Other than dolphin watching, Lovina is a popular launching point for diving to the nearby dive sites of Menjengen Island, Tulamben, and Amed. Unfortunately, just after we arrived in town, Rashmi came down with a mild case of food poisoning! Guess we have to be even more careful.
Lovina itself is a black volcanic sand beach. The water has no breaks and visibility is not good at all. In other words, not too fun to swim around. All along the shore hawkers chase tourists around with offers of trinkets, massages, and fruit. We finally fulfilled a craving of ours to eat fresh coconut. First the fruit lady poked a whole in it so we could drink the juice within. Then, with a simple metal tool she gave the coconut three sharp thwacks and split in in half. She then pried out all the fruit within with a few more blows. We didn't realize how much coconut flesh it would yield though and were soon coconutted out. Instead of wasting the remaining fruit though, we offered the pieces to any hawkers that approached us. Some would accept and we'd have a pleasant conversation, and others would beat a hasty retreat after having the tables turned on them.
On a rest day, we decided to head out to the only Buddhist temple on the predominantly Hindu island of Bali. It is located about 10 km away from Lovina by motorbike. The only problem was that neither of us knew how to drive one! Motorbikes are the main form of personal transportation in Indonesia, and especially Bali, where you can drive across the whole island in a day. Locals piled them high with chickens, children, and anything they happen to be selling. Other travelers had recommended motorbiking as a way to get around. After seeing one too many 7 year-olds whiz by on a manual motorbike, we decided to try it out. Obviously we would try it out very slowly, and if we felt more comfortable, head out to the monastery.
It really wasn't too hard to get used to motorbiking, except driving on the left side definitely takes some getting used to. As Indonesians are used to cars and bikes going at all speeds on the roads, they are actually quite careful drivers, and the slow speeds help avoid accidents on the chaotic streets. After an hour of doing laps and curlicues in the village we headed out for the monastery.
The Brahma Viahara Ashrama temple is set up in the hills overlooking a quiet village. Meditators gather in rooms and sit or pace very slowly. It is as if they are trying to make their presence unknown at all by being completely silent. At the top of the monastery was an impressive structure with large stupas similar to Borobodur. Lotus ponds and flowering plants also added to the tranquility of the temple.
We've been relaxing in the late afternoon by taking advantage of the happy hour of 30 cents for mixed fruit juices. The bar is set by the beach with a great view of the setting sun and a volleyball court where locals play serious and engrossing game.
Our last 2 days in Lovina we arranged to go diving at two different sites. Tulamben, where the Liberty shipwreck, is and Menjengan Island. We had dived at the Liberty shipwreck before as part of our first open water dive, but this time we got to go deeper and the guide showed us cool features of the ship. He took us on some exciting swim-throughs as well where we got to swim through some of the wider parts of the ship. We were a little concerned about the safety of this, but the professionalism and competency of the guide made us comfortable following him, and i definitely thought it was worth swimming up and through the ship. We also saw some interesting creatures such as a ghostpipe fish. Rashmi got pretty cold this first day as the water was cooler and the wetsuit she had didn't fit very well. We vowed to try and get a better fitting suit so she could enjoy the next day of diving on Menjengan.
We took a boat out across the calm emerald bay to the island of Menjengan, which is known for it's Coral gardens and wall dives. The coral gardens were very colorful and varied and I got very excited about spotting some sea cucumbers. We even got to hold one that was larger than a loaf of bread! These were also our longest dives yet, staying underwater for 60 minutes on our longest dive.
Yesterday we took a bus back down to Kuta, where we spend just a day here and then fly out to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia! We did some boogie boarding this morning, which was my first time. It was a blast and the waves here are excellent. My favorite vendor is the man who walks around trying to sell a bow and a quiver of arrows to tourists. I'm not quite sure what the market for that is.
man, that's so crazy that we've been to the exact same places!! :-) remember, sheley and i went dolphin watching in lovina, and yea, i remember the herds of local sellers right along the beach line. also, when we were in kuta in april, the bow-and-arrow guy approached us too! haha. crazy. glad youre enjoying it. that's adventurous trying the motorbikes! haha, nice.
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