Indonesia, although it involved extremely difficult and dangerous sailing, which we soon discovered, it was also the most diverse country and, on hindsight and reflection, one of the rare remaining destinations where a cruiser can see little to no influence of the modern world. It was also difficult to perceive that it is one country, as every island we visited was completely different with the exception of, possibly, the food and the language, although the latter has many different dialects. Everything from the shape and style of fishing boats, the shape and style of FADs (Fish Accumulation Devices), the landscape, the traditional dancing and outfits worn, the fruits grown, the livestock farmed, the colour and texture of the beaches, the vastly different colours of water ranging from deep blue to green to turquoise, weather ranging from warm and dry to hot and humid, wind that ranged from absolutely nothing, which had us motoring for hundreds of miles, to wind and current that was so strong we couldn’t slow Paw Paw down to ensure daylight arrivals. Add the diversity of the stunning underwater world, where snorkelling revealed fish and coral species, not only varieties which we’d never seen before, but each new snorkelling spot revealed something new and unique and then, of course, the magnificent sunrises and sunsets, the natural beauty of the towering volcanoes and the diverse wildlife, from flying foxes to whale sharks to Orang-utans to Komodo dragons. But, it was Bali, which, not only captured a place in our hearts, it felt like an entirely different country.

 

There were aspects, though, which we learnt the hard way and which ultimately dictated our entire experience of Indonesia. Had we known upfront about these, we would definitely have been more vigilant in avoiding the pitfalls as best we could. Unfortunately this kind of pertinent information was not provided by the Sail2Indonesia rally organisers, leaving us at the mercy of a population that was extremely unhealthy, mostly suffering from chest complaints, the underlying reason of which became apparent as we progressed through Indonesia; the smoke from the numerous burning fires, and the fact that most lived in completely unsanitary conditions. In all our travels, we had never experienced toilet facilities like those we saw in Indonesia and not a smidgen of soap to be found anywhere. Being “forewarned, is forearmed” would have afforded us the opportunity to give the local toilets, the local (coughing) population, the food and the drink, a wide berth. 

 

We weren’t the only cruisers to fall victim to this aspect of Indonesia, however, with the entire fleet ending up with either chest infections, sore throats or food poisoning or, in many cases, all three, but in Elaine’s case, an additional severe UTI (Urinary Tract Infection), coupled with multiple bouts of food poisoning, no matter how careful we tried to be. All of which spelt disaster for her autoimmune conditions and sent everything into free fall. Couple that with non-existent adequate healthcare available for thousands of miles from where we were in the Kai Islands, having cleared in to Indonesia in Debut, getting to Bali as quickly and as safely as possible was our only option, but we’d hoped the assistance and medications received from other cruisers on the rally would preclude us from having to pursue that option.

 

However, after setting sail to the Banda Islands after the completion of the Welcome Ceremony and rally festivities in Debut, the morning of 31^st July 2019, confirmed our worst fears; unfortunately Elaine’s health woes had continued, specifically the UTI, forcing her to switch to a stronger antibiotic in the hopes of shifting it sooner rather than later. This also cemented our decision to change our itinerary, leaving the rally temporarily and heading for Bali, given that we had no idea if the latest course of antibiotics would, in fact, do the trick.  It didn’t help either that this was all fuelling her flareup and making it extremely difficult to get her conditions back under control. Our hope was, however, that by skipping a few destinations, Elaine’s health would improve and we’d also have the additional benefit of enjoying sun, sea and beaches, rather than villages and towns, full of sick people.

 

The new itinerary we had decided upon basically involved heading west to the Wakatobi Island group and from there heading south to the eastern end of Flores Island, work our way along the northern coasts of Flores and Sumbawa Islands, stopping at the Komodo National Park in between and onto to Lombok and Bali Islands, where Elaine could get her medical treatment and we could rejoin the rally in Lovina on the northern coast of Bali. On hindsight this turned out to be a fabulous option for us as we actually got to see the best of what Indonesia had to offer at our leisure, with a few exceptions. With the benefit of hindsight, we definitely would not have wasted our time doing the northern coast of Flores Island, but rather have headed straight to Labuan Bajo on the western side of the island, stopping at the Bonerate National Park en route. This latter destination is something we regret missing, although, at the time we didn’t know about it and the rally didn’t provide this kind of information. Skipping the Flores northern coast, would also have provided us with more time to spend on Belitung Island and in the Riau Group. Regardless, our new itinerary gave us the option of lingering longer at places we chose, especially since Elaine’s health did improve somewhat.

 

However, by the time we reached Lombok Island on Sunday, 1^st September 2019 events were about to overtake us again. While we were delighted to have arrived with time to explore the area at our leisure and commence our visa renewal process, our road trip to Mataram on Tuesday, 3^rd September 2019 from Medana Bay Marina to undertake the latter unfolded; an experience we can best describe as a cluster of monumental proportions, but the pre- and post cursors added to the disaster. 

It is hard to describe what sights awaited us as we left the grounds of the marina, but the driver telling us to put on our seatbelts, which was a first in Indonesia, was the first hint of things to come. Our sensors were completely overwhelmed. Besides the driver thinking he was the new Michael Schumacher, with a severe twitch that was definitely a cause for concern, not to mention the dangerous windy mountain road, albeit the best maintained road we’d seen in Indonesia, where the mountain side dropped off thousands of metres precariously close to the roads’ edge and, where our return trip revealed an accident of something or somebody having careened over the edge, the surroundings were beyond belief. 

