Nusa Lembongan Day 2 Scooting Around the Island... Safely

July 31st, I started my day quite early, at 2:30am I woke up to a FaceTime call from my mom so that I could watch one of my oldest friends, Regan Smith, swim her final in the olympics. She is such a queen and to cheer on a close friend while she competes for a medal against the best in the world is such a honor and it's a no brainer I would wake at any hour of the night to witness her talent on the biggest stage. Because I am outside the US, I can't get any of my streaming services to work, so I had to settle for the video call with my mom as she points the camera towards her computer screen and we both watch and cheer her on together. Regan was swimming the 100 back and I was hoping and praying she would finally earn that gold medal she so deserved, but she got silver, an Australian beating her out. Second in the world is so so amazing and I am so proud of my friend.

Also, while I was up in the middle of the night I thought I would check if my CPA score came out. I took the last section of my CPA exam during finals week, so right before I graduated. I studied for this exam throughout the whole of my spring semester, as I was pretty busy with my own five classes, teaching, hanging out with friends, and keeping up a good routine with working out, cooking, etc. I took it the day before my last final, truly finishing them all up by the end of my senior year of college. But, I didn’t find out the results of my exam until late July. So I patiently waited, going on my summer trip praying that I passed because the last thing I wanted to do was come home and have to study and retake an exam I failed. The score was projected to come out July 31st and sometimes they released them early, so for the past week I was checking it daily to see if they gifted us with our results. But, they decided to release them on the day as planned, and so with it finally being July 31, I logged onto my CPA portal and clicked on the exam to find out… it's scored… PASSED. 

I called my mom right back to tell her I passed, I was so so happy. I studied hard for it, knowing the last thing I wanted was retake a section that was so difficult for me to study for as the material of this exam, Audit, was a bit boring and repetitive. My mom was so happy for me, I also shared the information with some friends but with it being the middle of the night I got tired and I went back to sleep with plans on sharing the good news in the morning. 

When I woke up, I got ready to meet my friends at my homestay so that we could take our motorbikes out and ride around the island. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. I was paralyzed in fear to drive one of these bikes. But, I have had a lot of experience on the back of one with all of the Grab drives I’ve taken in Bali, plus, this was the place to learn. One of the girls in my hostel in Krabi who gave me recommendations for Bali told me that Nusa Lembongan would be the best place to learn how to drive a motorbike because they don’t have cab services on the island and its a super chill island that the roads are not crowded at all. When both of my friends, also with limited biking experience, said they were going to rent them as well, it was the push I needed to finally get myself on one and practice, who knows if its something I will needed to do again on my trip and at least now I will get the hang of it with limited people around. 

So, I went down early to rent the bike, it was only $5 to rent for the day, insane, and I also got a little lesson. I was shown all of the buttons, it was quite simple thankfully, and then the kind man at my hostel watched as I hopped on the seat and practiced for the first time. Me driving this motorbike for the first time was a similar sight to a drunk man trying to walk in a straight line. I was swerving side to side, trying to find my balance along with the right amount of gas. Let this be known I am not the best driver already, I’m not terrible, but this is not something that comes natural to me. But, I did have a fear on my side that would lead me to drive as cautiously as possible, and when you go slow, there isn’t as much damage that can be done if something were to go wrong. The two other girls were also one board with slow driving and once they arrived and I had a bit of practice in, enough that I finally found some balance and was getting the hang of the gas and brakes, we took off for our first stop, breakfast on the beach.

I was hyper focused on the road. Livia was in the front leading the way, I was in the middle because I was so nervous about driving. I forgot to mention they drive on the wrong side of the road and while I was practicing I made that goofy mistake a time or two, so Maegan volunteered to drive behind me, and to yell at me if I accidentally started driving on the wrong side. Truly, such kind girls to adventure with and to drive with for the first time. There was no pressure from either of them for me to drive fast, and when we finally got to our destination, they hyped me up saying that I did a great job. Again, driving slow helps make it easier, and I was staying on the side of cautious in the fullest extent possible. 

