3 Days in Nusa Lembongan

This week a new intern came into the school, so I decided to show him around to some of the lesser travelled areas of the school.

Spring water pool that you can swim in, by the river.

Ayung River Rapids

Minang bridge connecting the Green School with the Bamboo Village

As Thursday was a national holiday, we had the opportunity to take a long weekend off travelling around Bali. Our destination ended up being a small island only 9 km south east of Bali - Nusa Lembongan. The "Nusa" Islands are a trio - Nusa Penida, the largest; Nusa Lembongan, the closest to Bali; and Nusa Ceningan, the smallest.

Jungut Batu Beach, Nusa Lembongan

The main industry in Nusa Lembongan, somewhat surprisingly is seaweed farming, which is used for cosmetics, emulsifiers, agar and stuff like that. Seeing piles of seaweed lying on the side of almost every road is definitely interesting, but it's not always pleasant smelling.

The people of Lembongan use woven baskets to transport seaweed from farms to drying areas.

At low tide, the seaweed farms can be seen in the distance.

Despite this, the water surrounding all three islands is crystal clear and filled with amazing coral formations and tropical fish. I was lucky enough to scuba dive off the coast of Nusa Penida and while I don't have photos of that, I can tell you that it was absolutely mind blowing. The islands are also a popular sighting ground for Manta Rays and Mola Mola (Sunfish), although I didn't see any on my dives.

On the second day there, after the dive, we explored the Island and Nusa Ceningan. Nusa Ceningan is connected to Nusa Lembongan via a rickety yellow suspension bridge - which does not feel safe, although the locals assured us that it was fine. Nusa Ceningan is a lot higher than Nusa Lembongan and as a result you can see the island and past it all the way to Bali and the towering Mt Agung (3000+m)

Roger at the top of Nusa Ceningan

View of Mt Agung and the Nusa Lembongan main road

We also went on a mangrove tour and saw some weird sea snake things and starfish and stuff like that. Then, we went about the local village areas and had a look at buildings...........

Seaweed farming

Our Mangrove guide - Ketut

A Starfish that we found in the mangrove delta

A mustache?

Agung and the beachwalk

And finally, Nusa Lembongan is known for its spectacular sunsets... and it didn't disappoint. I know that it's criminal to have too many sunset photos in one post, but hey, I'm a smooth criminal. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjOQac1vOEc Really cool.)

Well that's all for today. Enjoy. Adios.