The beaches of Padang Bai

May 5 & 6, 2018
We of course had the Padang Bai beach right outside our front door. It wasn't the best one to just hang out on since it was kind of a working beach. All filled with funny little water skimmer boats.

There was also a ferry dock that had horns blaring at every hour of the day and night as boats came and went.

Each day after diving we had the afternoon free to spend as we wished. In several cases this meant visiting a nearby beach.

The view from the hill back down to the beach

The first one we went to, Blue Lagoon beach was just up the hill at the end of the main road in town and down the other side.

It was a coral beach instead of sand once the waves started, so a little rougher walking to get out into the water. We stayed dry at this one.

There were some food stalls up along the hill behind the beach

Coral toes

The next day we journeyed to the beach to the south, Bias Tugel.  It involved a bit of a hike along a dirt road leading out of town.

15 minutes later we found our way to the water in a beautiful little cove.

It was beautiful sand and nice waves, so Shay of course dove in.

Too cute of a picture not to capture

I had myself a beer on the sand and just watched her swim.

Bintang is the big local beer

There was a constant stream of boats and ferrys leaving from the Padang Bai docks headed for the Gili Islands and Lombok to the east.

We were treated to a lovely sunset back over the trees

And had a selfie evolution happen.

And I'll finish with a plea to anyone reading to please cut down on your plastic use. The beaches of the PNW don't have the currents that bring sea trash to them, but these beaches do, and it's a huge problem.

Shay and I did 20 minutes of beach cleanup, and picked up countless plastic cups, straws, disposable forks and spoons and other trash.

Just like taking a reusable bag to the grocery store is a learned habit, asking for no straw in your drink can be one too. Or carrying a spoon in your bag so you don't need to use a plastic one. Take your own mug for coffee. You may think you're only one person, but it still makes a difference, and maybe others will follow your example.

Sidemen: Rhapsody in Green

May 7, 2018

One of the places we went diving was a site just out from the Padang Bai beach, so we got back in much earlier than other days. We decided it was the perfect opportunity to explore a little farther from town, our destination was Sidemen (see-da-min)

We found a taxi driver on the street outside the hotel, and he turned out to be a wonderful guide.

Made suggested we stop first at a farm along the way. What could have been a hustle was actually a neat little tour with a bunch of different teas and coffees to try.

The full panoply of tea and coffee options

We saw fresh lemongrass, vanilla plants, dragonfruit, and ginger plants.

Vanilla plant

Dragonfruit

Ginger. Who knew?

There was also a giant swing

And a bat that liked eating papaya.

He completely stuffed his cheeks

After making a couple tea purchases, we continued on our way to Sidemen.

Made stopped several times along the way for us to hop out and get some pictures, since the views were amazing.

Rice terrace selfie

Once we arrived in Sidemen, he parked the car and we walked along the road enjoying the views.

I love these pine tree type trees, they have the coolest silhouette 

Not only rice terraces, we walked past corn too

And chili peppers 

There was a pretty water lilly pond just hanging out in the middle of a field 

Everything is incredibly green.

With this road what could we do but yoga

Downward dog for the win

We headed home before it got dark, and caught the sunset over the rice terraces. Again, Made was wonderfully accommodating, but my camera doesn't capture the colors very well.

And to put a cherry on top of the day, we stopped at Pura Goa Lawah on the way back, a bat temple.

We arrived just in time to watch thousands of bats pour out of the mouth of the cave.

Maybe you can see them all hanging on the bottom of the cave roof. Maybe not.

Nighttime photos of flying things don't usually work well, but all the blurs in the sky are bats

It was a fantastic end to a great day.