Day 9: Ubud, Bali to Nusa Lembongan

Sunday, May 29, 2016

Today's Highlights:

-Church in Kuta

-Tasting Babi Guling 👎

-Ferry to Nusa Lembongan island 

-Exploring Nusa Lembongan scooter-style!👍

Today had some really high highs and some really low lows. (Please see thumbs above). The high was absolutely our new location. We got a tip from our friends the Hathaways that we should visit the small island Nusa Lembongan (off the coast of Bali). BEST ADVICE EVER. 

Do you see this?! It is amazing! But I'm getting ahead of myself here. 

After ELEVEN HOURS of sleep (due to my nasty-awful-can't-breathe-cold) we packed up and said a sad goodbye to Ubud. We really loved this place!

We caught a taksi to Kuta (about an hour away) to catch the only Sacrament Meeting in all of Bali. Of course we got lost and couldn't find it and I still can't believe we asked the one man in Kuta who happened to know where it was. We walked in and got headsets right as they were starting. It was so fun to be with other Balinese Branch members and even got to hear a young girl give her farewell talk, which is crazy awesome considering there are only about 12 members that live there (and no missionaries serving there). There were a bunch of others that were visitors like us, mostly from Australia and New Zealand. So fun! 

Next came the Babi Guling....😳

Ever since we arrived, we have asked Balinese people their favorite food and multiple times have been told Babi Guling. It means "suckling pig." We like pig! Bacon, pork chops, ham, bring it on! Well, we needed lunch so our driver after church said he'd take us to get some good Babi Guling. We went to a little Warung and were served a whole lot of stuff I couldn't identify. The one thing I definitely DID identify was hair. Coming out of pig skin. 

 

Nope. Nope. Nope. Not happening. I'm all for trying new things and we have eaten strictly Indonesian this entire trip (and really liked it), but there is a line and I draw it here! Plus, I already got my fill of fresh pig skin in Romania. I'm good for the foreseeable ever. Robbie, however, ate one. He said it tasted like a super thick, greasy potato chip. Mmmmmm...

Rob ate most of his plate and I took at least a bite of almost everything (most of which was crazy spicy) and then we paid and jetted, quickly before they could realize my plate was still full. Never again, Babi Guling, never again.

In happier news, we then set off to our new island. We will spend most of our last two days here and there is really no better way I could imagine ending our trip. 

Funny story: we arrived at busy Sanur Beach to catch a ferry boat out to the island but were told that none of them were leaving for another 3 hours or so. In the middle of the hustle and bustle of the beach visitors, this mysterious old man came up to us and asked what we needed. We told him and he just looked out toward the beach at all the dozens of boats, pointed at one and said, "You pay me and take that one!" Haha, what? This guy didn't seem to have any authority but gave us a cheaper price and said they were leaving now. So we did it! We jumped on a cargo boat taking a bunch of drywall out to the island and it was cheaper and faster than any other option. Plus, we got to witness a bunch of older Balinese men in speedos laughing as they ran a section of drywall up the beach. 

Since we ended up on some beautiful but random beach (and not an official boat dock), we had no idea where we were or where to go, which made it amazing when we stumbled onto the main road and found ourselves basically right in front of our new hotel, Tigerlilly's. Win win!

This place is amazing! It feels like we are living in a fancy treehouse. And get this, we have an outdoor bathroom!

We can creep on all the swimming peeps from our bungalow window

We make twin beds and mosquito nets suuuuuuuuuuper romantic.

Enjoy a nice breeze and maybe a butterfly during toilet time

So great! We dropped off our stuff and took off to explore! It only costs $5/day to rent a scooter so you better believe we will be scooterin all up in her' over the next two days!

I really think we are the only people on the whole island wearing helmets, but considering how sketch driving here is, we will continue to nerd it up!

Rickety bridge to another smaller island, Nusa Ceningan. Juuuuuuuuust barely wide enough for a scooter. I was hyperventilating, squeezing my eyes shut on the back (after I documented it, of course)

Sweet Balinese woman we saw on the edge of a cliff scooping up seaweed. I think she lived in the tiny shack on that cliff

Teeny scooter road leading down to fancy resorts and amazing views!

Sometimes Rob felt the need for speed on our tiny scooter. That combined with the fact that they drive on the left here makes me pretty surprised that we survived. (Though I do have to give him kudos for driving over huge rocks and potholes like a champ while I just got to squeeze him around the middle and sightsee on the back)

Snuck into a resort on the edge of the island to swim in their infinity pool and watch the sun go down. They caught us and made us buy a drink 😒. Still worth it. 

Gah! This place! Called "The Blue Lagoon." Haha, it's kind of a joke how beautiful everything is.

We ended the night eating fresh fish (caught just barely) at a beach front Warung and downing chocolate milkshakes like it was our job. What an awesome day!