Barry and I were fortunate to have been in Indonesia on a business trip 20 years ago that took us to the island of Sulawesi where PT Inco has a nickel mine, then to Bali for a 10 day holiday, before flying out of Jakarta. We both hold the memory of Bali very close to our hearts, as our time there was truly magical. We were anxious to see what changes had occurred.
We had arranged for a private car for Jonathan, Karen, and us, which was arranged by the Dining Room Manager, Prestie. Our itinerary included going up to the cultural village of Ubud ( which is the "love" place in "Eat, Pray, Love"). We wanted to revisit the Amandari Hotel, which is considered to be one of the top hotels in the world by some, with only 28 individual suites, with 40 foot high thatch roofs, an outdoor marble bath, and all sitting on the edge of a deep river gorge with terraced rice paddies spilling down the sides. Then we were supposed to see wood carving, painting, the monkey forest, dine overlooking the rice paddies, and see some temples.
We also had to be back on the ship by 4 pm because the penultimate Mariner Appreciation event, - a specially built Balinese Night Market party - was being held. Every world cruise, they hold an out of this world party, and this was to be no exception.
One of the things that you must accept on a cruise of this length and scale, is that things go awry sometimes caused by either weather, or other factors. At 7:00 am. they announced that a ferry was parked in our spot, and that we would not be docked until 9:15 or 9:30, because it wasn't moving. We finally got docked, and by now the heat and humidity was tremendous, and guests kept saying they needed to change their outfits. Rain was also in the forecast. We got off about 10 - a full 1.5 hours later than we had planned. The Balinese people welcomed us in their usual hospitable way on the dock.
A little side comment here is that a large proportion of our crew are Indonesian, and these wonderful people are on contracts of about 9 or 10 months, so most of them don't see their families, which in many cases include small children. Over 700 family members were expected to come onboard for the day for a little reunion. Also the Evening Market event is something that involves months of building the "sets" that transform the emptied Lido Pool , and it takes 2 days to put it together. Lots on the agenda today for everyone. By the way, a large majority of the guests wrote notes for our Balinese cabin stewards, asking them not to clean our cabins, but to take the day off and spend it with their families.
Ok, we meet up with our driver, who thankfully has an air conditioned van, and water, then we motor out to the only road out of Benoa, where we docked (near Denpasar) and run into really serious gridlock. They have a 2 year project to improve this road which goes to the airport. What should have been a 40 minute trip was an hour and a half. Scratch the wood carving and painting stop (knowing the Night Market would have some of these things).
The Amandari welcomed us and graciously took us on a tour, showing us a room with a private pool and upper story bedroom overlooking the valley. This little visit did not disappoint - it got us into a peaceful frame of mind, and allowed Jonathan and Karen to see some of the special qualities of Bali, other than the terrible traffic we had been stuck in. Barry and I revelled in seeing this lovely place again. We wended our way through Ubud to a restaurant set back from the road, which overlooks rice paddies - all open with a much appreciated breeze wafting through the room. We all had Indonesian lunches. Dark clouds were threatening rain. We had made a brief stop enroute to Ubud to a fabric store, as Karen wanted to get something appropriate to look Balinese at the party. She hadn't been too successful, so we decide to head to the Elephant Caves where there was a market as well. We bypassed the Monkey Forest, as our driver thought it would be really busy, and we heard the monkeys would climb on you and steal your jewellery. A little shopping, then the heavens opened, and we decided not to go down the 50 wet stone steps to the Elephant Caves - really disappointing, because we were now anxious about making back to the ship on time.
Thankfully the driver was able to make a stop at a beautiful temple built in 944 AD. Even in the pouring rain, this was a treat to see.
What did we learn? Bali, in the south has experienced explosive growth, and the motorbike and car traffic to go with it. It is almost impossible for new roads to be built as the density of living is pretty high. We saw mile after mile of typical Balinese village - art objects by the thousands (stone carvings, wood carvings), extremely old temples elaborately carved, small places with daily offerings, old walled compounds where families live, new modern two story shops, and lots of stray dogs. The Balinese people are still the same - gracious, peaceful, beautiful and kind, many with magnificent smiles. They also keep their homes immaculately clean. Bali has about 4 million people, most are Hindu, but there are also Muslims and Christians. The 2002 bombing in Kuta Beach destroyed the tourist industry, which really is their mainstay, for years. It seems it is starting to come back, somewhat. We heard many tourists are Russians. Most of all we realized it is impossible to do justice to this unique island in a day - and so we resolved to try and come back some day for an extended stay.
We made it to the ship exactly at 4 pm. and rushed in to shower and dress for the 5 pm. party - anxious to get a table for our group. What a gorgeous event. The entire Lido pool area was decorated like a Balinese village, with artists drawing and painting, carving wood, dancers sprinkled through out, a gamelin orchestra playing, the pool transformed into a rice paddy, with a large bamboo house at the side, umbrellas, and markets of clothing, dolls, carvings, silver and more. Thankfully some food was served indoors in the Lido dining room, as it was unbelievably crowded, hot and humid. Oh and in the middle of all this a small bicycle cart - a beckac- that you could get a ride on through the density of people. They also offered a special dinner in the Canaletto, with all charges donated to a charity for children that HAL supports and a donation box.
We had a blast . Dancing, drinking ( all the drinks are on the house, so you can imagine what that results in!). I spent the night getting to know a new friend Phyllis and her husband Milt, better - and we didn't shut our mouths for hours, just laughing and having a great time. It was difficult to shut the party down, but we had to sail at 11 (we didn't get off till 11:30), but the tear down began and an exhausted crew and guest population headed to their rooms for another shower and a good rest in our beds. Barry and I managed to speak to 3 of our 6 children and 1 grandchild, although the free wifi from the port was pretty spotty outside on the lower promenade deck. We settle for just hearing their voices which helps keep the homesickness bug at bay a little.
J & B at the beautiful Amandari Hotel in Ubud
Inside a room at the Amandari, who some consider to be the best hotel in the world. Each room is a separate walled compound with its own pool.
The rice paddy view from our lunch restaurant
Jonathan and Barry had to put a sarong over our clothes to enter the temple
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