese python which weighed 40kg -

they can get up to 90kg! very brave we thought.
After the lakes we went on to Jatiluwih rice terraces, which are a uniseco world heritage site. We stopped here to take in the view and went on a short walk into the paddy fields to absorb the quietness and beauty of the area. A remarkable time spent amongst nature and the hard work of the early simple Bali farm workers. I was so impressed by the irrigation, ensuring that each field had water running to it whilst not flooding and leaving none for the next field. Quite an achievement I thought.
Bali is truly a two toned venue. On the one hand full of quietness and natures beauty and on the other a sort of Magaluf but full of aussie kids rather than our own. Behind the brash bars and endless

restaurants is a truly beautiful island with a gentle Hindu populous.