Day 15—1-Jan—Bali Part 2

"Normal" Traffic.

Ugh!  Got to bed late, or perhaps early.  But, we had an early appointment in the morning.  So, we had arranged for room service for breakfast, and got to our 8:30 pickup for our Part 2 of Bali.  We had arranged a “tour” with the same company as yesterday.  We got the same driver.  Actually, we had an odd moment at the end yesterday.  We were unsure how much to tip.  When he found out we were scheduled for today as well, he mentioned he would be sure to call in, since many drivers may want to take the day off.  Uh oh!  Now the “tip” is doubly important!  Well, we decided on an amount, and I guess it was TOO much!!  We got a polite “thank you” followed by a stunned “THANK YOU!”  Hmm…  Well, he was effusive in catering to us today!

It was a “package tour”, but we opted out of a few stops to save some time.  We aren’t really looking for any silver jewelry, so why go to those shops?  But our first stop was a painting shop.  They had about 100 painters, each with slightly different styles, but mostly of the Bali tradition.  Some were VERY intricate and unique, some just looked generic.  One painter working at the time we came in had a very unique style of painting thick lines of green or yellow ridges resembling the rice fields (premature or ripened).  It was interesting, but almost overwhelming with so many paintings in one place (over 1000).

Pura Puseh, a Hindu Temple.

Next we went to a Hindu temple.  But first, we all had to put on sarongs before going into the temple.  Yeah.  Not posting THAT on our blog!  Our tour guide walked us through and described many parts of the temple, and the back story to go with it.  We quickly gathered that our driver is Hindu, as his descriptions started as “they” and ended as “we”.  The Hindu belief has one god, but in three forms, a “Creator”, and “Maintainer”, and a “Destroyer” (also the form responsible for reincarnation).  We found it curious in parallel to Christianity, also with three forms of one God.  Anyway, the Indonesian practice does not normally depict their god as “he”, since the god can take any form chosen, whereas the Indian practice normally gives each a defined depiction.  So, we enjoyed learning about all of this.

Lotus flower.

In Hindu mythology, the world is supported by a giant turtle...even larger than this one!

The bells and gongs used in Balinese traditional music.

Some of the decoration was very ornate and beautiful!

We then moved on to a carving place.  They did 4-5 different types of wood there, but frankly, only two of them were indigenous to the island of Bali.  Although some were stunning and beautiful, they did not look like they were be fun to transport home!!

Tegenungan Waterfall.  And swimmers.

We also went to Tegenungan Waterfall, that was about 150 feet high.  Theresa was not enjoying the strain on her knee, so I went on ahead with our driver.  It was crowded, but I hustled down, got some pix, and headed back up.  I kept checking to make sure our driver was near.  He got stuck at one point, so I waited.  Anyway, we got back to the top, and our 24 year old driver was sweating and breathing hard.  I told him he looked tired, and he said, "No, I was just stuck behind some people."  Yeahhhh. 

One could swim in the pool, but must pay "insurance" first.
I saw lots of children in there, mostly locals, and doubt they did!

No.  No naked!

Terraced rice fields.

Next we went to a spot with some terraced rice paddies.  I don't want to say it wasn't nice, but frankly the description was nicer than the reality!  Anyway, they had already harvested the rice, so many of the paddies just looked ragged.  I hustled down to the stream at the bottom, looked around, and hustled back up.  Then looked around for our driver.  When he made it back up, I remarked that he was half my age, and not stuck behind anyone, this time!  :-) 

Ripe rice (from a field on the side of the road).

Some of the stairs were solid, although chaotic!

Some of the steps were orderly, but not solid!

After running back up the hill, I sampled my first Indonesian Beer!

Finally, we made our last planned stop, at a “coffee plantation”.  Really, this place was a little section of jungle with a variety of plants, including Arabica coffee tree, Robusto coffee tree (MUCH different looking), and plants for vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.  They offered us about 13 coffees, teas, and cocoas (in hopes we might buy one or more).  Well…  Maybe the "special tourist pricing" isn't attractive?  It was kind of neat to see them roasting the beans in a skillet over a fire, and grinding them in a stone mortar with a log for a pestle.

The vanilla plant is like a vine, growing up a tree.

Is this a Jeep or a Chevy??

There was a huge statue of the creation in one round-a-bout, and we drove by it, stopping briefly for a picture or two.  I didn’t get the full story, but apparently monkeys helped the “King” build a bridge over the sea to create land, and the monkeys are shown moving boulders to build this bridge.

Back on the ship, we eventually went to dinner, caught the late night show, and got to bed (late again!).