Previously, we wrote a short introduction - giving an outline for our trip. We arrived at the very nice airport in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia on Dec. 13 after leaving our house on Dec. 11, 2018. Of course, we were very tired, but probably in better shape than some as we were able to sleep some on the long flights. The arrival was only marred by the huge lines of people at immigration. A visa was not required as long as we could show ourselves leaving withing 30 days, but the crowds from 2-3 arriving flights overwhelmed the immigration folks. However we got through, and were met by our driver and guide and went to Amandari, which was a great place to relax.
On our next day we had an arranged itinerary, that we did not really remember, but trusted the guide to have memorized. As the day went on we realized that something was not quite right as did not seem to be seeing places we expected. The guide spoke to the office in the afternoon and apologized, because he had not received the correct plan. We saw many handicrafts people as we had put as a secondary interest, but not any of the more major sites. So, our next day was overly full trying to make up for that error. We saw some great wood carvings, and silver work, less great painting. At one place the kids playing gamelon instruments were the most interesting thing.
We first saw a gamelon performance while also seeing a traditional performance of stories from the ancient past with remarkable costumes.
Next we drove far north to see rice paddies and the volcano that had erupted a month or so earlier (and made us wonder if Bali would be safe- it was!) Included in that was lunch at a restaurant with a nice view of the volcano- except that it wa scloudy and rainy, so not so great... and food that was edible but not very tasty.
We then drove southwest for a long time to see the "Shore Temple", which is a bigger tourist spot than we might have wished- huge crowds of people from all over Indonesia and the world. It was interesting to see, but we wondered if looking at the huge variety and number of handicrafts people might be more worthwhile.
We had to get up very early the next day to take a flight to Yogykarta- in central Java. We were going there for 4 nights, so be left much of our luggage in Bali while we went. It was hard getting up so early in order to catch a 7AM flight, but the roads were a lot less crowded with traffic at that hour. We decided to fly in business class to get better seats and no hassles over luggage.
The next installment of this will be about Java, but after 4 nights there we returned to Bali and the Amandari resort. Our flight from Yogykarta was not quite so early, but we still got back to Bali in the morning on Dec. 20, 2018
That day we saw the Klungung textile market- we were told that this is a very busy place early in the morning- it is really aimed at wholesale- sales to smaller and bigger shops who then sell to the public. However, we found most of the dealers to be present and we were overwhelmed by the huge numbers of weavings available, but underwhelmed by the variety and quality of what we saw- most looked like it was meant for mass consumption, while we were more interested in special pieces.
After we left the market we were to go the Tenganan village (spelling might be wrong). This is a place that is somewhat protected from outsiders because it has an ancient history, but they do traditional weaving, so we thought it would be interesting. However, the road to get there was crawling with traffic and it was the only road! We crawled at a mile or 2 and hour for an hour or so and finally decided to turn around and go back. A few vehicles from the other dirction came through and said there was road work going on a few miles ahead. We were a little disappointed, but happy to get out of the traffic. We visited a book shop and relaxed at the resort awhile instead.
The next day, Dec. 21 we transferred from the resort to our ship that would be our home for most of the next couple weeks or so.
The ship stayed in Bali the night of Dec. 21 and left the evening of Dec. 22, so we had the day of the 22nd in Bali.
Janet to a Balinese cooking class while Jim used our driver and guide to visit a couple textile shops and to return to the resort to pick up something that Janet had left behind. He considered going to Tenganan Village, but decided it was too far anbd probably still jammed with traffic. He did visit a craftsman who makes the puppets and costumes used in some of the traditional shows- like the one we saw some days earlier. The amount work done in places like this is remarkable and the quality of what they produce is also remarkable.
On our next day we had an arranged itinerary, that we did not really remember, but trusted the guide to have memorized. As the day went on we realized that something was not quite right as did not seem to be seeing places we expected. The guide spoke to the office in the afternoon and apologized, because he had not received the correct plan. We saw many handicrafts people as we had put as a secondary interest, but not any of the more major sites. So, our next day was overly full trying to make up for that error. We saw some great wood carvings, and silver work, less great painting. At one place the kids playing gamelon instruments were the most interesting thing.
We first saw a gamelon performance while also seeing a traditional performance of stories from the ancient past with remarkable costumes.
Next we drove far north to see rice paddies and the volcano that had erupted a month or so earlier (and made us wonder if Bali would be safe- it was!) Included in that was lunch at a restaurant with a nice view of the volcano- except that it wa scloudy and rainy, so not so great... and food that was edible but not very tasty.
We then drove southwest for a long time to see the "Shore Temple", which is a bigger tourist spot than we might have wished- huge crowds of people from all over Indonesia and the world. It was interesting to see, but we wondered if looking at the huge variety and number of handicrafts people might be more worthwhile.
We had to get up very early the next day to take a flight to Yogykarta- in central Java. We were going there for 4 nights, so be left much of our luggage in Bali while we went. It was hard getting up so early in order to catch a 7AM flight, but the roads were a lot less crowded with traffic at that hour. We decided to fly in business class to get better seats and no hassles over luggage.The next installment of this will be about Java, but after 4 nights there we returned to Bali and the Amandari resort. Our flight from Yogykarta was not quite so early, but we still got back to Bali in the morning on Dec. 20, 2018
That day we saw the Klungung textile market- we were told that this is a very busy place early in the morning- it is really aimed at wholesale- sales to smaller and bigger shops who then sell to the public. However, we found most of the dealers to be present and we were overwhelmed by the huge numbers of weavings available, but underwhelmed by the variety and quality of what we saw- most looked like it was meant for mass consumption, while we were more interested in special pieces.
After we left the market we were to go the Tenganan village (spelling might be wrong). This is a place that is somewhat protected from outsiders because it has an ancient history, but they do traditional weaving, so we thought it would be interesting. However, the road to get there was crawling with traffic and it was the only road! We crawled at a mile or 2 and hour for an hour or so and finally decided to turn around and go back. A few vehicles from the other dirction came through and said there was road work going on a few miles ahead. We were a little disappointed, but happy to get out of the traffic. We visited a book shop and relaxed at the resort awhile instead.The next day, Dec. 21 we transferred from the resort to our ship that would be our home for most of the next couple weeks or so.
The ship stayed in Bali the night of Dec. 21 and left the evening of Dec. 22, so we had the day of the 22nd in Bali.
Janet to a Balinese cooking class while Jim used our driver and guide to visit a couple textile shops and to return to the resort to pick up something that Janet had left behind. He considered going to Tenganan Village, but decided it was too far anbd probably still jammed with traffic. He did visit a craftsman who makes the puppets and costumes used in some of the traditional shows- like the one we saw some days earlier. The amount work done in places like this is remarkable and the quality of what they produce is also remarkable.
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