We arrived on the small island of Nusa Lembongan by fast boat operated by Scoot. The journey from Bali to Nusa Lembongan cost us around 650 000 rupias (~40€) per person (it also included our trip from Lembongan to Gili Air later on). The Scoot staff took us all the way up to our hostel Poh Manis which was located in the middle of the small island. Most of the hotels and hostels of Nusa Lembongan are located on the many beaches of the island but some of the newer places are located more towards the inland. The journey from the harbour to Poh Manis was made with a small van that struggled to drive down poor road to Poh Manis. Apparently nobody was interested in building a proper road when constructing those new places inland. On our way to Poh Manis we saw a dozen cows and it felt like a million chicken. Cocks were yelling everywhere.
First day we just laid by the very comfortable pool of Poh Manis. A bit later we had the courage to get on a couple scooters and drove to Mushroom beach. On Nusa Lembongan it was normal for as many as four people to drive with one scooter and of course nobody wore helmets. This felt quite unsafe at first but we soon got used to it :D There were also plenty of western people driving around the island on scooters, which we took as a good sign.
We ended up staying at Poh Manis for dinner on the first night and the food was actually quite good. We were amazed by the amount of small (and not-so-small) geckos living with us in the bungalow. Their sounds were something we had never heard before and to us they sounded more like birds. We felt really comfortable in our room since it was nice and clean with a mosquito net and aircon.
Second day we switched from two scooters to only one; a scooter called JohnbeGood. It became our lucky scooter and we used it for the rest of our stay. We drove to a beach called the Dream beach, stayed there for a couple of hours and spent our time playing Yatzy and collecting seashells. We also continued our unconventional turist picture tradition. Later we drove to other beaches such as Sunset beach, Tamarin beach and Mushroom beach. Rosanna was excited to find Indonesian cider at one of restaurants but unluckily it tasted like vinegar.
On the second night a thunderstorm hit the island and we woke up to the sound of rain banging on the roof. Water was everywhere, our toilet flooded a bit and the power was out. There was nothing else to do than to go back to sleep and wait for the electricity to go back on... On the third day on Lembongan we headed out for a snorkeling trip on one of the local's boat. He took us to three different snorkeling points: Mangrove point, Gamat bay and Cristal bay. We saw plenty of colourful fish. Rosanna felt a bit seasick and threw up into the sea couple of times.. Lucky fish got some food!
After lunch we drove across a suspension bridge to Ceningan island located right next to Nusa Lembongan. There we visited the Blue Lagoon cliff jumping spot and saw some seariously impressive surfing. After driving around in the heat it was time to head back to Poh Manis to relax by our pool. That evening we ate in a restaurant called Hai which had sooooo good food.
On day four we went to explore the mangrove forest on a local guy's boat. It was a nice experience, the forest was totally silent and the boat moved around pushed by a long stick. We saw some crabs and according to the guy the forest was also home to numerous birds (which we didn't spot).
After the mangroves we walked around the Jungutbatu village, saw a traditional music performance by local school children and ended buying some stuff also. Lembongan was filled with chicken and cocks in particular and some were also sold by the main road (they are in the baskets in one of the pictures). Petrol for the mopeds was also sold in Absolut Vodka bottles. We took some pictures of the never-ending seaweed plantations that the locals had in the shores of the island. The smell was quite horrible...
We liked Nusa Lembongan a lot! We think that one huge thing why we liked it there so much was the staff of Poh Manis. They helped us with many stuff and had a map of the island available as well as tips for what to do around the island. Generally the local people all seemed to be very friendly and helpful but not too clingy. The island had plenty of stuff to do and explore for a couple of days visit. The food was tasty and restaurants generally speaking good.
Last but not least couple of photos which Oliver woke up around 7 am to take :
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