Falls and sand

We woke in Alegrio to a view of beautiful clear sea upon a stone shore, with such clarity of the stones below it was clear the waters were pristinely clean. Our accomodation is a travellers lodge and is built on stilts over the sea. It is on the outskirts of Alegria and Alegria is on the outskirts of a touristy part of the island, where many people flock to swim with whale sharks. We had decided not to join this crowd due to the ethical and environmental implications of the trade,but we were here to enjoy the natural beauty of the land instead.

Yesterday we started, with recommendation from people we met when diving, to visit Kawasaki Falls- a series of beautiful waterfalls within the jungle. However they are far from being a secret and they have been built around with restaurants and canyoning tourism, so some of the nature beauty is distorted. Thankfully, due to the laziness of many tourists, we found a quieter, more beautiful part to swim in. The higher you went the quieter it got, and these seemed to be neverending waterfalls! The water was a stunning shade of turquoise and the foliage around was thick tropical jungle. The water was so fresh, it was very refreshing.

We spent a couple of hours here and then we headed to Langbog beach, about 15km north on the coast. I expected the beach to be built up and comercialised, because I knew it was one of the beautiful spots of the island. However I was refreshingly surprised by the rustic untouched feel of the place. Although there were some resorts and restaurants they were wooden, shanty style and incredibly basic places. It felt like a real Asian beach, not one built for tourists. The beach was a beautiful white sand, lined with palm trees and the water was crystal clear turquoise, slowly becoming deep blue. I took a walk into the sea, which was warm like a bath and I could walk for so long before it even began to get remotely deep. Once far out I could see a backdrop of spectacular bouncy looking hills-the formation here is like the Teletubbie land of round bounds of hill upon round bound of hill. It is something I have not seen before and a spectaular backdrop.

After a couple of hours relaxing in the sun we took a walk, to head back toward our place. We walked a beautiful road that took us past homestay, renovations in progress, a golf course and some farmland. It was tropical, functional, lushious and untouched. Quite amazing that such a beautiful beach has retained its’ natural surroundings, within the local culture.

We stopped for a coconut before boarding a bus that can only be described as full like Asia. We managed to squeeze into the doorway and as people got off we had to disembark so that they could, and then we would squeeze back on. Depending on the angle you were squeezed a different aroma would greet you. I managed to squeeze into a chair at one point, but now being lowered to armpit level wasn't necessarily an upgrade!

Then after sunset beers very the sea at our place, we walked up to a restaurant on the seafront. It had become quite apparent that I wasn't going to survive here as a vegetarian and when I saw this menu this was completely confirmed. There is literally no option, other than chips that doesn't contain meat. Even their rice or the one vegetable dish they serve, comes with meat in! So I decided if I need to eat I may as well eat what I enjoy and so seafood has become my dietary choice. We ordered the vegetables and rice to come without mest, but when they acme the vegatablea were tinned veggies and so I knew I was right to have chosen some fish, because everything else would disapoint me. The rest of the food was delicious, we enjoyed sizzling prawns, calamari and sweet and sour fish. I ordered sweetcorn soup and when it arrived it was a huge bowl, big enough for about 8 people, but clearly made out of tinned ingredients. Vegetables don't seem to feature in the diet here, it's not even that I struggle to eat vegetarian protein-they just eat nothing but meat and rice/noodle. Nevertheless I enjoyed the meal, but I have already spent 2 days talking about cravings of fresh fruit and vegetables, so it could be a long month ahead for my patient stomach!Meer informatie