Finding A Rhythm For A Long Stay

First, it’s peak season, so getting on the dive boat isn’t always easy when the boats are full. Then there’s the water temperature. The seasonal upwelling of cold water from the deep Lombok Strait is what brings the strange-looking mola mola, or sunfish, into the area. They can be found at depths of more than 100 feet (33 meters), where the water can be as cold as 72°F (22°C).

But there’s another reason I’ve been diving less.

I don’t need to dive all the time to be on Nusa Lembongan

In the past, Nusa Lembongan diving was the main attraction. It’s still one of the reasons I love being here, but I don’t need to dive every day to feel like I’m getting the most out of island life.

Now, I’ve started to develop a different rhythm. One that doesn’t always involve rushing to the dive shop at 7am to set up my gear on the boat.

Brunch, Walks and Wandering

6:30am is strong Balinese coffee on my patio accompanied by a coconut cookie and emails / crossword puzzles followed by a leisurely breakfast a couple of hours later.

Other mornings, I might walk to the beach to grab a late morning brunch and sit with my Kindle or knitting and linger until early afternoon. There’s definitely something special about recognizing the staff and having the waitress look at me and say “that’s not what you normally get” when the moccachino I order isn’t my usual cappuccino.

I’ve got a new favorite brunch dish – shakshuka. It’s a simple and yet complex North African dish of poached eggs smothered in a tomato and sweet red pepper sauce served in a cast iron pan. Paired with a thick slice of sourdough toast to scoop those runny eggs, it’s sublime and lasts me well into dinnertime.

Later on, I might take a walk further down the beach to a sheltered bay where surfers wait for the perfect wave and grab another cup of coffee or a watermelon juice. If the mood strikes, I might walk another 30 minutes over a hill to another beach area. Distances are relative – when I tell the locals that I walked over to Tamarind Beach, they gasp and shake their heads thinking how far the 2 mile (3.2km) walk is since I’ve essentially covered half the island by foot rather than taking a scooter. But the walk is mostly shaded and part of it is a covered wooden walkway where I can hear the sound of the waves crashing on to the rocks and feel the ocean breezes.

For me, the word “yoga” brought up images of “Warrior 1, Warrior 2, downward dog sequences, none of which was particularly relaxing with my scoliosis and stiff joints.

Worse, I rolled my eyes at doing yoga in Bali – so cliche! But then I discovered yin yoga.

There is something about coming in at 8am as the island is waking up, listening to the ocean and being told that you don’t need to do anything except relax into a stretch. It is less about exercise and more about deep stretching and giving my brain a chance to shut up for an hour.

There is no competition with the person next to you, no pretzel contortions, and no expectation you are going to suddenly become flexible.

Maybe that’t’s what I was missing about yoga all along. I was thinking about it as another physical activity and what I needed to appreciate was the forced pause.

I still can’t see myself becoming one of those people who travels to Bali to find enlightenment. But sitting above the beach in Nusa Lembongan, relaxing and stretching while the ocean is in front of me? Yeah, I can get behind that.

In my last post I shared why I decided not to learn to ride a scooter, opting instead for ride-hailing scooters or my own two feet. The island is small enough that I can get just about anywhere I need within a 20-minute walk.

But every now and again, I want to explore the other end of the island without asking a friend for a scooter ride or worse yet, supporting the “taxi mafia” covered trucks with bench seats that charge what might seem to be a reasonable 150,000 rupiah (under US$10) for a ride.

Then I’m reminded the 3 mile (5 km) 15 minute ride is twice the local daily wage and I still need another ride to get back.

Wayan at Bunda 7 told me about a bicycle rental shop down the street. I walked to the shop and told the owner I wanted to ride around the island and was handed a 7-speed mountain bike for 50,000 rupiah (about US$2.80) for the day.

He handed me a bicycle helmet, but when I asked him about a lock, he laughed. “Sister, you just park the bike. No one will take it.”

I suppose on an island where everyone knows everyone, and the only way off is by boat, a rusty bike isn’t high on a thief’s list.

Off I went, riding across the island through the road that goes through the middle of the island lined on both sides by vegetation taller than I was. It’s not a particularly well paved road with frequent ruts and large potholes.

On the other side of Nusa Lembongan is the small sister island of Nusa Cennigan connected by a narrow pedestrian and 2 wheeler bridge . I smelled the seaweed farms before I could see them spread out across the shallow water. This is what life was like on these islands before tourism took hold – fishing and seaweed farming.

Eventually I discovered Gep’s Deli, a little grocery and deli up on a hill that sells Western groceries. They had Gouda cheese. And salami. Oh, and kalamata olives….

After weeks of eating mostly Indonesian food, I decided a small slab of Gouda, 12 slices of French salami and a plastic container of olives were worth a splurge – spending 400,000 rupiah (about US$23 / 19 EUR). I put them in my backpack, feeling mildly ridiculous yet very pleased with myself.

And that, I think, is the bigger benefit of the option of renting a bicycle. It gives me enough mobility to cross the Yellow Bridge, stop to watch the seaweed farmers, spend way too much on cheese, olives and salami, walk my bicycle up a hill, must to the amusement of the honking scooters and eventually make my way home to Bunda 7.

I don’t think I can live indefinitely on a “la di dah” schedule so I’ve created some routine around the dive shop. It also helps me feel useful. Last year, I set up a customer tracking database system and cleaned up their website content. It’s a bit of a pro quid quo as in return, I get to jump on the boat and dive for free.

Being at the dive shop isn’t a job. Sometimes, I drop in and sit in for Putu, the office manager, when she goes for a lunch break. Other days, I might assist a dive class or conducting a dive refresh skills session for a guest. The instructors tell me I should get my instructor certification but I honestly don’t want the responsibility that goes along with it.

This is the perfect situation. I get somewhere to go, people to see on a regular basis without feeling obligated to be on a schedule.