Accommodation

Accommodation: Homestays or losmens (family-run hotels) are the finer experience. You live right inside the family compound and participate in the life of the family: learn how to make lamak from the grandmother, flute-making from the father, kite-making from the small ones, learn how to cook bebek tutu Ismoked duck) from the mother. The grandfather will take you to the next cockfight and the daughter will show you the shortest way to the market or how to sew a sarung into a skirt. Kuta and Legian don't have a monopoly on the best homestays. Some excellent ones can be found in the villages of Ubud, Peliatan and Penestanan (near Ubud), also in the vicinity of Amlapura, in Singaraja, and even in Denpasar itself. Quite often around Kuta and Legian you'll be approached by locals with offers of a room. These could be good, newly opened and eager to please. You used to be able to stay as a guest in a Balinese house anywhere on the island, but now families are not permitted to put you up as long as there's a hotel or /oomen in the same village; and they're building hotels in all the towns and villages now. Some of the losmens and 'Beach Inns' remind you of old peoples' homes the way the rooms are all set in a row; tourists have no choice but to sit and have breakfast together. Coffee, tea and bananas are of ten included in the room price. Try Balinese-style accommodation (bale); its atap roof keeps your room cool all day.

Nusa Lembongan is situated 12 miles south east of Bali. It is one hour traveling time by boat from Benoa Harbour. This pear shaped island is around 4km long and 2km wide. It is surrounded by a beautiful fringing reef, which hosts a myriad of marine life, The waters are renowned for their abundance of life and great surf breaks. The reef has been declared a marine park by the Indonesian authorities. Not only does the reef support its own Eco-system, but it supports most of the villagers on the island as well. The local people farm seaweed. This seaweed is cultivated, harvested then exported all over the world for use in cosmetics, food stabilizers and medicines. Other sources of income include traditional wooden boat building, farming peanuts, sweet potato, and fishing.Village life is very slow and enchanting. Very few cars and motorbikes are seen on the roads. The people are steeped in tradition, and one could imagine Bali being like this island, thirty years ago.Although the island is small there are many things to do. Fishing, diving, surfing, mangrove exploring, discovering natural fresh water springs, underground cave house exploring, cycling around the island. A visit to the bat caves on a nearby island, or a picnic at dream beach. Try catching mud cabs in the mangrove area at the back of the island. There is something for every one at Nusa Lembongan.