by Judy Handley | Sep 20, 2008 | Indonesia Bali, Sailing Logs Year 3 |
Day 134, Year 3: “Free and Easy” Day with a Bull Race and Time with Friends
Date: Hari Sabtu (Saturday), Bulan S�pt�mber 20, Pada Tahan 2008
Weather: Beautiful Day . . . Again
Location: Lovina Beach, BALI, Indonesia
What a beautiful life! We spent a great day with Justin and Jo and tonight we talked via Skype with Heather, Jed, and Sam with the video cams running so we could see Sam and he could see us. That in itself makes for a wonderful day, but add to that a really fun and spectacular bull racing event in a rice field and an evening spent with new and old friends. It is hard to beat. On the downside of things, I now have the cold that Mark is recovering from and I’m afraid Justin might be getting the same. But other than that, things are going great.
After an early morning swim, Justin and Jo went to shore to get one of the famous Bali massages. Evidently Jo so relaxed that she fell asleep! While J & J were ashore, I did a laundry and then actually took a nap. That is almost unheard of, but unfortunately I am getting the cold that Mark has had. I’m feeling fine, but a nap today was a good thing. Once the kids came back, Mark and I went to shore to go to a Balinese bull race. Oxen are used here to cultivate the rice paddies and today’s race was a showcase for these beautiful animals. A pair of oxen are donned with elaborately decorated headdresses and a yoke is put over both animals that is also elaborately painted and accentuated with gold and silver. The pair is then run through a rice field by one man that is sitting behind. The rice field has been flooded with water so it is a “squishy” event-quite fun to watch but I’m not sure I’m ready for the ride behind.
We had a lovely walk back to Lovina and stopped to make arrangements for a day of fun tomorrow. Justin and Jo are going to rent motor bikes to ride the 65 kilometers from here to the western end of the island. Robert and Tina of Shirena and Mark and I are renting a car and driver to take us the same distance. We will have Komang, the same driver that took us south to pick up Justin and Jo. We will visit the national park and if time permits, we will take a boat out to an island in the marine park to snorkel in what is tauted as one of Indonesia’s best spots. On the way back to Lovina, we plan to visit a Buddhist monastery and the holy hot springs nearby. It should be a great day.
Tonight we had dinner with Robert and Tina of Shirena and Stefanie and Marin from Canada. Stefanie and Marin are not sailors, but are traveling around the world by plane. It is always interesting to meet world travelers, no matter what their mode of travel. After dinner we had our Skype connection with Heather, Jed, and Sam, and then it was back to Windbird.
Earlier today Mark checked our website and we had two very special messages. One was from Jo’s parents saying how great it is that they can follow Justin and Jo’s travels through our logs and the other was from Justin’s best friend from grade school, Sandeep. Sandeep’s parents were originally from India but have lived in the United States all of their adult lives. Justin and Sandeep have kept in contact over the years and evidently Sandeep reads our logs from time to time and discovered that Justin is traveling with us for now. It is always wonderful to hear from family and friends, but hearing from Jo’s parents and from Sandeep was a very special surprise.
by Judy Handley | Sep 19, 2008 | Indonesia Bali, Sailing Logs Year 3 |
Day 133, Year 3: Lazy Day in Lovina
Date: Hari Jumat (Friday), Bulan September 19, Pada Tahan 2008
Weather: Beautiful Day . . . Again
Location: Lovina Beach, BALI, Indonesia
Today was a lovely lazy day. We started the day with a snorkel on the reef near the anchorage first thing in the morning and ended the day on the beach watching traditional Balinese mask dances and then having dinner at the Seaside Cafe with Justin and Joe and Tina and Robert of Shirena. I don’t know where the hours go, but they seem to go so quickly. The nearby snorkeling is over head coral, but the fish life is vibrant and varied. We saw some of the biggest parrot fish we have ever seen, and the fish will literally eat right out of your hand. So we hope to do more snorkeling before leaving here. And already, we are having to make decisions about what we will not be able to see and do with Justin and Jo. These decisions are hard ones. It seems such a shame to be in such a wonderful part of the world and not get to see it all, but there is no way with limited time and money to do that. I think by the end of tomorrow we will have our path set and then we can spend the next three weeks just enjoying the ride.
by Judy Handley | Sep 18, 2008 | Indonesia Bali, Sailing Logs Year 3 |
Day 132, Year 3: Back Home in Lovina Beach with Justin and Jo
Date: Hari Kamis (Thursday), Bulan September 18, Pada Tahan 2008
Weather: Beautiful Day
Location: Lovina Beach, BALI, Indonesia
Justin and Jo arrived safely and on time last night at 11:10 pm. It is just so wonderful to have them here with us. I know they are exhausted after a 36-hour flight that included a 3-hour layover in LA and an 11-hour layover in Seoul, Korea, but they are hanging in there. Our wonderful driver for our trip south, Komang, picked us up at 10:30 pm in Kuta and had us at the airport well before 11:00. The flight came in early and the time it took Justin and Jo to go through Customs and get their Indonesian Visa was amazingly fast. So we were back in Kuta, had a walk on the beach, and were in bed just after midnight.
