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Published: December 26th 2015
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This blog is a little different as it is based on our 10 day cruise around the Indonesian archipelago. We started in hot and sticky Singapore, joining the Azamara Quest – with just 636 passengers onboard instead of the usual 3,000+ as on the mega-ships. For the first 2 days of the cruise we didn't see any sunshine only torrential rain (well it is the middle of the rainy season)!
Fortunately, on arrival in Semarang (Central Java) the sun was shining with hardly a cloud in the sky. However, it was all very bizarre to be welcomed by a country and western band – complete with cowboy hats - playing the Johnny Cash song 'Ring Of Fire'. We later learned that due to all the volcanoes in the vicinity, the whole area is known as 'The Ring of Fire'. Mystery solved!
It was an early start as the Buddhist temple of Borobudur was a 2 hour drive away. It would have been a much longer journey apart from the fact that we actually had a police escort to speed us on our way. I kid you not. We were preceded for the whole journey by
a police land-cruiser with flashing lights and siren blazing to ensure that the foreign tourist VIP's were not delayed!
Our route was extremely picturesque as Java is a very fertile volcanic island – volcanoes, paddy fields, fruit trees, rubber and coffee plantations dotted the landscape as far as the eye could see.
The vast temple complex of Borobodur was built sometime between the 8
th and 9
th centuries AD. It is quite simply, spectacular: built from two million blocks of stone in the form of a massive symmetrical stupa. There are 504 Buddha statues on six square terraces and three circular ones, all surrounded by beautiful lush countryside. It is reputedly the largest Buddhist temple complex in Asia, if not the world.
One night we were treated to an evening of traditional Indonesian song and dance. The evening began somewhat shakily as a passing lorry somehow fell onto its side whilst turning a corner just metres away from us. The noise it made was, quite literally, like a massive explosion. Luckily no-one was injured - apart from the snoozing driver, of course.
The performance was held in the courtyard
of a beautiful building called 'The House of a Thousand Doors'. We can't vouch for the accuracy of the title, but there certainly were a lot of doors everywhere you looked. A local group of musicians played wailing instruments and the singers sang excruciatingly out of tune – all against an impressive backdrop. The traditional songs were just about bearable, but things took a very serious turn for the worst when they sang a very out of tune and dodgy rendition of the Peter, Paul and Mary classic 'Leaving on a Jet Plane'! The organisers promised us an evening to remember, and we certainly got that.
Our first stop in Bali was the northern port of Ceukan Bawang. A long way from the traditional tourist sights on the south of the island, we had a great day exploring the local countryside; visiting beautiful rice terraces, dramatic local temples and the volcanic black sand beaches of Lovina. At Pura Pulaki temple a monkey jumped out of a tree, almost landing on Andrew's back, but actually landing on a nearby car (David most amused / Andrew not!).
Pura Melanting was memorable for a local ceremony. People
(all decked out in their colourful traditional dress) were praying and being blessed. All very serene, against a dramatic setting in the foothills. Everywhere we went was devoid of tourists and hawkers, which made for a very agreeable experience. Apparently, our cruise ship is the only one expected for the whole year – not so good for the local economy, but great for us.
One of the main reasons for joining this cruise was to visit Komodo Island to see the dragons. From the sea, the island itself looked spookily like the island from Jurassic Park. There are just under 3,000 Komodo dragons in the area, and some grow to nearly 4 metres long and to more than 60 years old. During our 2 hour trek we saw quite a number of dragons and they are indeed impressive beasts – with forked tongues and saliva dripping from their mouths. Although they look quite sedate it is best not to get too near to them as the saliva is laden with nasty bacteria. For their prey once bitten it can take up to 5 days to die! At one point two very large male dragons decided to have
an impromptu fight, and with lots of aggressive hissing involved it was necessary to jump out of the way very quickly. As we were sailing away from Komodo we were joined by a small pod of dolphins jumping in and out of the water. A nice way to end the day.
Our penultimate port of call was Lembar on Lombok. Lombok is very similar to Bali, apart from the fact that Bali is Hindu and Lombok is Muslim. It was another day of temples and paddy fields, with the occasional mosque thrown in. We were fortunate on our journey back to our ship as there was a wedding procession in one of the villages, which meant lots of people in local dress accompanied by loud drums and cymbals – all very colourful.
We finished the cruise at Benoa, in the south of Bali. The day was memorable for our trip to Ulu Watu temple – a stunningly situated temple, dramatically perched on the top of a majestic cliff. All around the temple complex are hundreds of monkeys, and at the entrance to the site it warns people to take off glasses, caps and jewellery.
If only we had heeded the advice!
Foolishly David decided to put down his sunglasses to take a photo, and within seconds a monkey jumped down and whipped them away. Andrew, gallantly, tried to bash the monkey with a big stick but another monkey jumped down and took the cap off his head. The next minute yet another monkey pulled the sunglasses off Andrew's face and then started wearing them! All around people were shouting out suggestions. Finally a local bribed the monkeys with fruit, at which point our possessions were thrown down on the ground (all except David's sunglasses, which had been smashed into several pieces). It was certainly a memorable way to end our Indonesian cruise.
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Greg & June Wilkins
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Hard To Top That!
If the Lads ever come back to California for a visit, I am not sure I can top the police escort. Safe Travels!!!!