Goodbye Lembongan....Hello Sanur,Bali!

Une petite vue de notre hotel le matin de notre départ...

Voila enfin un article ecrit en français (pour ceux qui n'ont pas eu leur brevet d'anglais... ie: Rich, Alice, Delph, Clovis... hehehehehehee joooooooke)
Nous voila à Nusa Lembogan, une isle à 1h30 du sud de Bali....Ca fait 6 jours maintenant qu'on y est et on vient de décider de prolonger notre sejour encore 4 jours......(et oui c'est difficile la vie!) Cette ile le est le paradis sur terre pour ses plages d'orées, sa mer turquoise et ses balinais traditionels et encore vierges des ennuies de la société.

Nous passons notre temps à jouer aux cartes, se balader en moto, manger des ananas et des cocos, le surf et la plongée (oui je n'exagere absolument pas quand je dis que la vie est tres difficile pour nous en ce moment!!!!) Nous habitons dans un petit bangalow sur la plage et lorque l'on sirote nos jus de mangue au bord de la mer, le soleil se couche laissant derriere lui un tableau de rouge, jaune, orange, rose et bleu....... ok ok j'arrette! je compatis avec vous en France qui sont dans cet hiver gris.... Mwoooahhahaha

Plus serieusement, cette ville de 7,000 habitants (moins qu'à Carhaix!) trouve sa richesse princpale dans sa culture d'algue servant à épaissir les glaces qu'on mange et divers produits laitiers. C'est en generale les femmes qui font ce travail laboureux et intense mais certains hommes s'y mettent aussi. (comme d'hab quoi....!)
Il n'y a pas de voitures ici, il n'ya pas de routes..... que des scooters et des velos sur des pistes remplis de trous. Les locaux sont moins accueillant ici, mais c'est compréhensible quand tu considere toute la construction qui est en cours, pour accueillir encore plus de touristes et donc envahir leur monde presque pas touché par le tourisme. En parlant à un balinais qui tient un internet café pas loin de notre hotel, j'ai compris que la plupart des habitants n'ont meme pas quitté l'isle. J'ai l'impression en parlant avec eux que leurs enfants n'ont pas de reves d'université ni de grosse voiture ou d'épouser une top modele, ce sont des personnes simples mais genereuses et qui je pense, ont beaucoup de mal à nous comprendre.....

En parlant de reves, j'ai accompli un des miens en arrivant sur cette isle......passer mon licence de plongée. (open water dive certificate)
La vie aquatic est magnifique ici, l'eau étant riche en nutriments et la temperature n'étant pas comme en Bretagne.... le corail vit très bien et récompense chaque plongeur avec ses couleurs et sa taille gigantesque. Les poissons sont obligés d'être aussi beaux que leurs environs et c'est comme un défilé de mode en dessous la surface! Turquoise, jaune fluo, vert, noir, orange.... patchwork, volants, rayures, bariolé.... Karl Lagerfeld en serait fier!

L'équipement de plongée est lourde et te rendre maladroite, mais sous l'eau, tu deviens agile et leger. Tu oublies le masque, le profondeur, la surface qui s'éloigne et tu respire sous l'eau.... C'est une sensation extrodinaire de respirer sous l'eau et lorsque tu dérives avec le courant, ton cerveau essaie de tout memoriser... Les poisons qui se frottent à toi, la pression de l'eau, la grandeur du corail, la distance de la surface, l'ombres des bateaux qui passent au desus, la silence.....

Restez fidele au blog mes amis.....je vous ecrirai bientot

Merci et Bonne nuit

XXX

Scuba Diving : Open Water Course

It feels strange the first time. Your mask. Your awkward gear, extremely heavy. You ease into the water and your face slips below the surface. Inhale. The air comes rushing with a reassuring hiss. Your breathing underwater. In a moment you forget your mask. Your equiptment transforms to light and agile. With that first underwater breath, the door opens to a different world, not a world apart, but very different nonetheless.

Go through that door, your life will never be the same.

If you seek adventure, you'll find plenty, whether it's a sunken ship as you uncover it's secrets or in a far corner of the world amid other people and cultures.

No other environment that i have seen, approaches the abundance, diversity and vibrance of a pristine coral reef.

Fact: We know the surface of the moon better than we know the bottom of the oceans.......

