When you want to visit Nusa Penida, you have to go to Sanur harbor on Bali. When I arrive there in the morning, it was quite chaotic and a sense of hectic was in the air. As I don’t want to wait for a long time, I take the first opportunity to get a ticket – the charge was 400.000 IDR. A guide helped me to transport my luggage to the pier where the boats are already waiting to head off. I had to climb down the stones at the pier and then walk through the water to reach the boat. The water was hard to identify as water, as the color was dark grey with an oily surface and strong smell. As the water touch my skin, it directly felt itchy. I don’t know exactly the reason for the pollution but I guess it is petrol and oil that comes from the number of boats that frequent the harbor. On the land side, you see the very typical image of Asian countries – a lot of trash on the ground and in the water. I urgently hoped that there will be a different image on Nusa Penia. Once again I felt so sorry for Bali. There are so many souls that are depending on the income from the tourist business, but I guess if there will not be a change in how the country is treated, the number of tourists will rapidly go down.
The journey by boat takes about 40min to reach Nusa Penida and on the way, you will pass Nusa Lembongan. Nusa Lembongan looks from the seaside also already very artificial, and not natural anymore. You see a huge amount of Bungalows, Restaurants, Boats and big Resorts on the beach side. I was happy that this is not my destination. On my arrival at Nusa Penida also I see a big construction in front of the harbor, that was stuffed with colorful slides and people who are rushing down into the water. The harbor itself looked pretty empty, surrounded just by some vintage looking buildings. As I had to wait for the person from my accommodation, I head over to a little cafe that was at the pier. The first thing that I noticed was that the connection of my mobile SIM card was nearly not existing. Gladly it was good enough to receive WhatsApp Messages and so I was informed that I’ll be picked up in 20 min.
Made, the owner of Abian House Nusa Penida shows up shortly and excuses himself around 20 times for being late. I in person was very happy because he was 15 min. earlier as I have expected him to be there. Directly I liked him a lot. We packed my luggage in the car and then start the ride to Abian House. Abian House Nusa Penida is located in the north of Nusa Penida, approximately 10min. behind the main village. The accommodation keeps 4 bungalows with a very high-quality equipment. Each bungalow has its own bathroom with toilet and warm water shower, king size bed, tv, and a wardrobe for your clothes. The bungalows are located in a little garden with a very beautiful design. Also in the yard is a little kitchen and a house for the reception, that also contains possibilities for sitting outside below a roof that spends shadow. The kitchen is run by his sister in law, and also his brother is always there if you need something or have a question. Besides the accommodation, the family also offers to book tours on Nusa Penida. For example, you can book a snorkeling trip or a beach tour.
Made informed me that they run the accommodation the first year, and somehow this was visible in a good matter. The whole family put a huge effort into making you feel comfortable and take care of your well-being. The motorbike they hand to me was super good quality and fun to ride. So I directly take the chance to explore a bit from the island and head to south-east in the direction of Athu Beach. I have missed this feeling of riding the motorbike since I left Koh Kood a lot. Even if some you might judge me, but riding the motorbike without a helmet is pure fun and makes you feel like Easy Rider. Just a few moments after starting the drive I found myself in breathtaking views. When you head to the east you head up a mountain, as more further you go as more breathtaking the views will be. A mix of cliffs, green and wild vegetation and the surrounding ocean makes it so beautiful. The island is not over touristic and also you will not find these oversized resorts or hotels, that destroy the natural look of the area. During your way, you pass only little villages. The villages are a mix of temples and original Bali style houses. People are sitting outside in little huts that spend shadow. When you pass they smile at you, lift their hands for greetings or shout hello. Unfortunately, this leads you to smile directly.