 

While we zoomed passed horse-drawn buggies, lush green rice paddies, parents ferrying children to school on their mopeds, people getting to work, mostly on motorbikes that swerved in and out of the traffic, scooters piled high and sideways with fruit and vegetables heading to the local market, school children and officials in their smart, perfectly pressed uniforms, ramshackle roadside stalls bordering sections of the road for miles, hundreds of monkeys rummaging through bags of litter flung from the passing vehicles and beautiful lush scenery, spoilt only by the astronomical amounts of garbage everywhere and, finally, observing the people living in makeshift houses amongst the piles of rubble and half built structures as far as the eye could see, interspersed with a few mansions and, of course, numerous magnificent mosques either already built or in the process of being built, we simply couldn’t believe our eyes. It looked more like a war zone than anything else and the level of poverty in some areas was staggering. What we couldn’t work out was whether or not this was “normal” or destruction as a result of the earthquake that had hit northern Lombok the previous year or a combination of both. Regardless, what was missing was any kind of a hint of a “rebuilding initiative”. It was devastating to see!

 

While we survived the 1.5 hour journey to the immigration office, through no fault of our own, we, however, left empty handed, as we discovered the sponsor had only provided us with half of the revised Sponsor Letter that was needed. To add insult to injury, after contacting the sponsor to explain the issue, he indicated he was unable to provide any immediate assistance as we waited at the immigration office, since he was: “too busy, he had a rally to run and we were giving him a headache”. Resigned to the fact that we were getting nowhere, we left, but by now the entire morning had been wasted. So, after arranging a different taxi, we headed to the Epi Centrum Mall instead. This was like landing on another planet compared to anything else we’d seen in Indonesia and compared to the surrounding devastation we had just seen. After a sugar and caffeine rush to put our immigration fiasco behind us and after stretching our legs with a wander around the mall, we decided on a late lunch / early dinner, given that we still had to complete some grocery shopping and endure the lengthy return drive back to Paw Paw. Concluding that a simple western-style meal in our selected modern restaurant would suffice, we’d no sooner started the grocery shopping when Elaine’s health woes unfolded again. Her day ended vomiting everywhere, having contracted another bout of food poisoning. With Roy in despair on what to do or where to go next, we were certain of one thing; Indonesia was attempting to kill Elaine! So, change of plan, again; head for the more modern Marina del Ray in south Lombok and regroup, while giving Elaine time to recover, again!

 

After arriving in Marina del Ray on Wednesday, 4^th September 2019, by the morning of Thursday, 5^th September 2019, Elaine woke up feeling somewhat human again. So, on Friday, 6^th September 2019, we undertook our second trip to the immigration office in Mataram, only this time we were heading from the south of the island northwards. 

 

Unfortunately we managed to obtain the second “wannabe Michael Schumacher”, but, fortunately, he didn’t have a severe twitch and the road was far less treacherous, given that it wasn’t mountainous and there was far less traffic until we hit the outskirts of the city. Additionally, it was an experience as different as “day and night” from the previous trip in every which way. Besides being less treacherous, this trip was extremely scenic as the road followed the coastline for miles with fabulous seascapes, before heading inland, where we found expansive areas of lush, cultivated lands, comprising mostly corn, rice paddies, bananas and coconut plantations. However, this second trip was yet another fiasco with regard to our visa renewal. 

 

Armed with Sponsor Letters galore from both Marina del Ray and the rally organisers, we were, in fact, a Sponsor Letter short and, what we had, didn’t suffice for a few reasons: Although we had a Sponsor Letter each from Marina del Ray, we could not use them because, if you change sponsors, then you need an authorisation letter from the original sponsor and the new sponsor then would have had to accompany us to the immigration office. So, using the corrected Sponsor Letter from the rally organisers was our only option. However, although Elaine had queried the absence of a letter for herself ahead of this second trip, having only received one corrected and complete Sponsor Letter in Roy’s name, the rally organisers confirmed, in writing, that we only needed one letter that would be used for both of us. Well, guess what? Yep, that was, in fact, wrong! We did need two separate letters; one each. 

 

In the end, we honestly believe the officer, who had served us on our previous trip, took pity on us and gave us our visa extensions anyway. Maybe it was the look on our faces of total disbelief that this was still a cluster or maybe it was all the Sponsor Letters that he saw in front of him, knowing only one was of any use to us or maybe it was that Elaine had the written communications regarding the query to the rally organisers, including their response. Either way, we will never know, but when the officer handed us our passports with the enclosed visa extension, we do believe the relief and gratitude on our faces was evident.

 

Regardless, at this juncture, we had absolutely no idea what our next steps should be. Do we take this opportunity to leave Indonesia and head for Singapore / Malaysia on this new 30-Day extension and put this whole mess behind us, given that there was only so much swimming upstream we were prepared to undertake for a visit to any country and we were way past that point by now, but this option would require precarious, multiple night sails or do we continue on in the hopes the situation would improve, knowing we would have to undertake another visa renewal, as this 30-Day extension didn’t provide sufficient time to day-hop / meander through the remaining areas of Indonesia. We also flirted with the idea of rejoining the World ARC that was due to arrive in Lombok over the coming week and get back to the Caribbean as quickly as possible to sell Paw Paw and give up this vagabond lifestyle altogether.

 

We decided, instead, to do nothing and, hoped that some or other workable plan of action would develop in our minds; something that could allow us to enjoy the rest of Indonesia somehow, but get us safely to Singapore / Malaysia, without anymore medical setbacks to contend with! Fortunately the break from all the sailing while in Marina del Ray gave us the opportunity to consider all our options and having dissected each one thoroughly, we decided to let things pickle for a little while longer before making our final decision. In the interim, besides being contented to simple enjoy our time in this hidden gem, Gili Gede, just off the coast of Lombok Island, there was one other immediate decision we made; head to Bali for a “holiday” and seek medical treatment in the hope of, at least, getting Elaine’s autoimmune conditions under control as these were not responding well to any medications she was taking!

