After hanging out with mum for a few days in Ubud, we wanted to hit the beaches. Lombok was out of the question due to the recent earthquakes, and we’d already been around the Bukit Peninsula, so we decide to splash out and go for a resort experience at Nusa Dua. It was…. a strange adventure.
With golf carts, shuttle buses and laundry prices to make your jaw hit the table, it felt very strange being in this world after backpacking (relatively) on a budget. To enter the resort zone you have to pass through a security check, and once you’re in you could almost forget you’re in Indonesia.
The one upside, aside from the lovely private apartment we stayed in, was the beach at Nusa Dua. This is the real deal for relaxation. Crystal clear waters unlike anywhere else and no waves — a first for our Indonesia beach experiences.
We made the most of it…
When we weren’t indulging at our favourite resort bar, we exited the resort zone back into the land of normality, where we found mi goreng and less exorbitant laundry prices.
Jimbaran
One beach we had missed out on when we initially went to Bukit Peninsula was Jimbaran. This places is famous for watching the sunset and having a beachside meal with fresh fish caught from the sea hours earlier. Needless to say, I ate seafood.
The atmosphere in the evening by candlelit tables is really lovely. Highly recommended sunset experience!
To wrap it up after dinner, I fed my recently acquired corn on the cob craving, followed by fried bananas, because, why not — we’re on holiday after all.
Although Nusa Dua was mostly about relaxing, there were a couple of significant events.
After driving all around Indonesia trying to avoid the police (“the po po”) at every turn (because I don’t have a licence) we’d almost made it through the entire trip without any issues. At the last hurrah, in Nusa Dua, I finally got pulled. I had two options: pay 1.2 million rupiah in Denpasar (for driving without a licence), or, pay the police chief 400,000 in cash and we could get back on the bike and drive away. I didn’t have money, so I had to explain to the officer that I would borrow some money from my mum (who was on the back). Thanks mum, always bailing me out.
The second thing was a series of more earthquakes, which we mild but significant. Up until this point the epicentre of the earthquakes was always north of Lombok. But this time, one was right of the southern coast of Bali. This set off fresh anxiety for all of us, as Katina and I planned to go to Lombok next.
We decided to suck it up and go to Lombok anyway. Mum was not having any of it though, and she hopped on an early flight home. It was sad to say goodbye to mum, but we really had a great time and it was amazing to see her.
Now things were really coming to the end and we had one final stop left: Lombok.