Our breakfast place was the cutest place ever. We just chose the first place in the area we wanted to stop first that had a vegan option. We got so lucky with how adorable the place turned out to be. Walking from the beach along a path to reach the entrance, it felt like we were in Europe, either Italy or Greece, with the jagged stone and green vines leading us towards the light blue gates in which we would enter a little paradise. They had an open air seating area, looking as though it was a fancy treehouse. We had a tough time picking out a dish from the many great options of what we would get to enjoy. I got the avocado toast, an option I’ve been going for a lot recently because the avocados and sourdough bread are so amazing here, and typically it comes with some scrambled tofu which gives me that protein boost. 

At breakfast, we enjoyed our lovely view and chatted through the meal. I shared the good news with them I passed the CPA (they probably had no idea how big a deal it was but I was glad to tell someone in person than just over text and the phone). They pointed out that I should celebrate, which was so true, and therefore I allowed myself for the day any treat that piqued my interest. 

Once we finished our meal, we hopped back on the bikes to check out Mushroom Bay, a very popular area on the island. We literally got there, parked our bikes, walked to the beach to see that it was just a busy port with tons of people, to then turn around back to our bikes to go to the next location. I think I spent more time parking my bike than I did looking at that beach. We knew we could find a better more secluded place to spend our beach time, and there was still so much to see on the island. One nice thing about not really knowing what there is all to do on the island is that I don’t feel like I’m missing out on seeing something if the timing doesn’t work right. We went pretty slow for the day at each stop, and there was something so much better about doing it that way instead of rushing at each point to see as much as possible. I will admit Mushroom Bay was quick, but we were all in agreement that it was something we would stop to say we’ve seen, but there was so much beauty on the island that deserved more of our attention.

The next stop was Devil’s Tear. We did this place justice with the amount of time we spent there. It was so cool to see the massive waves roll in towards the island and crash against the rocks, making the water spray upwards and balloon into a cloud of white before falling back down to the crystal blue water. There were a few spots that you could watch the waves create a show for us, and we went to each one. We probably spent around 15 minutes staring at each of the four we went to, not just going there taking a photo and leaving, but actually watching them do their thing and be in awe when a large wave came up, topping the one before for biggest splash. 

The only downside of this stop was the full sun we were in. My sunscreen was on it’s last life, only getting the smallest drops out of the bottle, applying it to the most sensitive spots and leaving the rest up to luck. The past six weeks in Asia have built a protective layer for me to at least avoid getting burnt, but I still didn't love being in the sun for that long. We all felt a little sun sick after our visit there, and went to a nearby bar on Dream Beach where we ordered cool drinks to enjoy with a view. I got a fresh mango juice, I could tell it was fresh as it was filled with pulp. It was so delicious, the mangos here are nothing like the ones at home and I would treasure every sip and bite of them here. We chatted and recovered until cool again, before heading back on the bikes to find a lunch place. It was around 1pm and we had the plan to cross the yellow bridge to get lunch at a look out place on Centina island. 

I was nervous again, even though all of the driving made me a bit more confident that at the very least I could survive this, but the bridge was beyond my skill level. It was a narrow metal bridge that connected Nusa Lembongan to Centina Island, traffic coming two ways, so the balance had to be perfect as you only had a few inches on either side of you. The nerves made my balance even more shaky and I just prayed my way through this crossing. Thankfully, for a majority of the stretch, no one was coming in my direction and was able to have some more wiggle room. As soon as my front wheel touched the concrete on the other side of the bridge, I sighed out the biggest gasp of relief and continued on to one more viewpoint before going to our lunch spot. 