 

The next few days were a hive of activity, getting ourselves packed, making ourselves look presentable (aka cutting Roy’s hair), getting through paperwork that had piled up since leaving Australia, catching up on some correspondence and getting Paw Paw ready to be left unattended. The day was almost over by the time we’d finished, following which we dinghied ashore to meet Umnyama (Monique and Dick) for a drink to celebrate Monique’s birthday. We hadn’t expected to see them again having already said our goodbyes in Gili Lawang, off the northeastern corner of Lombok Island after enjoying sundowners on Paw Paw while watching a stunning sunset, silhouetting Gunung Rinjani. At the time, we had to stop in Medana Bay Marina to start our visa renewal process and Umnyama was continuing on to Gili Air, then heading to Marina del Ray before setting sail for South Africa. However, on Wednesday, 4^th September 2019, while Elaine was in bed recovering, Umnyama had arrived in the marina.

 

After an evening of laughter, it was time, however, to say our “final” goodbyes, as they were departing for South Africa prior to our return from Bali.  Although, we’d only spent a few short weeks together, we all couldn’t help verbalise how strange it was that the unpleasant incident of Umnyama drifting off from Moyo Island , but was finally recovered 7NM from where they had anchored her, having drifted passed reefs the full length of her journey and even rounding a headland, had started a friendship; one that probably would never have happen if it weren’t for this incident. Now, however, we had no idea if our paths would ever cross again, but we wished them fair winds and small following seas as they crossed the Indian Ocean. At the time of this writing, we are happy to report that they made it safely to South Africa and onwards to Namibia and St Helena and the friendship has continued, albeit via social media.

 

The morning of Wednesday, 11^th September 2019, however, didn’t start quite as planned, although that had become the norm in our lives. We’d no sooner finished breakfast and started throwing last minute items into our duffel bags when we both heard a loud pop, a sound we’d never heard on Paw Paw before; that sounded the first alarm. The smell of electrical smoke, however, had us both scrambling; Roy running outside to the generator locker, then shouting to Elaine to switch it off and running back inside to switch off the entire control panel, while Elaine hobbled down to her cabin to haul out the cupboard that exposes the main electrical panel on the yacht. Discovering smoke bellowing out, coupled with a degree of panic setting in, it was a mad scramble to then find the source. Fortunately a few seconds later, after lifting floorboards on the port companion way, the culprit was found; the lift pump for the generator was not only smoking, but it was half melted. We had no idea why the fuse hadn’t blow first or what caused this, but we suspected a plastic bag sucked up the throughhull was the most likely explanation. Regardless, with everything back under control, it was a problem for another day. We were Bali bound, leaving our sailing life behind for a little while, at least. 

 

After our transfer from the marina to Kokomo Resort, we enjoyed a coffee under the trees while we awaited the arrival of the ferry. It was also interesting to see an aspect of Indonesia we hadn’t seen until now; the logistics around transferring passengers between islands, to and from various resorts. In fact, it reminded us a lot of Denarau in Fiji, only on a smaller scale. We had noticed, however, that it was one of the windiest days we’d had since arriving in Indonesia, but we were too busy enjoying the beautiful seascape and the striking colours of the water, however, to be that bothered. That was until we’d rounded the northern side of Gili Gede and motored beyond the southwestern end of Lombok Island to cross Selat Lombok. It was at that point we realised we’d picked one of the roughest days to cross the Lombok Strait, with winds out of the south-southeast,  creating a delightful wind-against-current turbulence, given this south setting current can reach up to 8 Kts, and, on a ferry smaller than Paw Paw. Regardless, the ferry driver was very proficient and seeing Mount Agung, towering to the north, was a sight to behold. 

 

Fortunately everything settled down as we rounded the northern end of Nuda Penida and it was a lovely surprise to then stop and see the islands southeast of Bali, including Lembongan Island. Also, the sea state remained settled as we crossed Selat Badung on the final stretch to Bali and before long we were heading to our chosen resort in the area known as Nusa Dua. It is fair to say, our entire transfer was very efficient and organised and went off without a hitch, but we immediately noticed how different Bali was from what we’d seen in Indonesia thus far.

 

Besides the completely different architecture and the beautiful Hindu temples we passed, as well as enormous statues of various Hindu gods scattered around, the streets were well maintained, there were trees and flowers lining them, there were mostly cars on the road vs. scooters, there was a modern highway and the place was spotless. We were hard pressed to see garbage anywhere. The best surprise of all, though, was the resort we’d chosen, the Hilton Bali. It was fabulous and the views, as we entered the lobby, were breathtaking, which continued as we surveyed the sweeping scenery from the balcony of our room, set high on the cliff. It didn’t take long to head down to the swimming pool and beach area, find a comfortable seat and order our cocktails. Dinner was a casual affair and Elaine eventually tasted an authentic, delicious “nasi goreng”. Overall, we were over the moon and so looking forward to our week of luxury which started with Elaine wrapping up her day with a soaking bubble bath, while Roy lounged in front of the television, catching up on all the world news over an impressive array of international news channels. 

 

Thursday 12^th September 2019 was all about getting ourselves organised; booking our tours, making reservations for a few Spa treatments and, most importantly, getting Elaine to the nearest hospital for her follow-up care. After a visit to the clinic at the resort and a consultation with the doctor, she was referred to the BIMC Hospital in Nusa Dua, about a 10 minute taxi ride from the resort. To our surprise we arrived at a very modern, spotlessly clean facility and within an hour, she’d seen the nurse, seen the doctor for a full physical examination and had all her regular blood work completed, all for less than what it had cost us in Australia. More surprising was the confirmation that we’d have all the results emailed to us by that evening. 

 

The taxi ride to and from the hospital also revealed beautiful gardens, more Hindu temples and more large, ornate statues of various gods positioned in the most obscure places, like before and after bridges, in the middle of roundabouts or high up on the hillsides. It wasn’t until we’d spent some time in Bali, that we realised the significance of these placements of the gods. 

