Time for the real holiday to start

Got up early from my hotel at Sanur greeted to a beautiful sunrise from the balcony of my hotel I'm headed down to the port which was right beside the hotel to pick up a ticket to get to the islands. I found the ticket agents that was selling the tickets about 50 rupiah than everyone else at 350 rupiah return. Seems reasonable enough to me although after paying they took me to a central ticketing office and that's where the ticket was actually issued. I'm not certain but I think I could have gone to the ticketing office directly and perhaps got the ticket a bit cheaper. Live and learn!

The speedboat wasn't actually the fastest boat available but it was packed full of tourists and locals alike. We actually had to wade out to the boat a little so thankfully I had wrapped my huge rucksack in a waterproof shell.

The Backpackers on board the boat seemed a little less experienced than the ones I met in Flores. A lots of young early twenties millennials who are mainly just touring Bali. Thankfully though the island I was heading to wasn't really a party Islands and it would prove to be a pretty good base to have a bit of relaxation after all the trekking  and early mornings.

I chose Nusa Lembognan over (arguably more interesting but difficult to get around) Nusa Penida since I was really just looking for somewhere with a beach. Penida has far less tourists but also has a less developed infrastructure. This would make a great if you were looking for a bit more Adventure though as it has some fantastic hidden waterfalls and hidden beaches which can be a bit difficult to get to.

On arrival on the sandy beaches of Nusa L, I was greeted by the usual gang of touts offering to take you to your hotel on motor bike or some other transport. I didn't have a clear idea of where I wanted to go but I assume there were going to be loads of beach Huts to choose from. I quickly found this wasn't to be the case and most of the beach areas have fairly built up restaurants with adjoining accomodation primarily catering to the hundreds of Chinese tourists that seem to throng here!

So I lugged my backpack around the dusty back alleys trying to find somewhere nice. Thankfully Nusa L is pretty small so it didn't take long before I managed to find a nice spot that was relatively cheap near the sunset point of the island at my usual benchmark around 230 rp a night (about €14). There seem to be a majority of upmarket places to stay where the minimum price was 400 a night . Luckily I managed to find a place with a nice big salad bad and outdoor shower toilet which is quite unusual. Certainly one way to avoid stinking up the place! ;)

 the next thing to do is to find a motorbike because it's really the only way to get around the island. I found one guy that said 70 rupiah per day. Which is ok until he told me that the day ended at 6 p.m. the current time was 2 p.m. so I kept looking. Finally found a guy who said 70 rupiah until the next morning which is perfectly fine plus a full tank of petrol which was a novelty for me;

I assumed also that there were going to be a few bars and general areas where you could meet other Backpackers but it seems the island is mainly caters to couples and the Gilis would be a more suitable place for that sort of arrangement as the place is dead quiet at night! I think one day every week there's a place that plays music. Big difference from the non stop music of Labuan Bajo anyway!

So for the rest of the day I went to the single swimmable Beach on the entire Island which is called dream Beach. I assumed the entire Island was going to have beaches but the majority of the beaches are used as ports for boats and so are a little bit oily maybe have rubbish in the water. Even a dream Beach once you enter the water you have to contend with Rocky slippery surfaces rather than pure white sand.  I wasn't aware of this but Indonesia isn't really known for its beaches and the majority of the coast is either Mangrove or volcanic rock, or coral once you enter the water. No Caribbean style beaches here for you mate!

Find a great sushi place that night called Oishii which was 3 mins ride from my bungalow. Had some of the best tuna Sashimi I've had since Japan for only around 6 Euro for a full platter! The staff were nice but the service probably depends on who's working that night as I had impeccable service the first night but then the second night my meal didn't come for one hour 15 minutes so I'll be skipping it on my last day which is unfortunate.