Nusa Penida

Nusa Penida is the wild untamed cousin of Bali. Believed to be home to evil spirits, black magic and the dreaded demon Jero Gede Mecaling. It is the negative balance to the positive equilibrium. It is also a rugged, arid island with hilly interior and spectacular vertical cliffs on its south side. These reasons along with the lure of other party islands reduce the traffic of foreign travellers. Most only visit briefly through chartered boat rides, primarily to dive alongside Manta Ray and Mola Mola.

On the small port of Padang Bai you have to fend pressing private boat owners who try to sell you rides at a tenfold of a local public ferry ticket. Information asymmetry plays havoc in Indonesia, lack of knowledge costs money. Asking for directions at the private boat pier the gang informs us nonchalantly that the public boat is broken, in fact it was running smoothly just 500m to the right.

Oftentimes you are perceived simply as a walking wallet (obviously there are exceptions to this rule) to be foreign means to be rich (true, comparatively most tourists are). But there is a backlash of supply that exceeds demand, at least in slow months, there are so many vendors, small businesses, stalls, kiosks, home stays and boats that it is impossible to accept every offer. If we did we would need a truck to carry the mountains of sarongs, food, coconuts, jewelry etc. But as a vendor replied to Yana “You have to share the money”. Another after my decline to take his private bus and learning my origin stated the prophetic “Yunani, no money”. Haggling is the norm and it takes skill, patience, time and ideally spoken Indonesian to bridge the tourist vs local price gap.

There is a good rule of thumb to assess water quality when you arrive at an island, how the water looks at the port. In Penida we are greeted with sparkling Turquoise Blue directly at the point of anchoring. The island has two main villages on the Northern part: Sampalan (Hinduistic), the main port and Toyapakeh (Muslim). The distances and remoteness of internal roads favor the use of rented scooters, the transportation of choice along Indonesians. Renting a scooter we start the hunt for the elusive Atuh beach on the South side of the island, a wrong turn and the shaky path gives way to vertical drops and the never-ending ocean. On this dead end another scooter appears with a man and his young son, they park smile and disappear with fishing equipment behind some bushes.

We follow them hopeful for a path that would lead close to the water but end up on a clear rock high above. The dad methodically prepares his tools, a spool of thick plastic line (telephone wire thickness), he ties it to a tree for support and proceeds to attach a makeshift floater out of an emptied coconut. He then reveals a big fish that is secured to a palm sized hook. Unfortunately baked by the midday sun we don’t stay long enough to find who would be the recipient of such a bait. Judging by the size, it could only be destined for a shark, swordfish, tuna, barracuda??

Clear water at the port in Sampalan.

“Excuse me, where is the way to the beach?” (in sign language).

Inland roads, be careful of ripe coconuts.

Bait for a king.

A moment (and a cigarette) of contemplation before the hunt.

Cold, refreshing sweat.

Embarking the Mola Mola express back to Bali.

Sunset at Crystal Bay beach.

Hijacking a hammock, free-camping at Crystal Bay.

Cliffs on the South part of Penida.

To dive or not to dive, that is the question.

Sea side coffee shop, Es kopi (iced coffee) with the best view.

High tide on Atuh beach.

Free camping no2 / Atuh beach.

Presents of the tide.

Sprinkle a few coconut trees and voila a majestic tropical beach.

I would not expect this to survive an oceanic journey intact, much less to procreate.

Plastic things that got washed up on the shore, a sad reminder of our throwaway culture.

Wild tropical beach dogs, the true vagabond spirits.

Rooster, an Indonesian man’s best friend (if he wins the battle).

“Too cool to school” front passenger on the ferry.