 

Our drive also took us through the popular upmarket Bali Connection shopping area and down Pantai Mengiat, complete with shops, restaurants and cafés. All of this taking place after waking up to a lovely sunrise, taking a walk up to the observatory deck and enjoying a breakfast buffet with the most incredible array of options. It included every conceivable type of breakfast one could think of, but also what appeared to us as “dinner” options for the oriental clientele. The choice was unbelievable, but we were delighted to find many local products from all over Indonesia, including wild honey from Sumbawa, kaliandra flower honey from Bali, natural raw coconut nectar, salads made from local jackfruit and young papaya, peanut and mango chutneys, coconut butter and jam, as well as mango jam, pink guava jam, pineapple jam and tamarillo jam. 

 

It was lunchtime by the time we returned to the resort and, with that, it was another day, another cocktail, accompanied by a light lunch, but not before we observed some local artists at work. We also had a plan of action for Elaine’s medical situation that would, at least, tide us over until we reached Singapore / Malaysia, but getting a full reassessment in Singapore had definitely become a priority. Regardless, we had arrived in Bali at long last and we had the opportunity to enjoy our stay.

 

After just 24 hours, though, there were a number of aspects that had struck us about Bali, which were in total contrast to what we had seen elsewhere in Indonesia. In particular the wealth of Bali, compared to the impoverished communities elsewhere and, of course, the consequence of that wealth; better infrastructure, an abundance of well maintained buildings and gardens and a population that appeared to be educated and well spoken. What we loved most about Bali, though, similar to everywhere in Indonesia, were the people. The Balinese people were just so gentle and humble. It may well have been, because there was no language barrier in Bali, that our interactions seemed so much more meaningful, similar to our experiences in Samoa and Fiji and, while we realised staying in a luxury resort tainted our view, at this point we could say that the Balinese people were simply lovely!

 

That evening we continued our Balinese experience; this time sampling the local cuisine at the Paon Bali restaurant. We decided on the “Megibung”, meaning “sharing”, where people eat together, discuss and share opinions. In particular we chose the “Land Rijsttafel”. To say it was delicious was an understatement. 

 

First up was a portion of rice crackers, served with a sweet soy sauce and a “sambal” sauce, together with our drinks; a local sparkling wine for Elaine and a Bintang for Roy. The “Megibung” comprised four separate dishes; chicken in a turmeric and coconut sauce, roast duck, pork ribs and four barbecued skewers, two of coconut encrusted chicken and two of pork, all accompanied by rice cooked in turmeric and coconut cream, as well as local vegetables. We weren’t completely sure of the sauces, but we think one was “sambal”, a hot sauce made with shrimp paste, garlic, ginger, shallots, palm sugar, kaffir lime and lime, a “sambal matir” sauce, made with shallots, chilli, lemongrass, coconut oil and kaffir lime juice and a “sambal goreng”, made with shallots, chilli and coconut oil. 

 

“Penutup” (Dessert) was “awug awug” for Elaine, a steamed coconut cake, served with a sweet red bean paste, peanut crumble and black rice ice-cream and “ubi lapis keju” for Roy, a sweet potato cheesecake, served with lemongrass vanilla sauce, sesame tuille and strawberry coulis. It was a  symphony of tastes that certainly tantalised our taste buds. 

 

A fabulous evening was topped off with the Head Chef coming out to talk to us. Being an ex-seaman himself, he was completely fascinated at finding out we were sailing around the world, as well as discovering all the places we’d visited in Indonesia thus far. He was delighted when we shared our yacht card with him after he’d enquired as to whether or not we were writing a book or if we perhaps had a blog. He also introduced us to one of his colleagues from Thailand after finding out we were heading to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. It was a fitting end to another wonderful day in Bali!

 

While the previous day was all about getting organised, Friday 13^th September 2019 was all about slowing down. A nice lazy sleep-in, fun with the family in Arizona and another delicious, albeit a late morning breakfast, started the day. More surprising, though, is that we eventually got rain, the first we’ve seen in Indonesia and it absolutely poured down. Since we had very little planned anyway, it was the perfect interlude. By mid-morning the rain had passed through, the skies had cleared and we decided we’d better, at least attempt, to work off all the food we’d consumed since our arrival. That meant a walk on the beach, but it wasn’t exactly the walk we had thought we would have as we drudged through soft, course sand which definitely gave us both a great foot exfoliation. However, when we saw camels walking down the beach in the opposite direction, we thought we were seeing things! 

 

By the time we returned, we were ready for a gelato, which completely negated the purpose of the walk. Oh well! Afterwards we took a taxi to Bali Connection and we were pleasantly surprised to find a lovely outdoor shopping centre set amongst beautiful gardens. A wander around the Padi Art Market was very interesting and allowed us to purchase our Batik sarongs that we needed for our visits to the various temples. It was the various ornate carvings, though, that really caught our eye. So intricate and unusual!

 

A foot massage for Elaine and a back massage for Roy preceded a late lunch / early dinner at the Bebek Tepi Sawah restaurant. While Elaine decided to try the Balinese “mei goreng”, comprising fried egg noodles, served with chicken satay, vegetables, “sambal” and prawn crackers, Roy decided on the “nasi campur”, comprising chicken curry, beef “rendang”, chicken satay, fried noodles, egg “balado” and fried prawns. Neither dish was as delicious as the “Megibung” we enjoyed the previous night at the Paon Bali restaurant, but they were tasty enough.

 

In addition to experiencing Balinese food and a little of their culture, we’d also started to learn a few words, not realising until the previous day that Bali has a different local language to the other parts of Indonesia we’d visited. For example, up until this point, we’d been saying: “terima kasih” for “thank you”, but in Bali it’s “suksma”, pronounced phonetically as “suk-se-ma” or we could use “matur suksma”, meaning “thank you very much”. The best part about using a local phrase is the huge smile one receives from the locals. They are so pleased at us making the effort, as small a gesture as it may be. What had completely blown people’s minds, however, was using the voice activated feature of “Google Translate”, which repeated whatever we said into Indonesian and vice versa. It was a godsend when trying to communicate with the taxi drivers or tour drivers or the ladies at the local Produce Markets or the children who’d come out to Paw Paw or the adults who’d come out to sell their ware, etc when we were in the other more rural areas of Indonesia. The look on their faces when Roy had hauled out his phone, said something in English and it then blurted out the translation, was very entertaining, especially the animation that usually followed and their delight at replying and having us understand. It immediately broke down any barriers that may have existed up until that point. 

