16-March - Monday - Trip to Nusa Lembongan

We left the hotel for the beach and the speed boat trip to Nusa Lembongan. It seemed quiet, but being 10am in the morning, nothing seemed unusual or different from a normal day in Bali. The arrival of the boat with hoards of tourists and suitcases seemed to reconfirm our impression that Bali had escaped the madness and business and daily routines seemed unaffected by COVID-19, but it had to hit us again… Upon boarding the speedboat, we did realise there were only 6 of us “starting” our holiday, versus the masses that had just disembarked. We arrived in Nusa Lembongan to empty streets, vendors of a range of services falling onto each other to offer what-ever we might need. The staff member greeting us ashore indicated the 3000 Chinese tourists coming every day have stopped completely, boat charters have gone bankrupt and the island is severely impacted by the massively reduced number of tourists. The hotel we are staying at is extremely quiet, with maybe 8 guests at most and all personal being extremely attentive, starting with the manager personally introducing himself and chatting to us, something that hasn’t happened to these 2 travelling lads since staying at a luxury hotel in Ubud (where the money spent justified the manager giving us his attention). We are starting our honeymoon and we made a point of not falling into COVID-19 hysteria, knowing we are both healthy & responsible individuals, wanting to enjoy life! We ended our first day of honeymoon with a seafood platter and a view of Mount Agung that could not have been more special or spectacular! This holiday is going to be different, with a focus on seeing things with our own eyes, recording experiences with our brains, connecting with people by talking and laughing together…

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