Padang Bai, Bali

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Padang Bai, Bali

Some people find themselves between a rock and a hard place, but we find ourselves between Cyclone Nicholas off the coast of Australia, a 7.6 strength earthquake off Sumatra, and a missile to be shot from the pacific near Hawaii at a wayward satellite that may drop toxic fuel in some remote place. What is one to do? Head for Brunei, that’s what. But first, I think I have time to tell you about our day in Bali on Feb. 19th.

Many of the crew on the ship are from Bali, and they were able to get off the ship or bring their families onboard for a short time when we were there. Our cabin boy asked if we could allow him to make up our room early so he could see his wife and small son whom he hadn’t seen for almost a year. Of course we did, and he was a most happy fellow when we saw him later. One of our waiters introduced us to his family as they were leaving. The morale definitely rose for those who saw family. The Philippines is another port where crew members are from, and we will be there before too much longer.

We anchored off the coast and tendered into port - about a ten minute ride. The day was warm and overcast and very humid, much like a summer’s day in So. Florida. We took an air conditioned bus to the site of the Barong dance we were to see before going on to the wood carving and art galleries. We passed many, many rice paddies and healthy vegetable crops as Bali is a very wet country, and this is their monsoon season. We were lucky it didn’t rain all day. We went to an out door theater for the performance, and were entertained by beautiful (and handsome) dancers wearing beautiful costumes. We saw a traditional story of good and evil complete with dragons, monkeys, and lions. And of course, good conquered evil and everyone lived happily ever after.

Then it was on to see the famous wood carvers and carvings. They are absolutely incredible! We saw huge figures intricately carved of ebony and mahogany as well as softer woods. Of course they also had smaller pieces from animals to masks to figures of just about everything. We were able to find a small mask to add to our collection after a not too fierce bargaining session. This was not just a small outfit, but room after room after room of carvings. Most impressive. Then it was on to the painting gallery which was almost as massive. The quality varied, but the quantity went on and on. We did buy two paintings (small) from the artist. He rolled the canvases and supplied a tube to carry them so we will frame them when we return.

The ride back to the ship took us past more farm land and some small villages. The majority of the people here practice the Hindu religion, and have small family shrines or temples in their homes as well as some impressive public temples all over the island. Our guide told us the people were devastated after the bombing that claimed hundreds of lives, many of them Australian tourists. It’s taken a long time to regain the tourist confidence to return here. Just a small minority of the people are Muslim. We were told before leaving the ship that we were to cover our knees and upper arms, and that women’s tops should not be low cut. If we were to enter a temple, women should cover their heads. It was an interesting day, and I can see why people may come here for vacation. There are many hotels on the other side of the island catering to every tourist’s needs.

As we left the bus, we were hounded by sellers of everything from fake watches to carvings to batik materials. We “ran the gauntlet” so to speak, and only bought one piece of material before passing the armed police who, by the way, were all over the place guarding us everywhere we went. So, we headed to the tender and returned to the ship after a good day on Bali. Now, it’s on to Brunei. The Sultan awaits!

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