During my open water dives, i was with 2 italiens (we later had dinner with them...) and une francaise ..... such a laugh! Our first dive was at a spot that had quite alot of current, me and David (the italien) got taken with the current and we were down at 28 m when our limit was 18......!  Abit dangerous.....! The aquatic life is even more amazing the further down you go... Once you pass the warm layer, you enter into the cold layer where your vision is perfect and we saw amoung others, snake fish, puffer fish, trumpet fish, "Nemo" (yes real ones!!!), and unicorn fish! Turquoise, green, fluorecent yellow, black......The coral was beautiful too, huge shells, giagantic features where fish drifted in and out. It really is an experience worth saving up for, the feeling to be able to swim amoung these beauties is out of this world.

Now that i have my license, i am looking forward to diving in Oz and New Zealand.....   The Barrier Reef here i come! 

360 sur dream beach......

From 'Dream Beach' with love

What's really in your icecream?

Next time your eating a creamy Magnum, think about the sea harvesters here in Nusa Lembongan. They extract from the seaweed that they loyally collect, the Carragheen, an emulsifier used to thicken icecreams, cheese and many other milk products. They also replace the fat in food used for diets.

In Lembongan, 80% of the population work cultivating the algue (only 5% for tourism) which makes it the pricipal industry on the island. Reasonably lucrative, this industry answers to intensive work, and is generally done by women. (Fact: Women work harder!)

As you walk through the villages, you'll see, and smell, the vaste communal spaces devoted to drying the algue. In the water you can distinguish the patchwork of plantations. The growth is rapid and the locals can harvest the new algue aproxamativly every 45 days. This region is particulaly sucessful due to it's shallow waters, rich in nutrition. The dried red and green seaweed is exported all over the world.

So next time your slurping down that yoghurt or slobbering on that Magnum icecream double caramel..... think about these men and women hauling seaweed in wicker baskets and untangling lines, in the sweltering heat....

Mangrove Forest

(No sorry girls.. this is not a forest where Men grow....i checked!)

This forest north east of the island, is vital for filtering the water that is of constant demand on the island. You can get a 30 min trip in a punt boat with one of the locals, that takes you into the depths of this strange, but beautiful forest. As you enter you feel almost chlostophobic with the density of the trees and their roots, which grow tangled among each other. (you ask yourself HOW they keep the boat path clear??) We asked about the wildlife, but our guide, not speaking much english, preffered to just point out creatures as we crossed them. Lots and Lots of crabs......black slimy ones crawling up the roots, an exquisite blue fisherbird and a huge iguana sleeping on a branch above our heads. As we passed underneath i prayed that he did not decide, all of a sudden, to become a suicide bomber .....

Surf Boat Photography

Today, we hired a local boat to take us to "Shipwreck", one of the reputed surf spots, and as the sun set, i took photos of Yann surfing. Unfortunatly the waves were a bit too small but it was great to sit on the front of the boat, the feet dangling in the water, taking photos! The coral was only a couple of meters underneath me which was amazing .... although for Yann, as you can imagine, the coral being several meters beneath wasn't so fun!!

Moto Go Go

We have hired a little motobike to get round the island, the roads are generally in good nick but you'll find the odd one (specially to the beaches) that are cracked, holy, and nearly impossible to drive through....Excitingly dangerous, especially if the frenchman your with takes the corners like a maaaad man! (Guess who drove back home!)

Nusa Lembogan

I have found heaven on earth....

Let me describe Lembogan island to you... at say 7pm.... As we sit playing cards on the sandy terrace of our hotel, the sea lapping 2 metres away from our feet, the sound of balinese children playing in the water, one can indulge in the famous sunset of Bali turning orange, then pink, then turquoise. The odd punt boat slowely and silenciously drifting by, the heat is a soft and comfortable temperature and as we sip at our banana juice we realize just how amazing this island is.....Just how far we are away from stress, chores and social claws.....

Here is alot quieter than in Bali, the tourists are few and noone is there to hassle you to buy things....The travelers that one meets on Lembongan are mostly swedish, german or australien, and (nearly) all are interesting and extremely friendly people! We have met alot of people here for the surf and the diving and so we can swap and share the best places and the best restaurants! (Food = V. important!) The locals unfortunatly are only 50% happy to see you, as there work does not depend on tourism they treat you like intruders and it's a shame. However our hotel boys are adorable and jump to any occasion when they can help you or advise on you on the island.