BALI

8 yeaar old dancers greeting hotel arrivals.  Tom was amazed to see them so made up.

Arriving in Bali from the ship's tender required a force of resistance as the villagers were everywhere, dangling all sorts of souvenirs before us, to the point we almost lost sight of our guide. There were masks, necklaces and wood carvings of every variety.  Yes, even watches! The bike tour was amazing although I kept wondering where Julia Roberts found the flat terrain. The first hill seemed to be straight up and never-ending and the downward trek equally challenging.  Motorbikes, the main mode of travel, sped around us beeping their horns. Seems every family owns one of these and it was not unusual to find mom, dad and 2 little kids on one small bike. I kept in the middle as the last thing I wanted was to be last and get hit from behind.  Tom was on another tour so I was pleased to find so many considerate and helpful people traveling with me -- some with perhaps less experience than me,. I had a great time! Away from the dock the scenery was beautiful.  I was amazed at the primitive conditions:  an age old kitchen in a middle income family home that used a Coleman stove for cooking and a sink made of  primitive stone with no water suply.  I did spy a 5 gallon water jug for drinking.  Yet, there was a huge satellite dish, a modern television and one of the children wearing a spider man shirt.  Tom and I both visited a Hindu temple and were given  more history regarding the Hindu religion than we can possibly retain.
Bali is the only island out of the 17000 islands that comprise Indonesia that is 97% Hindu.  The majority of Indonesians are Muslim.  Apparently the hotels here are magnificant and the food certainly to my tastes......lots of satay.  I wish there had been more time on the island.

The dock reception ain Bali



Two of many bike stops:         Villager leading his farm animals AND

MA in a make-do sari in front of a Hindu Temple