 

The most important thing about trying to learn a few words, of course, was remembering what the phrase actually meant and we’d already forgotten one: “suksma mewali”. For the life of us neither of us could remember what this meant and the translator wasn’t much help either. We decided it was probably best not to use it, until we knew!

 

While the previous day was all about slowing the pace down, on Saturday, 14^th September 2019 we were up early to have breakfast and meet our driver, Ketut and our tour guide, Senada for our explorations further afield. It’s fair to say, we had a fabulous day, which far exceeded our expectations, seeing and experiencing far more than we thought was included in the tour package. It transpired as well that we’d picked a “very special day” in one of the Balinese calendars, to do our tour; it was full moon.

 

En route to our first stop, Senada definitely filled in a number of gaps in our knowledge. We learnt that Bali actually comprises five islands, including Penida, Lembongan and Cenimgan to the southeast, as well as Menjangan to the northwest. Its total population comprises 85% Hindu, 12% Muslim, the latter who reside mostly in cities and the remaining population a mixture of Christian, Buddhist and Confucianists. The Hindu population in Bali came about during the 13th to 16th centuries with the Majapahit Empire. Later in the 15th to 16th centuries the Muslim influences occurred, primarily as a result of migrations from Java. 

 

July and August constitutes the high season, mostly for the European tourist, although Australians visit all year round, with the Chinese tourist constituting the highest numbers. 

 

The Hindu religion in Bali is a little different to that of India, primarily because the Balinese adopted the customs and traditions of the area during the Majapahit era. Essentially they believe in one Supreme God, but with many different manifestations like the Creator, the Protector, the Destroyer, etc. The religion also includes gods of agriculture, rice, sea, education, health, etc, in addition to guardians who look after a specific area. The many temples and statues seen everywhere are to make it easy for the Balinese to make offerings to the holy spirits and is very much a part of daily life throughout Bali. We also received an explanation for the many temples seen; each village has three temples, every house has a temple, every family clan has a  temple, every hotel has a temple for the staff and then there’s the numerous public temples. 

 

Bali also has its own calendar system. In fact it has two; the “Saka” calendar and the “Pawukon” calendar, where the “Saka” calendar or Lunar calendar is based on the moon and its cycles and is fairly similar to the Gregorian calendar. The year is divided into 12 months consisting of 29 - 30 days each, each month beginning after the new moon. Every 30 months an extra month is added to keep the calendar synchronised with the solar year.

 

The “Pawukon” calendar system, on the other hand, is very unique. It is said to originate from the thousands of years old rice growing cycles in Bali. It is the calendar that determines the date for the Balinese New Year, “Nyepi”; a day of silence where the entire islands shuts down leaving room for self-reflection and meditation. The “Pawukon” year consists of 6 months of 35 days each, making up a total of 210 days. 

 

The temples follow these local calendars, all of which determine what ceremonies are undertaken and when, including weddings, births, funerals, etc. The latter are coordinated with these calendars to ensure the selection of a “good” day. Hence our selection of a full moon to do the tour, provided us with an experience not often seen and afforded us the opportunity to see preparations underway for the next public ceremony.  Our experience was related to the 3rd full moon according to the “Saka” calendar.

 

It was also interesting to learn that Bali has moved with the times. For instance, funerals no longer use wood for the cremations, but gas or petrol, following which the ashes are scattered out to sea and marriages are no longer arranged, resulting in many inter-racial and multi-cultural / religious combinations. There are, however, specific rules that govern these combinations. Bali is a patrilineal society, so marriage, children, etc follow the line of the father. This means the wife moves to the husband’s village and follows his custom, tradition and religion. It also means the men are responsible for handling the household, community and temples and is one of the main reasons why a Balinese will always return home after periods abroad. If, however, the family has no sons, the family name can be carried on through to the adoption of a son or through a daughter, assuming the husband agrees to take on the status of the “wife” in the relationship and in the village. This is an old Balinese tradition known as “Nyentana”. 

 

Our first stop was at Nadisuari, a factory where we were able to see the production of the Batik fabrics, where bees wax is used to maintain the original colours of the design, as different layers of dye are added to the fabric. While we had seen this process before in the Caribbean, we also got the chance to view the Batik Collection, a gallery of beautiful Batik Art, which we’d never seen before. In this instance, the artist completes the drawing before starting the dyeing process. So creative! 

 

Most fascinating, however, was the traditional ancient art of Ikat weaving, using a dyeing technique to pattern textiles. When the dyeing is finished the yarns are woven into cloth. In other resist-dyeing techniques such as the batik the resist-dye is applied to the woven cloth, whereas in Ikat the resist-dye is applied to the yarns before they are woven into the cloth. About 2 metres of the cloth are completed in a day, dependent on the complexity of the design and the motifs used differ from island to island. Having thought we’d missed the opportunity to see this ancient practice, we were definitely delighted to eventually get to see it. 

 

From there we drove further north to the Batu Bulan village and, particularly to the Pura Puseh temple for a “stage play” of sorts. The village is famous for its red brick and sandstone carvings, but also for a show called the “Pemaksan Barong Denjalan”, a play representing a story about the eternal light between good and evil. Barong, a mystical animal, represents a good spirit and Rangda, a mythical monster, representing the evil one. Various characters and dancers entertained us for an hour, accompanied by an “orchestra” of musicians and very unusual instruments. It was also lovely to go “backstage” before the performance and see the actors and actresses prepare. 

