Indonesia (Bali- Nusa Penida)

After visiting Lombok, off we went to visit Nusa Penida. To do so, we transited through Padangbai on the island of Bali. We were also here on our way to Lombok and we were excited with the though of going back to eat a smoothie bowl in a small warung near the hotel. Warungs are small local restaurants in Indonesia. That evening, we also discovered a delightful waraung that served delicious fresh grilled prawns 🦐 and squid 🦑. Yummy 😋! Trust me, we will be back!!!

In the morning, we woke up to quite an agitated event. What is usually a quiet and peaceful street was crawling with people all dressed up in traditional cloths, carrying all sorts of offerings and music instruments such as gongs, xylophones, cymbals and drums. The hotel keeper explained that it was for a funeral of an important person of their village community. The events were planned for the next 5 days, parading through the streets and ending with the cremation of the body that was going to be set out to sea during the process.

​We did not witness all the funeral events since we were off to Nusa Penida. We stayed on this small island to the south of Bali for 1 week in a hotel near Cristal Bay. The bungalow style rooms were really neat and there were 2 lovely pools just a step away from my bed!

​We spent some time at the beach 🏝 and ate a grilled fish 🐟 for dinner, as we watched the sun go down and the sky turn orange with our feet grounded in the sand. By the time we were done eating, it was dark and looking up, we enjoyed the sight of the milky way in the clear night skies.

The next day, we rented some motor bikes to drive around and explore the island. Our first stop was Kelingking beach. We parked at the top of the cliff and walked up to a raised platform to get an awesome view of the beach and littoral below.

We then headed down the steps to explore the beach from close up.  I don’t know how many steps there were but there were a few hundred. At first the steps were easy to go down and then if got a bit more adventurous and we were climbing down a steep slope in the rocks using ropes to help us down. But it was well worth the effort! Forget about having a quiet swim in the ocean… the waves where huge and watching them break on the surrounding cliff and beach was mesmerizing. We laughed as a few tourists ventured closer for some pictures and got wiped out by the force of the sea! ​

​We then headed to Broken beach and Angle’s Billabong. Broken beach is in a cove that is separated from the sea by a natural stone bridge. We can look down from the top of the cliff. Angle’s Billabong is a series of cliffs and the huge waves 🌊 come roaring in hitting the cliffs and splash every where. With the sound of the crashing waves in the background, we feasted on delicious hawaian and vegetarian pizza 🍕. ​

 The next day, we set out again with the motor bikes. Our first stop was the Guyangan Waterfall. This is considered a sacred site and so we had to wrap ourselves in sarong before starting on the 1000 step journey down to the temple and sacred water from this waterfall. ​

Although the ‘’waterfall’’ was not really impressive… there was a man made pool carved within the cliff that collected crystal clear water that we swam in as we overlook the ocean.

​Again, the huge waves from the ocean came crashing against the cliff showering us from time to time with salted water. ​

Eloise and I then got 2 days to relax by the pool while mom and dad went diving. They were really hoping to see Manta rays and even more so, Mola mola’s (Sunfish). The Mantas are here year round but the Mola’s are seen mostly in August and September. So it is the right season but even so, the dive shops only estimate there is a 5% chance to see them… ​

The first day, they saw beautiful Manta’s but no Mola’s and that’s why they tempted fate again the next day. They got lucky!!!! They got to see a giant Mola Mola!!

These fish come up from the depths of the ocean (300 meters deep) to expose themselves to the reef fish for cleaning. The banner fish especially like the parasites that live on these strange, prehistoric fish. Dad says the one they saw was at least 6 feet in diameter, not counting the fins that would make it more like a total size of about 10 or 12 feet!

​These gentle, jellyfish eating fish, are known to typically grow to 2000kg or sometimes more! The one my parents saw probably got scared by a group of loud divers and didn’t stick around for them to get to observe closely but they did swim hard against the crazy currents to get a good look before it plunged back into the depths of the ocean. Needless to say, they didn’t get a picture or video but here is one from the internet to give you an idea of what they saw.

Finally, it was our turn to check out the Manta’s. We headed out on a snorkeling trip with a private boat early in the morning to beat the crowds. We were the first to arrive at Manta Bay but within minutes another 10 boats joined us and after an hour there were way more so it’s good we got there so early! The first few Manta’s we saw were swimming quite fast so we had to kick hard to keep up. They are really impressive animals. They look as though they are flying effortlessly in the water. They are graceful and look so peaceful. We really got to see them from up close. The last one we saw was barrel feeding. It had it’s mouth wide open to feed on the plankton and it was going around in circles. It was the first time I saw this and it was really neat!!!!

I can’t not share with you our finest discovery here in Nusa Penida… Italian Gelato🍨! We just had no choice but to stop by and try all the different flavors many times during our stay 😀.

Last stop for us in Indonesia... back to Bali for a few nights before our flight out. We took advantage of a few touristy pit stops. First we visited a chocolat factory where we learned all about how chocolat is produced before sitting in the factory to make your very own chocolate bars!

We tasted the fresh coca beans, Yummy!!!

We were allowed to taste the different chocolates that they make... and there was no limit to how mush we could try! LOL, we didn't need lunch after this!!!

Éloïse's dream kitchen faucet!!!

And a final stop to visit a local coffee production. This place is not like others that we read about. Bali is actually famed for producing the world's most expensive coffee, the  Kopi Luwak coffee.

The production process is a bit particular... and ultimately is made out of poop from this little creature! Umm yes, you read that right!!

The Asian palm civet

This is basically how that works. The animals feed on the coffee cherries in the planation. It is thought that they choose the ripest berries, influencing the flavor of the coffee. The digestion process initiates a germination process that is thought to reduce the bitterness. The partially digested beans are recovered in the animales poop. It is then cleaned thoroughly before being manually roasted and grinded.

And just like that... our time in Indonesia has come to an end. Off we go for our final destination. Fidji, here we come!!!