Lesson's Learned
Trip Start
Jul 04, 2011
1
15
18
Trip End
Jul 12, 2011
Where I stayed
Nusa Lembongan, Indonesia
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
2. Take the earliest boat so you can get the best room for the best price
3. If it seems that bad, it most likely is!
4. You can feel at home anywhere in the world if you have bottles of water and a working bathroom!
5. Never use staying longer as a bargaining tool, you don't wanna get stuck somewhere shitty for longer than you have to
6. If the sign says " ice is safe to drink and toilet paper come with the room" that is never a good sign
7. If you are bargaining on price it's usually worth half of what they are asking for!
8. Always book a place that has breakfast included (Asia specific) and ask what that breakfast includes!
9. Do your research and get a map
10 . To each their own. We think that one of the most valuable lessons we have learned is what you can handle doing/staying in and what you can't...you'll know when you get there!
We started the morning off in Sanur and we were running a little behind but we thought everything would be okay and that the public boat to Nusa Lombongan came again a little later in the day. We'll we were wrong but luckily everything runs on island time and we made the boat with only having to pay an extra $2. We jumped on the boat with an assortment of people from tourists to locals. If you want, you can pay extra and take the fast boat over but we opted for the slow public boat. The seas were pretty big and the trip seemed fun to start until the entire boat was soaking wet. We chalked it up to being an experience and plus we found the perfect spot to sit on our way back to stay dry but we've decided 8am is too early to leave so we'll take a fast boat home when we decide to leave. This boat ride is not for the people who have travel sickness or don't feel comfortable in the water ( there is no insurance and no life jackets) and don't wear jeans. I felt bad for the couple behind us soaked and in jeans and we had t-shirts and shorts so we were okay!
Once arriving on the island we gathered our backpacks that sat on the top of the boat and managed to stay dry the whole trip, maybe we should of sat up there. The second we got onto the side walk we were hounded by people asking us if we had a room which we didn't as we were trying to save money. We wandered for a bit looking for a place but soaking wet with heavy backpacks made for some rash decesions. We looked at one room that that was dirty and a little scary and had no pool so we moved on. We found a place that was a little nice but just as scary. We were so tired and didn't feel like facing the hawkers again so we checked in anyways. The rooms were scary and smelt like sewage (when you flushed the 'toilet' sewage came out of the shower drain) and the bed was definatly not clean. The towels looked like they were washed once a month and there was no hot water. We dropped our bag to grab lunch and discuss our situation. Oh yah, they also cultivate seaweed here and right in front of our place, i can't even describe the smell. Both of us were ready to get back on a boat and get the heck off this island but we calmed ourselves down and took a walk. The island was beautiful but spoiled by how we were feeling. We decided to check out a couple other places that were recommended but we couldn't find when we got off the boat and we asked for there prices and if they had any room.This one place was the same price as the one we were in and was beautiful and had the most amazing view the bed and the bathroom were clean. It seemed like a Five Star resort compared to what we were staying in. We walked for a while to discuss our options and decided we had to get out of the place we were in ( it's our honeymoon after all.) We went back to talk to the little old lady and managed to get most of our money back which made the situation seem a a million times better. Our hotel management classes came into play where James told her that he understood she couldn't sell the room for tonight but that she still had lots of time to sell it for tomorrow night (we stupidly pre-paid 2 nights to try to get a better deal) so she could give us our money back for that. She wasn't happy but still obliged! This called for a drink to celebrate. We couldn't of been happier to be in our new place. LESSON'S LEARNED
That night we had a small little diner and befriended an older aussie couple who have been coming here for 14 years and gave us some helpful tips on the place and the surf breaks. The best part was he is also a magician (Troppo Bob for those in the market for a magician) and performed some tricks for us and even showed us the secrets to them. Made for an interesting day!
Yesterday was amazing as we rented scooters, well we started off with one and decided we weighed to much for the tiny bike so we got another one. My first time driving and i started off with almost hitting a tree. Don't worry i figured it out pretty quick and had way more respect for James and his driving ability in Seminyak. Just to put this into perspective, Seminyak is one of the most highly populated areas in Bali and Nusa Lembongan had no cars and the population is around 7000 and very few even have scooters. Its like comparing driving in Calgary to Summerland. We also had no insurance and no helmets so it had the posibilty to be a very interesting day. The roads here are slightly bigger than our sidewalks and are not nicely paved, some parts of the road were barley roads. I know that i've scared our parents but it turned out to be an amazing day. We took our scooters around the entire island to all sorts of amazing beaches, through little villages, past mangroves and all sorts of wild life. Today we might take the bikes to another island after surfing if the waves get big enough.
All in all, its been an adventure!
Love
Alley & James
Comments
These are the days of many memories! Stay safe but have fun! love to you both!!