Indonesia

After Lombok, we were deciding between going to Komodo islands or going to the Nusa islands near Bali. The 4 day Komodo island boat tour looked really nice, but it's really expensive, and we'd also have to pay for transport back to mainland bali to catch our next flight to Vietnam. So we decided to go to Nusa Lombongan for 3 nights and then Nusa Penida for another 3 nights.

Nusa Lombongan is the smaller of the two, which was nice as it means that driving anywhere is quick. There's loads of cool spots to explore on the island and a really good variety of food options in a small area. Prices are a bit higher than mainland Bali but still relatively cheap. We went on a snorkelling tour a few days ago which was amazing, easily the best snorkeling I've ever done (although I've not done much). Saw thousands of fish and really colourful coral in crystal clear blue water. We moved spots a couple of times and ended up at Manta Point, where you can free dive and swim with the Manta Rays. We saw three or four and they were absolutely massive, way bigger than I expected. They have a wingspan of up to 7 metres which is crazy, they are like dinosaurs. I was swimming down underwater and swimming alongside them. Very majestic animals and completely harmless. Was a really good experience and makes me want to do more snorkeling and try diving!

We also went to a temple within a huge cave in a mountain where we watched the ceremony and were then blessed by the priest which involved drinking holy water and having rice put on our head. We were the only westerners who were blessed!

We spent the rest of our time exploring the island on our scooter, loads of amazing beaches and limestone cliffs. Some really nice sunsets too! We were staying in a very sociable hostel so was nice meeting some new people (including a 62 year old american solo travelling woman who quit her job from microsoft to travel). I can only upload 10 photos now which isn't enough to show everything but have uploaded some of the best!

Indoensia is my favourite country so far, amazing nature from beaches to mountains, great weather (although sometimes too hot), cheap and tasty food. Only part I wasn't a fan of was the very frequent mosque chanting/signing, which is blasted on big speakers at various points of the day for 30 minutes or more at time. However this was only an issue on Lombok since that is a predominantly Muslim island, whereas Bali and surroudning islands are predominantly Hindi.

We have watched epsidoe one of race across the world so far in Japan, looking forward to seeing what they make of Indonesia!Read more