But unfortunately, we had to get a semi-early start this morning in order to see some of the sights as we headed back north and get back to Lovina in time for the Sail Indonesia Rally Welcoming Ceremony. We left “krazy” Kuta around 10:30 am, stopped in Denpasar to pick up batteries, had a nice lunch at a very nice roadside hotel nestled among the terraced rice paddies, and made our first tourist stop at the holy springs at Tirta Empul. This temple was built in 962 but restored in the 1960’s.
Istana Negara, Soekarno’s (past president of Indonesia) palace overlooks the temple and it is quite an impressive site. Time was running out as it is quite a long drive from the south of Bali to the north, so from Tirta Empul we headed directed to the overlook for Lake Batur and the volcanic mountains of Gunung Agung, Gunung Abang, and Gungung Batur. Gunung Batur is closest and it is obvious that this volcano has been active not so long ago.
It was great to get back to Lovina Beach and “home.” We had only a short time before we had to turn around and go back to shore to get on a bus and head north again to Singaraja for the welcome ceremony. It was a nice dinner in a great little restaurant on the beach, but unfortunately there was no Bali cultural performance. There is more to come tomorrow, so maybe we will start to get a taste of Bali’s wonderful dances and music right here on Lovina Beach.
by Judy Handley | Sep 17, 2008 | Indonesia Bali, Sailing Logs Year 3 |
Day 131, Year 3: Trip to South Bali
Date: Hari Rabu (Wednesday), Bulan September 17, Pada Tahan 2008
Weather: Another Beautiful Day
Location: Kuta Beach, BALI, Indonesia
The trip from north to south Bali is a little like being on a Disney World ride. The scenery is “out of this world” and you truly feel like you are in fairyland. The terraced rice paddies are so green and there are intricately carved temples everywhere. We are certain there are more temples than homes on this island. And in the towns and villages the streets are lined with towering bamboo poles that hang over the streets like weeping willow branches. The poles are decorated with pandanus origami
figures. We visited a beautiful waterfall at Gitgit, stopped at a temple on Danu Bratan, Pura Ulun Danu Bratan, and watched a most impressive parade of Hindus dressed in elaborately decorated sarongs, each carrying what appeared to be a little temple of gold on her head. The gamelan (gong) players are all men and they had on beautiful pink shirts. They were going to the side of the lake for a special mountain and water ceremony and we couldn’t believe we were lucky enough to arrive just as they
started their parade to the water’s edge. Probably anything after that would have been a come down, but our stop in Ubud was a real disappointment. It is the art and cultural heart of Bali, but to us it just looked like a crazy, crowded city. I’m sure there is more there than we saw today, so we will have to give that one a second chance. We had a lovely lunch in an open air restaurant beside a rice field, and then we plunged into the traffic of south Bali. Kuta Beach is the nearest place to
stay to the airport, so we are here. This is surf city and there’s not much here that we find charming either. But by midnight, Justin and Jo should be here and that will certainly brighten our lives. Assuming they arrive on time, tomorrow morning we will head back north to have lunch at another lake in the crater of a volcano before heading back to Windbird and the welcoming rally dinner.
by Judy Handley | Sep 16, 2008 | Indonesia Bali, Sailing Logs Year 3 |
Day 130, Year 3: Beautiful Bali
Date: Hari Selasa (Tuesday), Bulan September 16, Pada Tahan 2008
Weather: Beautiful Day with No Wind
Location: Lovina Beach, BALI, Indonesia
My morning was spent doing what all mothers do when children are coming to visit. I dusted and vacuumed the inside of the boat and made the v-berth bed for Justin and Jo. We went to shore around noon to have lunch and to find our way to the big town east of here, Singaraja. We were a bit lazy and took a bemo for $3 instead of a bus for 70 cents. But the bus would have required a change and another fee, so taking the bemo straight there seemed the most sensible. We went to Hardy’s, the big supermarket in Singaraja, and discovered that they might have things we need but that we can’t read any of the labels. For the most part, you can tell the general kind of thing because the products are located in aisles similar to the way they would be back home. We went to Hardy’s so we could evaluate whether we will need to shop down south or get the things we need here. I think I’ll need to see what is offered down south before I make a decision.