This viewpoint was incredible. It was a secret beach that was so gorgeous and could only be enjoyed from the cliff and looking downwards at the rocks scattered along the sand and the crustal blue water painting the rest of the area. We again looked out at this spot for 15 plus minutes, making sure we savored it and not just come and gone. There was more to see in the area, so we walked around, making sure we got the sights in before leaving. We were here for about 30 minutes total, and our restaurant ended up being a few minute walk away, so no need to hop back on the bikes, a great relief as I still hoped to avoid any extra driving as much as possible.

The view we had was amazing at this place. I ordered spring rolls with a fruit platter. The dipping sauce was pretty spicey, but to a level I can finally handle as the spice exposure here as toughened me up to the point I can finally take something with a little heat to it. I loved the mango on the fruit platter, I also got dragonfruit, watermelon, and pineapple, but my favorites are the tropical fruits I can’t get at home, so I saved the mango and dragonfruit for last, getting to enjoy them to the fullest extent.

We then made our way back to our homestays. We stopped to buy some jewelry, the prices here are incredibly good. And we decided to make the loop and drive past the mangroves on our way back into the city. While driving through the mangroves, I thought I’d check on the status of my fuel tank. I was so pranked when the arrow was lined up to the E. I had an old bike and I thought truly the gauge must be broken. There was no way that I was on the brink of sputtering out of gas and trapped on the side of the road. I tried to put it passed my mind, saying it will all work out and praying that I can make it back to the homestay.

We made one pitstop to regroup and I warned them of my low tank of gas, but them seemed pretty relaxed about it, saying I’d for sure get home and it gave me the confidence that I could do it.

Not a minute later did I indeed completely run out of gas to the point I slowed to a stop on the side of the ride. God bless that Maegan was behind me and she stopped with me, and across the road was a store, and bless that the store had some gas. That was the best case scenario of what could have been a not so good scenario. I was grateful to have someone with me and a store so close, they also filled it up for me, likely knowing I was a clueless tourist, which is exactly what I was. Crazy enough the gas was only $2, so I didn’t mind returning it with a full tank as that was nothing of cost compared to filling a tank back in America. 

They dropped me back off at my place, a three minute drive from where I ran out of gas, truly so close. I showered, got ready for dinner, and took my motorbike back into town just in time to claim our spots for the movie night on the beach. I was pretty full still from the late lunch and so I got a coconut for a drink and hummus toast for dinner. I cannot get enough of the sourdough bread here, with whatever topping on it. The hummus at this place was remarkable, still a little chunky from the chickpeas and a visible drizzle of olive oil on top. 

The movie started about 15 minutes after we arrived, the flick for the night was the new movie Mad Max Furiosa, I’d seen promos for it when I was back home, unsure if it was something I wanted to see then, but still intrigued. I was no longer intrigued though after the first 15 minutes, and when I turned over and saw that Livia and Maegan were sorting through photos on their phone, that seemed like a better tradeoff than the confusing movie that was in front of me. I did some much needed organizing as I have gotten so behind, taking every opportunity to socialize with people and therefore not having the time to go through photos, journal, and post blogs. I have been prioritizing travel, experience, and friendship over solo computer work, so I apologize for the delays in my travel tales and appreciate the patience of my readers. 

I got to sit in the iconic Bali beach chairs, which were actually so comfortable. They gave us some popcorn to snack on, and I went through my photos feeling in a much better spot with that. I spent almost the full two hours doing that and barely got through a few days of photos. But, it’s better than nothing and it was such a great feeling to be in the presence of people I knew, some background noise of a movie, and yet be able to get some individual work done. It reminds me of my nights back home on the couch with my family, having the TV and sharing the couch, yet I might be working on a project, my mom reading, my sister playing some games on her phone, and my dad napping next to us all. That is the type of chill I needed on this trip, a glimpse of familiarity tonight with a sprinkle of Bali.

Because I had the scooter rented for the day, I rode to the beach and then got to save myself the 15 minute walk back and instead have a three minute cruise home. I was so tired that I plopped on bed and read until I absolutely passed out (current read: Court of Mist and Fury).