Bali

 Early this morning we were cruising along the coast of Bali. It's a nice day with a good view of the mountains and beaches. Quite a few surfers out this morning. The approach to Benoa Harbour is tricky, as there are lots of shoals and the entrance is narrow. It took some maneuvering! We were tied up to the dock earlier than our scheduled time of 10am. 

I had been to Bali before about 30 years ago. A lot has changed, and not for the better in my opinion. The city of Denpasar keeps spreading, there are more and more hotels, restaurants, shops, and tourist attractions. And the infrastructure hasn't kept up. 

We had arranged a private tour of the Ubud area today. Traffic was gridlocked for most of the way. It took over an 1 1/2 hours to drive the 40 km to our first stop, probably double the time of a good day. But looking at the traffic I wonder how often there is a good day! The roads are very narrow, no shoulder and not designed for the tour buses and amount of traffic. As in most of Asia most of the locals are on motor scooters, and they weave in and out in the most alarming way!

Our first stop was at a batik store that demonstrated how batik is made. They had some really lovely things, and Karen and I both made purchases. I'm pretty restrained in my shopping these days, I don't think I need much. Then on to the Silver filagree shop. Karen bought, but it's not my thing. We then drove through some more rural areas with rice fields that are being harvested. But more and fields are being developed for tourism. 

Next stop was a coffee plantation, very lush and tropical. They make various kinds of coffee from regular Bali coffee to Lewak (where the coffee beans pass through an animal that looks something like a racoon) and also flavoured coffee with avocado, coconut, vanilla or cocoa. The avocado coffee was my favorite!

We then drove through more rural roads to Tegenungan Waterfall. Its a lovely sight, but of course is now quite developed with lots of shops, hotels, clubs and a glass bottom suspension bridge.

Our last stop was at a Hindu temple. There are temples everywhere in Bali, but not all are open for tourists. We all had to wear a sari, and the guys a head covering. The carvings and stonework are beautiful, and very intricate. The priest or guide that took us around was determined to tell us everything about the temple, we would have been happy with much less. I did enjoy wandering around and looking at everything.

The drive back to the ship was much better. There was still a lot of traffic, but moving better. We got back to the ship about 5pm and went right to dinner. We had opted to miss lunch so were hungry! Indonesian chicken coconut soup, and Kingfish with a teriyaki type sauce. Both very good.

This evening there was a Balinese Dance performance in the Show lounge. Beautiful costumes, and an interesting dance style emphasizing the tilt of the head, the hands and fingers, and the eyes. Really worth seeing.