Bali

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3/25/2007 Bali, Indonesia

Yesterday was the normal but busy day at sea. Again, we attended a pre dinner show in The Athenian Lounge and were treated to a most enjoyable experience. The entertainer, Robert Keane, an Australian pianist, played a complete repertoire of Rodgers and Hammerstein. What added to our pleasure were slides giving the lyrics of each piece as he played them. Rarely do you have this kind of opportunity to see how great each of these two men was at working together. A vocalist is great, particularly a Mary Martin or a Julie Andrews, but being able to read the words as the music was played was a different and an enjoyable experience. By the way the reason these two men were so good-they attended Columbia together.

Volcano and The Shadow
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This morning as we arrived in Bali the sky was overcast but the low clouds with volcano tops rising above them was an inviting scene. The island is famous for its beautiful landscape and a chain of six volcanoes between 5 and ten thousand feet tall. Sallie and I were here one day on a Seabourne cruise from Hong Kong in Jan. of 1997. The thing we remembered the most was the beautiful beaches, dense green foliage, many beautiful flowers and the volcanoes. We also remember visiting The Oberoi Bali Hotel resort which was famous as being one of the best and beautiful resorts in the world. Based on what we saw yesterday, Bali is losing its glitter. So much of the landscape is being trashed by overpopulation and poverty. Yesterday we were the guests of Virtuso for a tour and a special catered lunch at Wantilan, an open walled structure in the courtyard of a temple. The luncheon was catered by The Four Seasons Hotel and served in a most decorated and festive spot. The entertainment by Tirtagari, the professional ensemble from Peliatan performing Balenese dances to native music by a large native group in beautiful costumes saved the day. The other stops on the tour included a wood carving studio and a Batik Factory. Both were interesting but far too much time was spent in hopes that we would all buy something. In between we drove in heavy traffic, lots of motorbikes, and saw rice fields, crowded villages, piled up litter and run down poor housing. We also saw many, many Hindu temples as Bali is very heavy Hindu and signs of offerings were everywhere. However the number of Muslims is steadily increasing through immigration from nearby Java, Lombok and other parts of Indonesia who seek work in Bali. Bali’s economy, besides tourism is based heavily on exports of textiles, garments, and wood products including statues, furniture and other handicrafts. Agricultural products exported include rice, tea, coffee and fish. New free trade regulations will create some problems as exporters have relied on child labor which is now prohibited. Most children here work for their parents, and this process of acquiring skills and an informal education has been important in the Balinese society for centuries.

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The island of Bali includes an area of only 2175 square miles but its population is close to 3.5 million people. Bali is one of 17,000 islands that make up Indonesia. The capital of Indonesia is Jakarta where we experienced the worse traffic and poverty we have ever seen when we were there in 1997. Indonesia has the largest Muslin population in the world with over 250 languages being spoken. It makes you wonder and makes you grateful.

One final comment.; the worse part of the day was walking the 100 yards from the pier to out tour bus and the same on the way back. Despite all kinds of uniformed police being present, the street venders are in your face trying to sell you some handicraft. Even if you were inclined to buy something, you can’t. Any display of interest results in a frenzy by others to try and sell you something. At least they don’t try and pickpocket at the same time as does happen in several large European cities.. Unfortunately, several of the female ship’s waitresses and maids returned to the ship in tears after this experience.

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Sallie and I just came back to the ship mad and determined not to return. We stayed in and had a quiet dinner in our suite. We have to rest up in preparation for two more busy days at sea before Singapore. Before dinner I did go in and see a performance by a dance group that had come aboard to put on a show and say goodbye to us before departing Bali.

Speaking of the police on the pier who where in fancy uniforms and don’t seem to do much, it took a crew of about 15 uniformed immigration officials to clear our ship when we arrived whereas even in big city ports we have only had 3-4 immigration people come aboard. I think there is plenty of corruption here in Bali. During our trip, even with beefed up security all over the world since 9/11, things have gone smoothly except for those who spent money in Australia and tried to get back their VAT money before we left Australia in Darwin. The West’s finally gave up after a long wait.

Welcome to Bali
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