To The Islands

We chartered a boat and went out to sea. The grey skies in the morning morning held steady and soon broke out into brilliant sunshine for the day.

I was adamant in not wanting to hit the tourist spots in Nusa Lembongan. Ceningan and Nusa Penida were my interests. I gave strict instructions about lunching on land at a local village warung with local food, not at one of those beach clubs where the tour companies made tourists stay for the day and the cafe served tasteless pasta.

The sea was surprisingly choppy. For the second time in my life, I was violently seasick. The Royal Merlion happened, thrice. I over-ate at breakfast and the 1-hour journey to the harbor wasn't sufficient to digest it all. 45 minutes after leaving the harbor, I turned green and broke out in cold sweat trying to quell that weird feeling in the pit of the stomach. It was too late to take any motion sickness pills. Then I said, sod it, and stood up. The stomach protested and hurled up all its contents, again and again and again, all the way till I plopped into the sea with flippers and mask for much needed relief. I very much preferred bobbing in the water. Even as I type this, I still remember that gut-wrenching puking reflex. Eiowww.

The day was spent snorkelling (for the man) and a spot of light diving (for me! :p) It was simply another way to work out the muscles in the most fascinating of setting. Unlike the expanding ring of dead corals at Lembongan's front beach, there was teeming marine life at these smaller islands. There was good marine activity at Lembongan, but the waters were murky and full of sediments due to the proximity to the beach and strong waves coming in. The small islands were more pleasant and brought me much cheer, but not in the sunshine way of Thailand's clearer waters. News of oil spills all over the world were depressing.

On the way back, even though there was a good wind sending us along, the sea wasn't so choppy. The stomach didn't act up. I could even grab a bottle of sparkling wine and chill out on the top deck to see the great blue and the striking hues of sunset descend upon the island.