 

After a drive through the Celuk village, home to the jewellery making industry in Bali, 

using silver and gold mined in Indonesia, following which products are either sold locally to tourists in Bali and other Indonesian islands or exported, we continued on to the Batuan village, where the skills required to make furniture are passed on through the generations. During our drive we learnt that, although many of these traditions are impacted by the availability of better education in modern times, resulting in the younger generation moving to the cities or moving abroad or taking jobs on cruise ships rather than continue the family traditions, most stay close to the family. If not, they eventually return, especially the sons, whose responsibility includes looking after the parents in later life, taking responsibility for the family temple and inheriting the family property. If there is more than one son, these responsibilities and any property is divided amongst them.

 

We then stopped at the Kimenuh village, famous for its wood carvings and where we got to visit the family cooperative to see the wood carvers in action, who also happen to be farmers in some instances, as well as peruse the many beautiful carvings in the gallery. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take any photographs inside the gallery, but the carvings ranged from items standing a few centimetres / inches high, to full blown statues as tall as a grown man or woman, created from various wood found in Bali or on the other islands in Indonesia. The intricacies and detail were astounding, like the Romeo and Juliet couple carved from Ebony brought in from Borneo or the Ganesha, the Balinese god symbolising good luck, health, protection and wisdom, adorning Bali's temples from north to south, carved from Crocodile wood, the latter referencing the texture of the bark that looks like crocodile skin or the Buddha with hands in the blessing position, carved from the Hibiscus tree, where the wood provides different colours depending on the colour of the flower; the yellow hibiscus flower producing a white and green wood, while the red flower produces a brown and white wood. 

 

Our next stop was the Pura Tirtha Empul / Holy Spring temple, Bali’s Sacred Pool of Purification, located in the village of Manukaya, near the town of Tampaksiring. Built during the 10^th century, in 964, where original sections still stand today, while other parts have been renewed over the years, the temple is situated just below the Presidential Palace of Tampaksiring, built in 1957 by Indonesia's first president, Soekarno. The beautifully built palace itself is an important landmark of the island and of the country. However, while we had been told by our tour guide that this was a public temple and, being a full moon, many people will be coming to the temple for purification, we had no idea what this entailed. We literally stopped in our tracks as we entered the middle section of the temple.

 

For over a thousand years, Balinese Hindu worshipers have been drawn to Pura Tirtha Empul, whose sacred springs are said to have been created by “Indra”, the god of rain, and possesses curative properties. This tradition still continues almost unchanged today and we were very privileged to see it firsthand. Hundreds of Balinese Hindu worshippers were wading through the holy water in the “Petirtaan” or bathing structure, for the purification ritual. As we moved through to the inner temple, we witnessed the worshippers, having completed the bathing aspect, participating in prayers lead by the priest, followed by their anointment, as holy water was sprinkled over them, then finally receiving their “Bija”, a wet rice grain placed on the forehead signifying God’s blessing. 

 

Given that various ceremonies are performed at the temples, including the birthday celebration of a temple, we were also able to see the preparations underway for an upcoming ceremony, encompassing temporary structures being erected, garments being hung and ladies weaving. We also learnt that temples consist of specific shrines dedicated to a god or a manifestation of a god, which allows Hindus to make an offering to a specific god at a specific shrine or provide a general offering in the general area of the temple. Additionally, most of the village and public temples in Bali were built during the 15th to 17th centuries at the time of the mass migration from Java. Family temples, however, are built at the time the home is built, where the size of the family temple has nothing to do with wealth or status, but rather the availability of land. There are, however, building restrictions in Bali, where no structure can be taller than a coconut tree or 15 metres, whichever is the lesser.

 

After our wonderful visit to the Pura Tirtha Empul / Holy Spring temple, we continued north and into the mountains.  With each mile travelled the temperatures cooled, the hustle and bustle of the villages and towns ceased, traffic thinned out and the surroundings were replaced with lush green landscapes, beautiful views and miles of orchards and cultivated lands. Before long we had arrived at Oka Agriculture, for a coffee break, but this was no ordinary coffee. It was Luwak coffee and something we had never heard of until now. It is a coffee that includes partially digested coffee cherries, eaten and defecated by a mongoose looking animal called an Asian palm civet. Fermentation occurs as the cherries pass through a civet's intestines and after being defecated with other faecal matter, the pip of the cherries are collected.

 

Producers of the coffee beans argue that the process may improve coffee through two mechanisms; selection, since the civets choose to eat only certain cherries and, digestion, where biological or chemical mechanisms in the animal's digestive tract alter the composition of the coffee bean as well as reduce the caffeine. Although Luwak coffee is a form of processing rather than a variety of coffee, it has been called one of the most expensive coffees in the world, given that only 50 coffee berries are consumed per day by a single civet, making the coffee bean extremely rare and fetching retail prices of €550 / US$700 per kilogram.

 

Regardless, it was definitely not something Elaine was prepared to try, primarily for health reasons. However, while Roy decided to give it a whirl, Elaine chose to sample the various teas instead, including the delicious mangosteen tea, rosella tea and lemon grass tea. It was only after consuming the Luwak coffee that Roy decided to google it, but, of course, by then, whatever he learnt, was too late; he was going to defecate the remnants of the coffee whether he liked it or not. On hearing the concerns, Elaine was delighted with her wise choice and enjoyed the most delicious sticky rice “pastries” that were served with her tea. Before sampling the coffee and teas, though, we were able to see the civets responsible for the coffee Roy had consumed, as well as learnt a little about the establishment and the other products and spices they grew, including cocoa, tangerines, avocados, pepper, cloves, nutmeg,  cinnamon, chilli and anise. 

 

As we continued further north towards our lunch stop, the plantations of fruit and vegetable became more numerous, including large fields of chilli and rice paddies. Amongst the fruit and vegetables, we could see tangerines, pawpaws, mangoes and cabbages, as well as the effective use of the land with the various vegetables and flowers planted under the miles of fruit trees. At first we were surprised to see flowers being cultivated, but it was later explained that these are used in the many Hindu offerings. 