So tomorrow morning we head south to do some sightseeing and to pick up Justin and Jo. There will probably be no way that I can send a log tomorrow, so I will just have to combine the stories and send them along once we return. So I’ll sign off now and hope to be able to send the next log on Thursday evening once Justin and Jo have arrived and we are back on Windbird.
by Judy Handley | Sep 15, 2008 | Indonesia Bali, Sailing Logs Year 3 |
Day 129, Year 3: LaLa Land
Date: Hari Senin (Monday), Bulan September 15, Pada Tahan 2008
Weather: Overcast Morning with North Winds-Not Normal for Mid-September
Latitude: 08 degrees 09.645 S
Longitude: 115 degrees 01.284 E
Location: Lovina Beach, BALI, Indonesia
Life here is just not reality. It is possible here to have a driver that speaks English and drives you in his car all over this island for two days for a cost of only $75US. And that includes the driver’s meals and overnight stay. Unbelievable. But what is more unbelievable is that we think that is really, really expensive. We’re talking about driving more than 200 miles in the two days and seeing much of the beauty of Bali. This poor driver has to take us to the airport at midnight to pick up Justin and Jo and then be ready to head off with us the next morning for a tour from the south of Bali to the north. So it really is LaLa Land, but I love it.
We finally made it ashore today. We went in early just to get some fresh water for washing the boat and doing laundry. Mark is still not recovering from this Indonesian cold that he has, so he then took a nap while I cleaned the boat. Our friend Bennie on the local outrigger called Gelderland showed up around noon, instead of at 7 am as promised, to clean the bottom of the boat. We figured it is better late than never, and had a son and a grandson with him to dive in and start the bottom cleaning.
We gave Bennie our jerry jugs and asked him to go ashore the fill them for us. When he returned he had another grandson with him. This one somehow won Mark’s heart and we invited him aboard to tour Windbird. Do, pronounced more like Dua, explained to us that his family is Muslim and live on the beach just to the east of the anchorage. There were two young men cleaning the bottom and one them was named Dion. Do explained that his cousin, Dion, does not practice fasting during Ramadon and that this is a problem for the community. I dubbed Dion “bad boy” and he agreed. He plays the guitar and djembe drum on the beach at night. Do gave us his phone number and promised a fish barbecue on the beach for us once Justin and Jo arrive with “bad boy” playing music. As long as it is after 7:30 pm prayers, Do said it would be fine. So it sounds great.
Once the bottom of the boat was cleaned and Do and Dion left, Mark and I got ready and went to shore. We continued to have a swell coming into the anchorage from the north today, but those who have been here for a week already said this is very unusual. I sure hope so and hope that the winds change soon. The rocking and rolling in the anchorage is not severe, but it is an irritation. Once we made it to shore we were inundated with women trying to sell us everything from mangoes to clothing.
I actually bought some jewelry from a little girl telling me she was selling the jewelry to make money for her school that has nothing. But I soon learned that this was a scam. And then I ended up buying a sarong and a blouse for way too much money. Finally, I got my land legs and learned to say no. We made it as far as the internet caf�, and I left Mark there and went back to the beach to brave the hawkers to see Idunne of Blue Marlin. Runa was in the internet caf� and explained that they are
leaving tomorrow morning for Kumai. I wanted to say hello/goodbye to Idunne. I also made arrangements with Runa for him to email us info about booking our orangutan trip. We have made some contacts in the Kumai region, but so far we have found prices to be way too expensive. Runa will look for the best deal he can find for his family and then make a reservation for us. That will be a great help for us and assure that we can do the river trip in time to get Justin and Jo back to Bali for their flight home. This is one of those times when you are really glad that you are traveling with a group of other cruisers.
Kalibukbuk, the area of Lovina Beach where we are located, is certainly a tourist area, but it definitely has a Bali charm. After Mark satisfied his internet connections, we started our walk down the main street from the beach. On a recommendation from Idunne and Runa, we made reservations with the LA Tour group to south Bali to pick-up Justin and Jo. We will tour our way south on Wednesday, find a place to stay near the beach close to the airport, go to dinner, and then go to pick-up J & J near
mid-night. Our driver will then take us back to our overnight accommodation and come back to pick us up before noon the next day. Again, we will make our way north stopping at a few of the major attractions, and arrive back in Lovina Beach just in time for the rally opening ceremony.
It is late and I’m fading, so I think I must continue tomorrow. So far, Lovina Beach is ending up to be a great place to visit and hopefully this trend will just increase.