As my arrival was at the 12.03 I was lucky to be part of all the ceremonies around the Nyepi day. Nyepi day is comparable to our new year and also known as „silence day“. On Nypie day everywhere is silence. This mean, no electricity, no Internet (even not on mobile), no traffic, no airplanes, no light, stay in the house, be quiet. This year Nypie day was on the 17th of March. So the full week upfront is filled with different events that are related to the Nypie day. One big event is the Ogoo Ogoo Ceremony the evening before the Nypie day. Each village creates one or more Ogoo Ogoo Figures. As the people on Bali believe in that everything in life has two sides, the good side and the bad side, the figures represent the symbol of the bad spirit. On the day of my arrival, near to my accommodation was a big ceremony where all villages come together. They meet on a big field, what you can imagine like an arena. The villages bring their Ogoo Ogoo figures, that have been created during the last six month upfront. The creation of the figures is a place where especially the children of the villages spent time together. The big advantage of this process is to align their ideas of creativity to one big goal. The Ogoo Ogoo figure has to be impressive, colorful and artistic. Then in the arena, the figures will be presented. The figures are connected to a square made out of bamboo, what makes it able to carry the Ogoo Ogoo figures. The bamboo square will be carried by the young men of the village. It is an honor to be one of the people to carry the figure and represent it in the arena. But its hard work, when you imagine that the figures are quite heavy and temperatures in the sunlight are very high. These young men have to be strong and resistant to pass through this whole procession. And also it is a competition for the villages to create the most impressive Ogoo Ogoo figure. The reason for this first ceremony, where the Ogoo Ogoo figures will be presented in a dance is, to select one of the figures as the main figure for the ongoing ceremonies.
The day upfront the Nypie day finally is then the last and most impressive ceremony. The Ogoo Ogoo figures will be carried through the village, surrounded by all people. The Ogoo Ogoo figures make their way up to one end of the village and then back to the other end of the village. The ceremony starts after sunset. All young girls walk in front of the Ogoo Ogoo figures, carrying a self-made torch and give the impression of a vanguard. Followed by a group of musicians who played an up-tempo rhythm, pushing a sound that fills the air with energy. Then the Ogoo Ogoo figures take place, followed by another group of musicians. During the walk, the atmosphere becomes more and hotter. For me in person the walk was breathtaking. I was guided by a man from the village, who uses the time during the walk to explain me some parts of their religion in more detail. I love it the hear this kind of story, so I listen with a huge amount of curiosity.
At the end of the ceremony, when the Ogoo Ogoo figures are on their way back, the dances are going more and wilder. Finally, the dances become so wild, that the figures start to fall apart. People begin to applause and scream. The young men who carried the figures start to attack the figures, instead of guiding them. All ends at the moment when the figure is heavily destroyed. The broken figures will be followed by the whole village, but the upfront sound becomes more silent. Approximately at 23:30 all people start to return home, sitting in small groups outside talking, jump on their motorbikes and look forward to the upcoming silence. It was really a happening, that you didn’t attend each day. I loved it. Thank you so much Nusa Penida for having me there.
The Nypie day itself runs for me in person very quickly and I really enjoyed the silence during the day. As you might imagine, me as a digital person, run the day before in a kind of alarm mode, looking on the upcoming disappearing from the WIFI. In the night of return after the Ogoo Ogoo ceremony, I was frozen while driving the motorbike. My body must have run in a direct protection function and kept me sleeping until 10:30. Unbelievable! As I get up, I run into two very nice guys from Catalan. Both had huge traveling experience was kind of laid back persons. We start talking and minutes later they invited me for joining their self-cooked food, one of them just prepared. This one runs a restaurant in Barcelona and he really put some magick into this meal. This is one of the moments where you feel yourself so blessed and thankful, for this wonderful experiences you make while traveling. People are just nice! As I felt to sleep after the meal, I have to confess that except the nice night sky I have nothing more to report about.
One day I booked a snorkeling trip to the Manta Bay. A few days upfront a video about this point runs through the social streams. In the video you see a diver, that dives through heavily polluted water, full of plastic bags and other trash. People already told me that this super heavy pollution does only appear if streamings from the direction of the north are pushing the water further the island. The only place where I have never seen comparable clear waters was on the Maldives. But there also was trash. Not that amount that you saw in the video, but too much from my point of view. The underwater live at Nusa Penida is very beautiful and also still in a good condition. Even more, I hope that people quickly understand what kind of treasure this is today. Colorful and mysterious the corals enlight their beautiful shine. A variety of fish dance around you, while you explore the region. There is so much to see that you can’t stop watching.
