Month: January 2023

Unaware that it would be the hottest day of trip, around 32 degrees in the shadow we booked a trip the island Nusa Penida. The island is roughly 40 minutes away from Bali and is a perfect day trip, at least we thought that. Now, after the trip I think I would say that one day is to little and it got a bit stressfully and indeed sweaty in the heat.

To take the ferry should be a simple task but gosh, it was pure chaos. People everywhere, different ferries to different location but they left from the same place and there were no clear signs and I cant really explain how but we succeeded to climb onboard the correct ferry and we did arrive to Nusa Penida. Our first stop was Broken beach together with Angels billabong. According to legend there should be a devils billabong too but I am not sure where and what I have heard its pretty tough to reach. Anyway, Broken beach offers an amazing view of turquoise blue sea, huge cliffs and a big, really big natural arch which you actually can walk over. Angels billabong which is really close by looks like a natural infinity pool. If you are prepared for this you can actually climb down to it and wade through the pool but be careful, the current outside of the pool is strong and the climbing demands real shoes. I was not prepared for this and therefore I stayed up, enjoyed the view and the heat.

Step two for the day was Kelingking Beach or well, above Kelingking Beach. Also this place offered an amazing view over the sea, cliffs and a stunning beach (Kelingking Bech). On this place there are stair so you can easily walk down to the beach however, if you want down you also have to climb up later on and we are not talking about just a few steps here.

Our third and last stop for today was Crystal Bay, a rather small beach surrounded by high cliffs. The beach was perfect to just lay down and don’t really do anything except head into and play in the waves in the water. After been running around and enjoyed all the viewpoints, taking pictures and been shuffled around it felt really, really good to just lay down on the beach, sunbath a bit, swim a bit and drink an ice cold beer before it was time to head back to Sanur and start celebrating new years eve.

To be fair it was not optimal to do this tour during the day and then try to celebrate new year in the evening, Totally exhausted we had a rather simple, but tasty Italian dinner before we went down to the beach and enjoyed the fireworks, probably more sleeping than awake

The end of this trip starts closing in and we checked out from out hotel complex in Sanur for spending the last night at a new hotel, this time in Nusa Dua. Lonely Planet describes Nusa Dua as “a gated compound of resort hotels. Its a vast and manicured place where you leave the chaos of the rest of the island behind as soon as you passed the guards”. I didn’t saw any guards but I agree it sounds like a correct description. The area is just south of the airport seems to consist of one hotel complex after another but the beaches are open for public at least which is nice.

You can tell that this is a gated community for tourists by the rices. The living cost is kind a cheap, at least for us who booked the same day as we were checking in however food and drinks are at least five times as high compared to Ubud and I don’t even dare to compare with the prices in Munduk.

I think we both feel that we have now done Bali and both yesterday and today has been spent on the beach or close to the pool with their bars and restaurants, now just because we are like the average joe tourist and close to the resort doesn’t mean we are free from surprises, like today during lunch we saw a bunch of squirrels jumping between the trees and around the tables. Most unnecessary knowledge of the day is that squirrel likes french fries .