Hi Gram,
This morning, I packed my bags then had a banana pancake with honey and chocolate for breakfast, then washed it down with banana juice – which I didn’t even know was possible. It was delicious and I imagine it’s what monkeys would eat if they stayed at hotels with fancy breakfast options. After breakfast, I packed my bags and listened to the waves crashing while I waited for Dash to arrive. We hung out for a while by the pool, then Nicole got there to check in. A group of us were planning to head to Nusa Penida today, but a few decided to stay put on Lembongan for a few days and move over to my hotel with the gorgeous view and crashing waves. Nicole was the first of that group to arrive.

We chatted with her for a little bit, then our driver arrived to whisk us away. Well, he had been there for a few minutes, but he didn’t know who we were and we didn’t know who he was. Once we got that all figured out, we were on our way. Except, he went the wrong way! We were supposed to turn left and he turned right. We banged on his roof and yelled “no, we’re going to The Point! Wrong way!” to which he responded “yes, The Coin! This way!” and kept going. After a couple times of this exchange, he stopped and spoke with a local on the side of the road who cleared him up on the difference between “point” and “coin” which sound identical when spoken by foreigners. It was an honest miscommunication and we turned around with a laugh and another fun adventure story.

We met Kevin at his hotel, then all bounced along the bumpy roads to the yellow bridge. Kevin talked to the boat people and before the rest of us even reached the kiosk, he had us turning around and heading to the boat. We took off our shoes, waded out, and boarded the boat which immediately pushed off and got us under way. The driver had us shift towards the front to balance the load, then fired up the second motor and got us moving at a decent clip. The boat rounded the island and crossed the narrow channel, arriving in short order at the destination island. He backed the boat close to shore, then had us disembark.

As I was stepping off the boat, I lost my balance and tried to step off quickly to catch myself. The sand in the ankle deep water was soft, though, so I sank to my mid calf and toppled over onto my hands and knees, dropping two of my bags into the water. I picked myself and stuff up and stomped up the sandy beach to assess my water damage and make sure my laptop didn’t get soaked. Some of the stuff was wet and sandy, but nothing electronic, so I was safe for now. I later took everything out to dry once we reached the hotel.

Back on shore, we were trying to message our hotel for a ride, but internet coverage was spotty. We literally walked up to the nearest local who was standing next to a tree and asked him if he was a taxi driver. He was, and after some negotiation on price he led us to his car. A bumpy ride later, he backed up to the hotel and offloaded us and our luggage. I headed to my room to shower and change clothes to get the sea water off of me and when I came out, Kevin and David had already rented scooters for us and we soon got on the road.

We bobbed and weaved the narrow streets, dodging cars and potholes as we wound tight curves and undulating hills until we got to town. We rode through town a little until I looked at a map and was sure we could move one road over and be riding next to the beach. It turns out the “road” shown on the map was more of a sidewalk. A poorly maintained, narrow, uneven sidewalk with stairs. We turned around and parked the bikes for a bit so we could walk the strip looking for somewhere to eat.

Finding nothing where we were, we searched Google maps again and found a cool looking spot with good reviews not far away. A short and scary scooter ride later, we parked our rides and walked along the beach to find the place, finding some seats upstairs overlooking the ocean. I ate too much once again, a sucker for the low prices and excellent quality here. I settled into a food coma while Kevin and David talked about metal bands and concerts. Full and happy, we headed back to the hotel, ducking and weaving the roads and traffic once again. Mark, Stephen, and Becky had arrived while we were riding, so we all sat and chatted by the pool for a bit. My back was sore, so I went to my room to rest it before dinner. I rejoined the group for dinner, we made a plan for tomorrow’s ride, and we all headed off to our rooms for an early evening, all exhausted.