Beaches, ceremonies and sunsets!

We're STILL loving Nusa Lembongan!  What is this, our 5th day?  6th day?  Who knows!  I haven't known what day it was for the past 2 weeks and I'm liking it that way!

We spent a little time laying out and playing in the waves at Dream Beach...

and then went back to our hotel for some lunch and pool time! 

 As you can see, it was a little stormy today.  I think it rained for an hour or so and then cleared right up again!  This is technically the low season because of the rain, but Aaron and I agree that it's one of the best times to travel here because everything is GREEN, GREEN, GREEN!

Our hotel added a new Hindu pagoda (no idea what the real name is, but it's where they place some of their offerings in the morning) and the ladies made special food and offerings and a special priest was there to bless the new pagoda.   

This isn't the pagoda, but it is an offering area at our hotel.  I loved that this one had a bottle of hot sauce!

There aren't many shells here on Lembongan, so I made due with my "go to" handwritten sign in the sand! :)

We met some new friends today, Darhsan from India and his friend Lilia from Spain.  Their hotel room shares a balcony with ours.  They were such great people, energetic, cultures, funny, intelligent and very nice!  After hearing all about India from Darshan, it's even higher on our list than before!  As a side note: Did you know their weddings can last up to a week and cost upwards of $200,000.  Parents of daughters in America, be happy you don't live in India! WOW! 

There's an actual beach called "Sunset Beach" on Nusa Lembongan, but I happen to think the best sunsets are from right in front of our hotel!

Darshan is actually a thoroughbred horse trainer and has lived ALL OVER THE WORLD the last 13 years, training horses for the biggest races in the world!  His horse actually won the Kentucky Derby in 2009! 

I have never, in my entire life, seen perfect rays lighting up the sky like this at sunset!

and with that, I say goodnight!  Hopefully I'll be back to blogging soon!

Sea Fishing and swimming with Manta Rays!

Remember Dino, the baby monkey?  Well, his owners happen to be some of the sweetest, most down to earth, friendly locals on the island (Silisti and Kadek aka "Captain Bobo") ...and they happen to also own this cute little snack bar at the end of the mangroves street and do fishing and snorkeling trips with their own lil boat! 

 So, I married a guy who LOVES to fish, so much so that we almost paid $70 a person to do a fishing trip in the Gili Islands. So, when "Captain Bobo" quoted us $20 a person for fishing AND snorkeling to see manta ray, we were IN faster than we could say "We'll take it!"

For whatever reason, he said we would need to meet him at 6:30 am in the morning.  This was the first time in almost 3 weeks that we've had to set an alarm!  REAL WORLD CHECK!  So, we set the alarm for 5:45am, snoozed till 6am and started our scooter journey from Bungalo no 7 to the mangroves, where there store is.  Within moments, we had loaded the boat and were setting off into the sunset sunrise!

We were under the impression that we would be using a fishing rod, but like most things in a foreign country, that was obviously lost in translation!  We didn't mind this new way of fishing though!  It's what the locals do, so we were all for it! 

 And while it took almost an hour and a half for any fish to bite... they did eventually get hungry and Aaron caught the 1st of the day, a 3 kilo tuna!

Then, it was my turn with a 2 kilo tuna!  I like to think I'm a natural. :)

Well, I'm a natural at holding the fishing line and pulling the line in... but when it came to pulling the  hook out of it's bloody body, while it flopped around inside the boat, I wasn't all that interested.  I grabbed it for just long enough for Aaron to snap this picture... 

Then it slipped out of my grasp and made a bloody mess all over the boat, including on my leg! 

After fish #3, we put the fishing line up and boated over to Manta Point off the coast of Nusa Penida Island in a boat that looked as if a murder scene had taken place all over it.  Bobo actually stopped the boat a ways away from Manta Point, which we thought was weird.  Then he proceeded to tell us that he needed to scrub the blood off of the boat so the sharks wouldn't come.  I thought he was joking, but nope, he was dead serious!  lol  

Captain Bobo said that the manta aren't always here, so if we were lucky we might see a few... but boy were we lucky!  We saw at least 20!  20 GIANT MANTA RAYS!!!  It was incredible!  Aaron jumped in first to check it out and immediately pointed down that he had spotted one!

There were so many manta ray in the area that I even got the chance to snap a photo of one that swam near the boat.  You'll need to use your imagination for this picture.  It's the best I could do, since our brand new gopro underwater camera is faulty and won't turn on!  But we don't talk about that around here. 

