"Treasures of Cruising the World" with Bill & Mary Ann: Report # 54 Benoa, Bali, Indonesia February 23, 2016 Tuesday Chance of rain & 86 degrees 68 Pictures Part #1 of 2

Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2016 2:14:40 PM
Subject: Report # 54 Benoa, Bali, Indonesia February 23, 2016 Tuesday Chance of rain & 86 degrees 68 Pictures Part #1 of 2

Report # 54 Benoa, Bali, Indonesia February 23, 2016 Tuesday Chance of rain & 86 degrees Part #1 of 2

The Amsterdam sailed into the port of Benoa, Bali, early this morning. Sometime around 7am. The harbor where we dock is fairly small, with only a few pleasure boats, dinner cruise boats, and ferries are docked. In the old days, we used drop anchor in a bay fairly close to here, then use the tender boats to come ashore. Although it took longer, we liked landing there, because it was a real village. Someplace where we could walk. Benoa is strictly an isolated terminal with no place to go, unless you take a taxi or join a tour. Of course, you could take a walk, but you would eventully end up on a freeway, and no place to walk safely.

For that reason, we chose to stay on the ship today, only visiting the vendor stalls outside the gate. We have been here on many past cruises, so we can tell you what there is to see. Shore excursions offered some trips, which we have done before. If arts and crafts are what you are looking for, there was a five hour tour to Mas and Ubud. Mas is a village where skilled wood carvers make masks, religious figures, and wall decorations. You can even find furniture that has been hand made. Ubud is another village where the artists have galleries and museums. This tour also offered a Barong Dance, a traditional performance portraying good and evil.

Munduk Highlights was 8 1/2hours with a stop at the Sangeh Monkey Forest with towering nutmeg trees. We stopped here last year, and found the macaques really intelligent, but devious. The little ones are cute, but the older male adults can be threatening. You don't want to make eye contact with them when they are sitting on a rock wall. One lady was wearing her glasses on a chain around her neck, and one of those monkeys snatched them. He went straight up one of those nutmeg trees, and would not come down. So much for her glasses, since she had to leave without them. And they were prescription glasses. Ouch.

Historic and scenic Bali takes 9 hours to reach Klungkung Kertagosa, a floating pavilion with a Royal Court of Justice. The outdoor complex has elaborate ceiling murals. Traveling up high into the mountains, you see the very scenic terraced rice fields. At Tenganan, you tour a walled mountain village where the ancient Bali Aga live. They were the original settlers here, and still maintain their pre-Hindu culture.

The most expensive of the tours is Bali Arts and Safari Parks. You visit Ubud, a batik factory, and a safari park where you eat lunch while you view lions and other wild animals while you dine. Afterwards, you tour Taman Safari Park. This is one tour we have not done.

Many of these excursions take you to temples. Besakih is the mother temple of Bali, located 1000 feet high on the slopes of Gunung Agung. There are 23 separate temples there.

Pura Taman Ayun is a temple built in 1634, and has exquisite shrines, while Pura Ulun Danu is a temple of water gardens.

Tanah Lot Temple is one of the most photographed temple on the island. It is located on the shoreline, and is really a house of worship built on a huge rock.

Tirta Empul is a holy spring temple, 1000 years old, built around a sacred spring. The Balinese are extremely devout people, whose everyday lives revolve around prayer and ceremonies. We have seen it close up on one visit, where we watched a procession of brightly dressed locals make their way down a hillside with offerings. We have never seen anything so impressive before.

Once the ship was cleared, we went to the terminal, where many passengers and guests were attempting to go online. Even though the wifi was available for free, too many folks were using it, jamming the system. The welcome groups were nice though. We had six traditionally-dressed Balinese dancers entertaining the in transit passengers. On closer inspection, we realized these girls were quite young, perhaps in their teens. Under one of the tents, was a gamelon orchestra with xylophones, gongs, flutes, and drums. It is not the type of music we are used to, but mesmerizing anyway.