 

Our lunch stop was in the village of Kintamani at the Madu Sari restaurant with fabulous views overlooking Gunung Batur, an active volcano located at the centre of two concentric calderas, with the beautiful caldera lake to the southeast side. After lunch we commenced our trek southwards, stopping at the beautiful and scenic terraced Tegalalang Rice Fields. Here we learnt that the rice fields are harvested every four months, producing three crops per year and that the farmers rotate the rice crop with soya beans and peanuts. The irrigation system is maintained by the farmers and water used to flood the paddies flows into a river below, then used for other farming activities. We were surprised to learn that, although, white, red and black rice are the various types grown, sticky rice is actually a type of rice too. 

 

During our two hour return trip we had the time to reflect on what we’d seen and experienced, making it easy to see how Bali had become the tourist capital of Indonesia. Besides its gentle, humble, friendly and welcoming people, its unique local culture and traditional influence from Hinduism, with its magnificent temples and ancient traditions, coupled with beautiful sceneries and a well established agricultural industry as well a variety of other industries, including garment, jewellery, furniture, wood and stone carving and abundance of natural resources like wood, volcanic rock, sandstone, etc, it was no wonder the large international hotel chains invested in fabulous resorts and conference facilities here, knowing the local economy could sustain them, with everything from food to building materials and beautiful artefacts to complete the interior designs. 

 

While Bali has 5 million inhabitants, its population doubles throughout any given year by a further 5 million as a result of tourist who visit this unique island. We were glad we’d had the opportunity to experience it too, but our time was not yet over, fortunately.

 

On Sunday, 15^th September 2019 and Monday, 16^th September 2019, after touring all day on the Saturday, we enjoyed quiet days at the resort. This gave us the opportunity to find a shady spot at the pool and reminisce about all the wonderful sights we’d seen and on the latter day, while Roy lay at the pool, Elaine enjoyed a large dollop of pampering at the Mandara Spa, choosing her treatment in one of the semi-open Balinese spa villas, Tranquility, in the tropical garden. The setting alone was worth the cost, but her Hot Stone massage followed by a facial, inspired by ancient secrets and reflecting the ritual of Balinese life, were definitely rejuvenating, not to mention awakening her sensors with all the beautiful oils used. It was exactly what she needed. It’s not every day, though, that one’s Spa treatments are delayed by misbehaving monkeys that needed to be chased away by the security guard before the therapist could walk Elaine to her chosen villa. 

 

Afterwards a light lunch was enjoyed on the beachfront terrace, before retiring to our room for a lazy afternoon and allowing Elaine to catch up on the blogs, we then wrapped up our day with dinner at the Grain restaurant, where we enjoyed another delicious meal and the best chocolate brownie we’d ever tasted!

 

On Tuesday 17^th September 2019, after catching up with Keenan, who was on a stopover in Boston following his flight from Amsterdam and after another delicious breakfast at the resort, which was definitely impacting the waistline, we enjoyed the last of our touring around the southern areas of Bali. 

 

After meeting our driver, a forty-five minute drive took us over to the Kuta area on the southwestern coast and, in particular, to Pura Luhur Uluwatu, the last of the temples that we wanted to see. It is a Balinese sea temple, regarded as one of the “Sad Kahyangan”, dedicated to “Acintya”, the Supreme God of Balinese Hinduism, also known as “Sang Hyang Widgu Wasa” in his manifestation as “Rudra”, god of the roaring storm. Though a small temple was claimed to have existed earlier, the structure was significantly expanded in the 11th century by Empu Kuturan,  a Hindu priest / sage who came from Java. Another sage from East Java, Dang Hyang Nirartha is credited for constructing the “Padmasana” shrines and it is said that he attained “Moksha” here, an event called “Ngeluhur” meaning "to go up", which resulted in the temple's epithet “Luhur”. 

 

“Sad Kahyangan” refers to the six main temples which are believed to be the spiritual Pillars of Balinese Hinduism. The word “Sad” was derived from the Sanskrit word meaning “six” and “Kahyangan” means “Place of Gods.” Hence, “Sad Kahyangan” is translated as the “Six Places of Gods”. The other five temples are:

 

Besakih Temple, which is the main temple of all temples in Bali, often referred to as the “Mother Temple” with a complex consisting of 18 temples and 1 main one; Lempuyang Temple is estimated as the oldest temple in Bali and existed in the era when Hinduism and Buddhism had not yet arrived in Bali. It is the place of “Hyang Gni Jaya” or “Iswara”, god of the East; Goa Lawah Temple is a temple for worshipping the god of the Sea; Luhur Batukaru Temple is the place for worshipping “Ratu Hyang Tumuwuh”, the god of plants and Pusering Jagat Temple is the member of “Sad Kahyangan” with its position in the middle of Bali Island and believed to be  the centre of the earth by many locals.

 

Our visit to Pura Luhur Uluwatu, unfortunately didn’t coincide with any “special day” on either the  “Saka” calendar or the “Pawukon” calendar, but, nonetheless, there were groups of Hindu worshippers visiting the temple to make their offerings, including a group that were collecting a variety of items from the temple, which included musical instruments of some kind, obviously for a ceremony somewhere. What caught our attention, though, was the temple’s magnificent location, perched on top of a cliff, with stunning views overlooking the Indian Ocean as we meandered along the cliff face, encountering a number of monkeys along the way. Balinese architecture, including traditionally designed gateways and ancient sculptures added to its appeal.

 

Continuing along the coast from Pura Luhur Uluwatu, we then stopped at Labuan Sait and Padang Padang Beach in particular. We definitely weren’t expecting the steep descend to access the beach, but it was well worth the effort and we got to shed some of our newly acquired pounds on the climb back up. Huffing and puffing, it was time to return to our resort, where we spent the rest of our afternoon lounging at the pool. Sundowners and dinner on the beachfront terrace wrapped up our last day, for now anyway, on the intriguing island of Bali with its lovely people. We were really looking forward to returning to the northern region of Bali aboard Paw Paw!