At one point, Aaron and I were swimming close together and looked up towards the surface of the water and a giant manta ray (no less than 8 feet wide) was swimming right for ME!  ... and what does my husband do?!  He pushes my towards it!  I almost whipped around and punched him in the gut I was so freaked out!  Even though they're harmless, they're pretty intimidating if you ask me! This picture obviously isn't me, but this is how giant they were!  Aaron said he was trying to get me closer so I would have the chance to touch it like he did!  lol   

The water current in this area was sooooo strong that Aaron and I kept getting swept away, so Bobo would come with the boat and we would both hold on, for dear life, to the outriggers while he boated us closer to where the mantas were swimming!  I love this picture!  Makes me laugh every time I see it.

So, since there are no photos of my snorkeling with the manta rays, I'll just include this one, which flaunts an awesome snorkeling mask imprint on my forehead to prove that I did it!

We pulled the boat onto the beach around 11:00am (That's a 4 1/2 hour trip of awesomeness!) and snapped these pictures of our triple catch!

Is that a pretty face, or what?!

 As soon as we pulled the boat up to the beach, Silisti (Captain Bobo's wife) came up to see our fish, congratulated us on our catch, then offered to grill one up for us for lunch!  Talk about fresh!!  Yes please!

They have a little grill behind their store where Silisti grilled our fish (the one I caught!) over coconut shells! 

... and it was soooooooo delicious!  For $1.50 each, Silisti grilled our fish and made a plate of vegetables and rice for both of us!  I could get very used to this.

As if marking 3 things off my bucket list: sea fishing, eating said fish, and swimming with manta rays wasn't enough for one day, Silisti and Bobo's cat had one week old kittens for me to cuddle and love on!   

Today was one of the most awesome experiences that Aaron and I have ever had while traveling and were on cloud 9 for the rest of the day... for obvious reasons, right?!

We're FREE again!

Nyepi has passed and we're free to roam the island again!  This morning, we decided to check out of our beautiful (but $50 a night, ugh, expensive) hotel on the hill...

and made the small trek down to the beach to Bungalo No7, where we had stayed on our very first Asian vacation together 3 years ago!  This time, we got a beautiful room on the 2nd floor of their brand new building (room #2 with air con, hot water, and free breakfast) for 300,000 rupiah a night ($30), which is $15 less than the regular rate for this particular room. (FYI: The prices on their website are outdated by a couple years.) 

So, in other words, we got a GREAT DEAL!  We may or may not have said it was our honeymoon!  One of the locals that we met at our last hotel told us to say that because we can get better deals, and because we just got married not too long ago!

 Lucky for us, it worked!

 We dropped our stuff in the room, jumped on the scooter and headed to a little restaurant / water sports rental spot near the mangroves on the far end of the island.  Aaron had taken a little scooter journey while I was busy blogging the other day and said I had to meet Dino, a baby monkey that lived there (He's the owner's personal pet)!

He may look cute, but Dino is fiesty and VERY energetic!  When I went to say hello to him, he literally leaped at me from the tree, arms out, and mouth open wide and snatched my water bottle!  Then, he proceeded to climb all over me like I was his own personal jungle gym!  He was particularly interested in my belly button for some reason...  I'm not gonna lie, after seeing that lady in America who was mauled by the monkey, I wasn't quite as brave as I used to be!  I'd like to keep my face the way it is, thank you very much!  But, they said he'd never bitten anyone, so,  I gave Dino the benefit of the doubt and played with him for a couple minutes, then back in the tree he went to eat a banana and some rice!

We scooted over to the opposite side of the island to Dream Beach, which is one of our favorite beaches on the island!

 

... but before we jumped in that gorgeous water, we ordered some $3.50 Nasi Goreng and a drink to share...

and sat here at the bar, taking in the fresh air, blue skies, and warm sun!

... and did a little swinging... why not?! :)

Then it was back to the hotel for some swimming and $1.80 beers and $3.00 cocktails in the pool, dinner while the sunset and a walk around town! 

 We're loving Nusa Lembongan and having so much fun being back at Bungalo No7, reliving our vacation from 3 years ago!  Who knows, maybe we'll come back here in 3 more years - that is if we book enough weddings to stay afloat! :)  Anyone looking for a wedding photographer?!  lol ... No, seriously!

Happy Nyepi.... sshhh, be quiet and don't leave!

Happy Nyepi everyone!

