01.24.26
Let’s just say that all the Gods were smiling on us today as we took the ferry ride over to Nusa Lembongan from Sanur (Bali) at 11:30. When I woke at 0700, the wind was howling, and the rain was pouring down, and I thought, “oh, will they even run the ferries?” But fortunately everything calmed down, and by midday it was relatively nice. Even so, this was the roughest water we’ve ever dealt with, but fortunately, Kathleen never got sick! And I got a kick out of seeing the prayer offerings to the God of Evinrudes on each of the four outboard engines, that was a first!
The second Gift was just as dramatic, as we got to our location, unpacked, and could not find the pouch with my passport, 5 credit cards, and (substantial) cash that I just withdrew. I reconstructed everything in my mind and thought it must have been stolen, even though it was a relatively short ferry ride from the mainland. I had the ferry people look into it, but they had no success, and ironically some friends who were staying at our same prior hotel felt so bad they tried to help. Paula and Kristen went to our room, looked around, and lo and behold, there was my pouch in the safe! Which I hardly ever use.. But yesterday I put my stuff in there, totally spaced, and forgot to take it out. Crisis averted. I was NOT looking forward to the process of getting a new passport, canceling all my credit cards, and losing all that cash, especially because I did not even have a debit card to get more cash out!
Fortune smiles on us as our nomadic journeys continue, and even though they are doing MASSIVE remodeling at our villa, this little slice of heaven is still paradise.
FINALLY!
Blue skies, nothing but blue skies—finally! After too many days of rain and wind, the last two days were beautiful, with temps in the upper 80s. We rode into the small village of Jungubatu, (Bali), on the small island of Nusa Lembongan, searching for a gym. There were two options and neither required any commitment, but I joined the one that had AC, and was closer, although it looked a bit rough equipment-wise. KInd of like an old car that needs a cosmetic overhaul, but has a good chassis and mechanics underneath. I worked out this morning (100,000 rupiah per visit, which is just under $6 USD), and decided to join for the month since I knew I’d get six workouts in for 600K rupiah monthly fee. By the way, that demonstrates the low value of currency in Indonesia. The most I can get out of an ATM is 3 million rupiah, which is about $180 USD. It’s easy to be a millionaire here!
For those that shared their concern about my passport and such, I got it back yesterday, along with the forgotten, left behind credit cards and cash, so we’re good again. The other night I met a nice Australian gent, Lee, and I told him that I thought my money was gone. He felt bad and offered to give me some, just like that, after 5 minutes of conversation. I declined, he insisted, so he fronted me 200,000 rupiah, which was twice what I had, and that got me through until I got my own cash back. I’m returning the cash and taking him and his daughter to lunch tomorrow to repay them, but that goes to show you the graciousness and generosity of people all over the world. We call them “Travel Angels,” and we have been on both sides of that fence.
The beauty of this island still blows me away, and I have to caution myself to NOT take it for granted! After many months of cold, and living in the city of Tirana, coming to a small island just a few square miles in size in a significant change. This morning on my way to the gym, about 0800, I noticed the tide between the two islands of Lembongan and Ceningan was as low as I’d ever seen it. The picture shows the contrast of the high and low tides. We have 30 days here, then 30 more back on the main island of Bali for 30 more
