Nusa Lembongan: Scary Ferries, Broken ATMs, and New Friends

Sometimes you just want to get away. Granted, I’m already away. So to get farther away wasn’t too hard...or so I thought.

After Ubud, I wanted some beach time. Not the kind of beach time that you see in Cancun postcards though, with 1,000 other twenty-somethings and bottomless margaritas. I wanted to be the ONLY person on a massive beach next to crystal clear water. Okay, maybe not the only person, but definitely one of no more than say...ten.

Of course, I went to Google and started typing away: “Bali beaches where there are no tourists.” This sprouts a plethora of options—some close, some fairly far...and not even in Bali. I had five days before flying out so needed to stay within a reasonable distance to the Denpasar airport.

That’s how I found Nusa Lembongan.

Nusa Lembongan is an island southeast of Bali. It actually is a rather popular destination for those who choose to venture out of the resort beaches of Southern Bali. Upon some research, this seemed to attract the type of people that I wouldn’t mind sharing my a beach with.

The Second-Hand Ferry

To get to Nusa Lembongan, I had to take a ferry. I found a guy on the street who was selling boat tickets (actually a thing), bartered him down, then went to catch my ride.

Now, I could have taken the public ferry, which is substantially cheaper. However, I opted for a higher likelihood of actually making it to Nusa Lembongan—as many of these boats capsize. And, I didn’t want to share my seat with a chicken.

We boarded the ferry by actually WADING through the water as some poor crew member hauled my 13-kilogram backpack above his head. Every single passenger does this and then pushes to find a seat.

Once seated, you may have been lucky to have a lifejacket in the seat pocket in front of you. But, DON’T WORRY, the ferry company made sure that we felt safe: by writing the word “INSURANCE” on every surface.

It was a long 30-minutes in that vessel. Our second-hand boat seemed just out of its league battling the ocean between these two islands with unpredictable currents, very large sideways-waves, and randomly speckled reefs.

I was so happy to have to wade through the water on our arrival. I was almost willing to carry my own bag above my head.

Cash Only

I have acquired this new tendency to have no more than two nights booked upon arrival anywhere. That way, I get some flexibility to change my travel plans and I can usually book additional nights at a cheaper rate.

However, this poses a problem when you arrive on an island with only 335,000 rupiahs (=~25 USD), one broken ATM, and a homestay that only takes cash.

Desperate times called for desperate measures. I forfeited my potential to get a discounted rate at my homestay by paying cash at the door—in favor of just having a roof over my head for an additional three nights by booking online (with a credit card).

Once I had accommodation, I rationed out my remaining money for the next five days.

This would have been relatively possible to live on if I:

a) Decided to fast

b) Only ate street food (or at the warungs, or Indonesian restaurants) and

c) Didn’t do anything but walk and lie on the beach

Unfortunately (or fortunately) I discovered this wonderful café near my homestay called Bali Eco Deli, whose delicious local fruit and yogurt bowls (breakfast) set me back about 3/5 of my daily ration. And I found Bali Eco Deli within 4 hours of arriving on Nusa Lembongan.

I always have a Plan B for these types of situations: This called for the emergency pile.

I usually carry about $40-100 US dollars “just in case.” While Nusa Lembongan lacks ATMs, it does have a lot of “Money Changer” stores. These places give you an excellent exchange rate (I paid 50 cents for every $20 exchanged).

So I exchanged $60 and was suddenly rich again.

Friends

From my brief impression, Nusa Lembongan attracts semi-pro Australian surfers (some of which are only 10 years old), my fellow people-avoiding adventurers, and reptiles.

Because of this, I was able to make some new friends very quickly.

After a long hard second day on the beach, I walked back to my room (a small stand-alone bungalow with a bed and private bathroom) to find poop on my bed. Uh oh.

I frantically looked around my room searching for the animal that did this. However, I had NO idea what I was going to do once I found it. And frankly, I had no idea what I was even looking for.

Probably since I was fresh off a bat cave expedition and it was dark, my immediate reaction was: BAT. So I ran out of my bungalow to the pool and stole the pool cleaning net (also an immediate reaction).

As I was walking back to my bungalow with my 8-foot long blue stick with a net, I made eye contact with another guest sitting on her porch.

“Hello.” I began, but these scenes usually call for more explanation. “Do you know anything about bats?”

“Ha, no. DO YOU HAVE A BAT?!?” She replied. Then we proceeded to discuss logistics behind my pool net strategy. Eventually, she offered her moral support to help me catch the bat.

We walked into my room equipped with the pool net and started moving furniture. Nothing.

We turned the lights on and off. Nothing.

We clapped and made loud noises. Nothing.

Then we walked outside again to look up at the flickering porch light, only to see something move. It wasn’t a bat, it was a GIANT LIZARD and it WAS CRAWLING BACK INTO MY BUNGALOW THROUGH A HOLE IN THE ROOF!!!!#!#@#!(#!!@#!

We stood there stone-still and silent until Laura (my friendly neighbor) spoke. “Oh, that’s way worse.”

Yep. I agreed. I could deal with a cute bat. This lizard seemed monstrous. And it had a gut as if recently eaten. It wasn’t one of those skinny-bitch lizards that ate acai smoothies. HE WAS HEFTY!

Okay okay, so without exaggeration, he was probably the length of my elbow to the tips of my fingers. But I have big hands, so take that into consideration.

Laura offered to let me sleep on the couch in her and her friend’s room to escape the lizard. (And, as we were hunting for the “bat,” we chatted about all sorts of things, including meeting for yoga the next morning at 7:45 am.)

I decided to tough it out that night. I turned the AC up to full blast at 19 degrees, put the blanket above my head, and slept with the lights on. Yet, I couldn’t stand the fact that a massive lizard was dangling its head from a ceiling beam and occasionally sticking its tongue out.

Aftermath

I met Laura and her friend, Chrissie, the next morning for yoga after very little sleep. This was only the start to an epic day together.

We ate mangosteen and snake fruit, hiked 16km around the island, shuttled a boat through mangrove tree-lined canals, crossed a suspension bridge to Nusa Ceningan, swam in a hidden infinity pool, slurped black rice pudding on the side of the road, and found a swing-set at a bar overlooking a barren low-tide area. 

When I arrived back at my bungalow that night tired from the long day of walking, I saw that the lizard had pooped on the bed again.

Shit. Literally.

Then I saw his little (relatively) head pop up from the ceiling beam.

“Okay, if you’re going to stay here, we’re going to have rules.”

I told him (I named him Albert) about my one condition. “Albert, you let me sleep on the left side of the bed, and I’ll let you poop on the right.”

Surprisingly, this actually worked for the remainder of my stay. 

Laura, Chrissie, and I continued to explore the island and its limited restaurants together. After they left, I lied on the beautiful beaches and drank dragon fruit smoothies. I even rented a motorbike and buzzed around Nusa Lembongan.

When it was time to take the sketchy ferry back to Bali, it was actually bittersweet to say goodbye to my roomie, Albert. 

Turns out I got exactly what I was looking for by "getting away," and even substantially more.