The first motorbike has just kicked to life outside of our guest house. The only other sign of life is the crowing of roosters, thankfully drowned out by the waves lapping against the beach just off our balcony. It's only 5am, and the sky hasn't lightened yet, but the utter confusion of our internal clocks makes it as good a time as any to get up.

We took off from San Francisco in the middle of Wednesday night and arrived Friday afternoon - Thursday was swallowed by the international date line . Our long-anticipated arrival was somewhat marred; as the island rushed up to meet us, I grabbed my bag to take a photo and realized that my (pretty expensive) camera had somehow not made the trip from Taipei after I took it out on our layover. So I had an early opportunity to practice that difficult art of letting go of my stuff. I can only be thankful that it happened now, with only a few photos on the memory card, and that it wasn't my passport. Bali is pretty developed so I think I can buy a decent camera, as financially painful as that may be, and in the meantime I can take photos with my phone.

Our first destination was Nusa Lembongan, a small island off the coast of Bali, and the ferry ticket included an airport pick-up. Our driver, who like every other Indonesian man was named Wayan, had the pleasure of participating in our first-ever real-live conversation in Indonesian. "Pleasure" is, of course, a joke, since it takes us several minutes to formulate a simple sentence like, "how many people live on the island?" But Wayan was very patient and Shen and I were thrilled to find that our Indonesian studies are paying off already . It was also fun to see signs that we could read - somehow the language never seemed real when I studied it from my living room, but there it was in front of me, giving actual information about actual businesses and activities. Cool.

Our speedboat ferry to the island lasted about 30 minutes, and we arrived just as the sun was setting. We had booked a guesthouse in advance so we would have a place to land, and we even sprang for the $30 room with the balcony and the "Outdoor Bed for Relax," as the owner phrased it. Such a good idea! The balcony juts out just a few feet from the shoreline, and the sunset was perfectly framed by the plumeria trees blooming between us and the ocean. It was really the perfect place to put down our bags and appreciate the end of our 25+ hour journey.

We walked around town for a bit before settling in to dinner at a warung, the term for a small local restaurant. We ordered entirely in Indonesian (hooray!) and had our first delicious Indonesian curry .

I can't say a lot about the town, since we only spent an hour or so exploring it, but a few first impressions: According to Wayan, the island has only ten cars for a population of 5,000, so the narrow streets are instead clogged with speeding motorbikes. There are no sidewalks, so a stroll down the street requires vigilance. The air is smoky, probably a mix of exhaust, cooking fires, incense, and maybe burning trash. The most striking characteristic is the ubiquitous presence of temples, or at least buildings and homes that look to our eyes like temples. Many buildings have ornate facades and delicately carved arches and entryways, with strange stone or wood creatures and figures standing guard. Every building is infused with artistry - even our little guesthouse has intricately carved wooden doorways and window frames and a beautifully landscaped courtyard. Walking around at dusk, we saw people placing incense outside many of the buildings.

After dinner we decided to chill out in the Outdoor Bed for Relax ...and there we stayed until 5am. For the next two days we'll just recover from the flight, get to know the island, hang out on the balcony, and hopefully eat a lot of papaya. We'll warm up our Indonesian muscles before throwing it into high gear in our language classes Monday morning.

This trip is really special for a number of reasons. It's our first long-term travel experience together, it's our first time to Indonesia, and it's a celebration of the start of our happy life together as a married couple. It's been forefront in my mind, though, that this trip is possible because of all of our friends and family who gave us wedding gifts like our flight, our language guides, our ferry ride, and the many adventures that are yet to come. I feel like we're bringing everyone along with us, thinking of our amazing support network in every little adventure. Thanks, guys!