Most of the hotels are actually closed today for the holiday and NO ONE, I mean NO ONE is out on the streets!  Nyepi is a Hindu / Balinese "Day of Silence" that goes from 6am today (March 12th) until 6am tomorrow.  There are special restrictions for Nyepi: No lighting fires, no working, no entertainment or pleasure, no traveling (yes, even the airport closes in Bali!), and for some, no talking or eating at all.  In fact, according to wikipedia, "the only people to be seen outdoors in the town are the Pecalang, traditional security men who patrol the streets to ensure the prohibitions are being followed!"  I couldn't tell you if that was true or not, because we spent our entire day here, in room #1 of Lembongan Reef Bungalows on the hill.

But, we didn't mind being cooped up in our hotel room!  

Not with a view like this from our balcony!

Luckily, our hotel was really relaxed about Nyepi and let us use the pool...

...talk with the other hotel guests and even order food (which was all made with NO electricity or a flame)!  Not quite sure how they did it, but I was impressed! We were just so happy to have some real food and not have to rely on what we had stocked up on in our mini fridge! lol  #vacationdiet

I also didn't mind being cooped up, because while I'd like to say I'm a big reader, the truth is, I get antsy and bored with books and typically either never pick them up, or put them down after the first chapter! (I'm working on this and have a goal to read more books this year!)  So, with no TV, no internet, and no iphone games to distract me, I read and finished Look After Mom, which my co-teacher Okk had given me FOR MY BIRTHDAY almost a year ago.  -sad-  It was fantastic and I got lost in the haunting and sweet story within it's pages... not to mention, it reminded me of Korea, which still has my heart!  Thank you Okk!  

When I wasn't reading, I was laying out by the pool with these 5 kids!  Aaron and I lovingly gave them the nickname, "the kids" which they really didn't deserve, because while they do happen to be recent high school graduates, they are mature, cultured, smart and funny enough to be people we would call actual friends in real life!  They all graudated from the same high school in a small town 30 minutes outside of Heidelberg, Germany a couple months ago and are all traveling for between 3 weeks and 4 months!  Mom, can you imagine me traveling Asia with my friends when I was 18!?  Actually the 3rd one from the left (Larissa) and the 5th one, which is hidden by Cora, (Marie), traveled through Africa together before meeting the rest of the gang in Indonesia!  A.F.R.I.C.A!  These are some lucky kids here and we were pretty lucky to have them to hang with on Nyepi!

As soon as the sun went down, Aaron and I ordered some dinner and played cards, in the candlelight, on our balcony overlooking the black ocean in front of us, black sky above us and the black island all around us... until we drifted off into dream land in our candlelit hotel room on the hill...

Happy Nyepi from Nusa Lembongan, Bali, Indonesia!

Nyepi Eve Parade: Tawur Kesanga

Tonight, Aaron and I witnessed one of the most colorful, interesting, haunting, exciting and beautiful events we've seen in our 4 years of living in Asia!  Nusa Lembongan, the tiny island we are staying on is primarily Hindu and there are A LOT of Hindu celebrations throughout the year, but none quite like Nyepi!  Exactly one day before Nyepi (today), the village people hold a large exorcism ceremony at the main village cross road, where they believe to be the meeting place of demons. (I didn't know all of this before we walked down there to watch "the parade" and plopped ourselves on a wall, right at the crossroads.)  In fact, we didn't know it was an exorcism parade. If I had known that I probably would have been too freaked out to go!  Luckily, it seemed as if it was all in fun.  Everyone was laughing and clapping, so I  knew it wouldn't get too crazy and for 2 or 3 hours, I just took in the haunting sounds, traditional smells, colorful sights and intricate details of the whole thing. 

The people in the village handmade 8 Ogoh-ogoh monsters (a form of a parade float) to symbolize the evil spirits surrounding the village.  These things were freaky looking!  The local guys got up underneath the monsters and held them up, bouncing them up and down along the street, back and forth, back and forth, while traditional Balinese musicians played a mix of percussion and traditional instruments and small children and girls held bamboo torches and walked behind.

The parents propped the little kids up on a temple statue behind me.  Even they were loving it and stayed around until all hours of the night!

 When the parade makes it to one side of the town, they shoot off 5 fireworks into the sky before coming back down the street.

If you've ever seen the movie Life of Pi and fell in love with the scene of the Hindu Festival on the water where tens of thousands of candles lit up the area, you'll know the feeling of this night. It was magical, rich with culture, community, passion and colors, and I couldn't keep a smile off my face the entire time.

Being there for tonight's parade was a chance of a lifetime and something I'll never forget!
Happy Nyepi from a little island south of Bali, Indonesia!