BEAUTIFUL BALI

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February 16th 2015

Published: February 18th 2015

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Kevin and Susan

BALI BEAUTY

It takes three days to cruise from Australia to Bali, so it is a great time to get caught up with blogs, emails and socializing. On this segment we had some very interesting guest speakers. John Stainton was the manager and friend of Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter. He had many personal insights into the man and the celebrity. One night at dinner he told us about a film he made with Steve and his family which featured all of the Midwestern National Parks from North Dakota to Texas. They rented an RV and drove through the heartland of America. One night at dinner John told us that a favorite of his was the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Another speaker was General Michael Hayden. He was the director of the CIA from 2006-9 and was the highest-ranking intelligence officer in the armed forces. His lectures dealt with current security issues facing the United States and the world. Kevin arranged a lunch with Michael and his wife Jeanine along with our Cruise Specialists guests, Jim and Lora and us. Being great Pittsburgh Steeler fans both couples reminisced about the glory years of the team. We also talked about the General’s

LUNCH WITH MIKE

General Michael Hayden and Jeanine had a good chat over lunch with Jim and Lora. They are all big Pittsburg Steeler fans.

various postings throughout the world over the course of his career. General Hayden, who is now a security consultant said that his business has greatly increased since the Snowden revelations.

On previous voyages, Captain Dag would say that the world cruise begins after Australia. This is when we leave the familiar and enter the exotic and unique destinations, like Bali. Along with Steve and Karolyn we hired a private van to take us exploring. This Hindu paradise is the land of rice and temples…thousands and thousands of temples. Our Balinese guide was recommended by friends. Bina worked for Holland America Cruises for many years and has a great command of English and a nice van for touring. Karolyn gave him some suggestions and off we went from the port into the back roads of Bali. We wanted to see some local handicrafts and so Bina took us first to a silversmith who creates beautiful pieces using a foot pump to power his blowtorch for melting the silver and copper. After that he showed us the rest of his home complete with a private temple (which most houses have) and a very basic kitchen and his prize cock-fighting bird in

STATUES...AND MORE

The sheer number of statues is overwhelming

its woven basket.

We also stopped at a batik workshop, a wood carving studio and a painting gallery. The road sides are lined with statuary of Hindu gods and goddesses, bamboo and teak furniture and glass sculpture displays. It seems that Bali is one big art gallery. Wherever there are not handicraft shops there are temples.

Ubud is the bustling mountain town that is surrounded by the monkey forest and rice paddies. There are the usual number of tourist shops and a wide variety of restaurants with amazingly low prices. Tourism suffered greatly by the economic downturn and the Bali bombings a decade ago. But it is on the rebound, especially after the commercial success of the movie and book, “Eat Pray Love.”

Most Balinese go to temple daily. It is an integral part of everyday life. I read that maintaining harmony is the life work of every Balinese person. We stopped at a beautiful temple and were given the requisite sarongs as we entered this peaceful haven. Harmony is easy to find on beautiful Bali.

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