The Manta Ray is from my point of view one of the most impressive and beautiful inhabitants of the ocean. Gigantic and untoppable in their elegance, they sail through the water, running in their circles while feeding. Graceful they move their wings up and down, and it is like an attending of a silent ballet. When they pass your way, close to you it makes you stop breathing. Their faces look full of wisdom and peace, direct to you and you feel that you should have respect. Honestly, I was lucky that day, cause my boat trip started late, to see some Mantas anyway. There was around 4 in the bay and later we met some more. But as there was a bunch of boats in the bay, also a lot of people was in the water. The see was a bit rough and in the water, you had to make your way through trash and jellyfish. My impression was that the Mantas was kind of stressed. Also, I could not imagine how they should avoid eating a bunch of plastic while feeding. It is really not about talking anymore, it is definitely about doing in this days. Otherwise, our grandchildren will not see the beauty of the ocean anymore.
As Christal Bay is the only one that is easy to reach and nice to swim and snorkel, I decided to switch location from Abian House to Krisna Homestay. I landed they’re accidentally heading out for a good WIFI connection. I directly fall in love with the place as I figured out that the sun of the family, was into web development as well. He showed me a Web application that he ha build with is a friend, containing a booking system for the ferry ticket from and two Bali. penidago.com is the web address and I want highly to recommend using the app. The ticket price is solid and not based on the mood of the person you met at the harbor and your own will to make a good deal. The crew of the Krisna Guesthouse is super friendly. The just opened up a little restaurant that is connected to the homestay. I liked the food, even if it was pretty western. The sister of the house borrowed me a traditional dress so that I was propper dressed for taking part at the ceremony, I found flowers on my bed after arrival, and coffee was already finished if I just came down to the restaurant in the morning. The People are just amazing with how much attention and kindness they professionally take care that you be fostered as much as possible.
As to renew my visa was more expensive as to fly to another country and the not very stable WIFI forced me to the decision to leave Nusa Penida. I decided to go to Borneo, as so many people have recommended going there. I booked a flight to KL and from KL to KK (Kota Kinabalu). Then on my last day, I was gifted with a very nice experience. In the morning I talked to Volker who also was a guest in my stay. I persuaded him to spend the day with me. So we jumped on our bikes and drive in direction west, to visit the Christal Bay. We go for snorkeling and this time we take the left side of the bay. Behind all Boats was on an anchor, we found a nice area full of corals where we swam around a while. On our way back from Christal Bay we stopped for lunch at Krisna House. I told Volker about a sign that I have seen a lot of times while driving to Krisna House, but never followed. As he agreed to go with me, we followed the sign in direction of the XXX-bay. (I don’t name it with purpose.). The road quickly changed from solid to more rocky after we left the main road. Passing a few little villages the road becomes tinier and on one point we couldn’t go on by bike. We decided to take a look by feet and was surprised by a man who comes by. The man asks us without English words where to go, and we described our destination. He offered us to guide us and one moment later we found ourselves on a small footpath through a cliff. It was pretty hot and the way slightly but definitely goes down more and more. The last piece of the way was very tiny at the edge of the cliff until we finally reach the desired bay. Except from the three sun of the man who was surfing in the bay, there was just one boat with some people guiding their snorkeling. Beautiful white sand, crystal clear water, waves on the right side and smooth waters on the other side, this bay was simply a dream. The man offers us to catch a coconut for us, climb up the tree and opened minutes later the fresh coconut in an artistically move with his knife for us. I think there is not much more in the world that is so refreshing, energizing and delicious as a fresh coconut. There I sat down in the sand, next to this man, watching the pure beauty of this place and simply felt blessed again. We decided to jump into the water and the scenery that we are jumping into was just amazing. Fissured canyons full of color and live appears in front of us. From shallow to more and deeper water it was the place that my vision from an intact coral reef matches most so far. Simply beautiful and entertaining is this world that we understand so little, with all its shimmering, impressive inhabitants, their social life, and tasks they have to fulfill. I can’t imagine people who don’t understand by pure watching how fragile this world is. Even less I can understand why our world runs as it runs. I should write a history book and name all the great people who are in charge today. So that I will be written down somewhere who was the people in charge that are responsible destroying our planet. Even Mars will not save you! And your money eighter! But to end this story with something cultuEverythingeyting has two sides and stay positive thinking!