Once you went through the gate, you had to negotiate your way to the stalls where the locals were selling their souvenirs. There were tables full of jewelry, hand bags, wallets, watches, and clothing of all kinds. Wood carving were abundant, as well as wayang puppets, and piles of batik fabric. We have at least one of everything. But we still seemed to end up with 20 postcards, a bamboo fan, and two bracelets for $10. We could have ended up with more, but truthfully, we already have many of these items at home. There is still a stash at home of batik fabrics waiting to be turned into clothing when one of us gets the time to sew.

Also through the same gate, were dozens of local taxi drivers trying to get people to utilize their services. And we don't mean gently. Hard to convince them you don't need a ride anywhere. For that reason, we did not linger too long outside. Besides, it was hotter than you can imagine, and we were literally melting on the spot. And it was only 10:30am. It would only get hotter.

We had the best time once back onboard, since we found that many of our good friends were also "at home" today. Meeting up in the Lido, we visited with Bill and Leta, and eventually ate pizza with Barb, who was having an early lunch. We had a surprise visit from our waiter, Fin, from last year's world cruise. Unknown to us, he had joined the ship while we were in Sydney, and had been working in the Lido for lunch and dinner. He even remembered all of our names, which never ceases to amaze us.

Many of the families of the officers and staff had come onboard today. Although many of them were being entertained on A deck, several groups were being escorted around the ship. It was nice to see all of the little kids reunite with their parents, even if it was just for the day. Our room stewards also had visitors, so we told them in person not to clean our room today. All we needed were clean towels, and we would be fine. On the other hand, some passengers feel the need to post their permission to skip their daily cleaning service on their doors for all to see. As far as we know, that is not necessary for the stewards to get a day pass. This is a practice that has started on past cruises, and seems to increase every year. There will be two more ports where this will take place….one in Semarang, and the other in Jakarta. Then we will be off to Hong Kong, and the end of another segment.

Sometime around 3:30pm, we went outside to get some photos of the surrounding scenery. A group of fishermen had literally walked out into the bay at low tide, and proceeded to fish with long poles. Had to get some pictures of that, since it was so odd to see. Getting close-ups, we realize that most of them were women. Shortly after we got out on deck nine, it began to sprinkle. That led to "car wash" rain, as Bob would say. Watching from the stateroom window, we discovered that the fisherpeople never left their stands. The rain was so hard that we could barely see these people standing in the water. Would you believe that this group never left until the sun went down? It must have been, catch fish, or don't eat.

The sail away party was cancelled on the aft deck, and transferred to the Crows Nest. We went back there anyway, because the rain let up by 6pm. Many buses were late in getting back from their all day tours, and the fact that the tide was out, and we only had a few feet of water under the keel, our departure was delayed until 7pm. Chatting with friends, we watched the sun set while hearing a local mosque play the prayer call. A number of the locals are obviously Muslim.

By the way, the Princeton tailors have joined the ship. On past trips, we have used their services and found them to be experts in suit and shirt-making. Last year, the ship did not stop in Hong Kong, so they did not come onboard. They will be here until March 2^nd, and have their orders done by the time we get there. Tomorrow, they will begin their sales in the Atrium on deck five. We'll have to check out their fabrics and designs when we go there.

Dinner for us was in the Pinnacle Grill tonight. We had crab cakes and a shrimp cocktail to start. Entrees were the delicious lamb chops and a filet mignon…..both equally excellent. Since it had been such a busy long day, the restaurant was not busy. Earlier, walking through the Lido, we found it to be full of tired diners who chose not to dress up tonight.

The show this evening was a Spanish guitarist by the name of Vincenzo, who promised to deliver a memorable and unique performance.

We have a day at sea to rest up for the next two Indonesian ports. And to get us on Java time, the clocks went back again one hour tonight. Great….need the sleep.

Bill & Mary Ann

Boats in Benoa Harbor