 

On Wednesday, 18^th September 2019,  after a fabulous week, we were up early to enjoy the last of our delicious buffet breakfasts which we’d savoured all week, before meeting the driver to return us to the ferry port. However, before bidding beautiful Bali goodbye, we had the pleasure of seeing the main showpiece of the multipurpose cultural park, Garuda Wisnu Kencanais, which the locals refer to as GWK. Although we viewed it from a distance, the gigantic statue, which depicts the benevolent Hindu god, “Vishnu”, riding on the back of the mythical “garuda” eagle, was clearly visible on the horizon. The 121 metre high monument stands on a pedestal that is approximately 46 metres high, making it one of the tallest landmarks in SE Asia.

 

En route we also passed Vihara Satya Dharma, a modern Chinese temple at Benoa Port. It is a temple of “Shenism” the SE Asian name for the Chinese folk religion. Like other Chinese temples in Bali, this temple also has an altar in its outdoor yard dedicated to the gods of Balinese Hinduism. The main deity of this temple is “Mazu”, also known as “Matsu”, a popular Taoist and Chinese Buddhist goddess. She is the goddess and patroness of the sea and is believed to protect fisherman and sailors. As a temple built in the international port area, this temple, therefore, serves the deities of travel safety, sailing, and business. It is also a place of worship for the sailors who visit Bali from various countries around the world. Having also made a decision on a revised sailing itinerary by this stage, which basically meant rejoining the rally in Lovina, we hoped she would shower her blessings on us as we returned to Paw Paw to continue our travels through SE Asia and beyond.

 

Once on the ferry, we had the opportunity to stop at Lembongan Island and Nusa Penida again on our way back to Gili Gede Island and our crossings of both Selat Badung and Selat Lombok were much calmer than our previous crossings. Before we knew it, though, we were back on Paw Paw and back to the matters at hand. While Roy set about replacing our generator lift pump that had melted and burnt out the morning of our departure to Bali, Elaine started the unpacking and getting life onboard back to normal. 

 

By Monday 23^rd September 2019, we’d wrapped up our stay in Marina Del Ray, stopped off at Sengiggi, enjoyed a fabulous two days on Gili Air as well as partook in the rally festivities in Medana Bay Marina and we were weighing anchor to cross Selat Lombok for the third time; Bali bound again, only this time we were aboard Paw Paw, enjoying a fabulous beam reach sail at 7.0 to 7.5 Kts on headsail alone.  By the time we reached Amed Beach on the northeastern side of Bali, Impi (Brett and Ana), Entice (Karen and Greg) and Windancer IV (Ziggy and John) were already anchored in the bay. Soon thereafter Cattiva (Maria and Maurice) and Pitpony (Judy and Fred) arrived.  Having found a decent anchoring spot in 8 metres / 25ft of water with Mount Agung towering in the background and having put out plenty of chain to be sure, to be sure, it was time for a nap, followed by lunch and a walk on the beach. Landing the dinghy, however, was the next challenge, as it was the rolliest of anchorages with waves breaking onshore and the beach, although black volcanic sand, was also very rocky. Nonetheless, we beached the dinghy without incident and enjoyed a walk followed by a drink at one of the little restaurants, as well as made dinner reservations at the Amed Beach Resort.

After collecting Maria and Maurice off Cattiva, we headed ashore for the second time that day and were delighted to find Entice and Windancer enjoying dinner at the resort as well. After a delicious meal, however, we were all drenched getting back in the dinghy, as the waves had increased significantly with the tide, dumping large rollers along the shoreline,  but it was the roll of the yachts that made getting back onboard very precarious indeed and definitely didn’t make for a comfortable night. To be honest, we probably would have hightailed it out of the anchorage the following morning if we hadn’t made arrangements for our snorkelling tour with Cattiva. The decision to stay, however, had the unfortunate consequence of adding us to an exclusive club.

The tour, however, was a delight, especially since it was our first outing in a spider boat and we had chosen Mother Nature over a land tour that would have taken us to visit the Gates of Heaven temple instead.  We definitely weren’t expecting the distance we travelled, though, to reach the Japanese wreck, but, given the very poor visibility of the water, none of us actually saw it. The next two stops made up for the disappointment, fortunately. The coral gardens were beautiful and well worth the trip, seeing something totally different in each one. In fact, it was another experience enjoying Indonesia’s underwater world where we spent so much time observing the unusual corals that we didn’t really notice the fish. What we did see, though, was larger fish than we’d seen in other areas  of Indonesia and a greater variety, especially the huge trumpetfish, angelfish and triggerfish. Maria was lucky enough to spot a turtle as well. It was the last site that nearly did us all in, though, with the horrendous current and the fact that our tour guide had fallen asleep on the boat, not realising he’d drifted a significant distance from us. While Elaine, Roy and Maurice manage to swim to the boat and wake up the tour guide, who was very apologetic, we had to return for Maria. By then we were all exhausted, but seeing all the yachts still rolling around in the anchorage on our return, including the new arrivals, we decided to postpone the return dinghy ride to our yachts in lieu of a lunch onshore, following which we made another dinner reservation to celebrate our 36^th Wedding Anniversary. 

So, after another drenching in the dinghy while heading back to the yachts and another difficult dinghy landing on our return to shore for dinner, we found a spot on the beach at the Amed Beach Resort to enjoy our sundowners while watching all the fishermen head out for the night. It was these fishermen who we have to thank, since we’d barely finished our main course and had ordered dessert when the alarm was sounded; a large unoccupied yacht was drifting out at sea. It didn’t take us long to realise it may be Paw Paw. With that Roy and Maurice hopped in the dinghy and sped off into the darkness. After a quick walk along the beach with Maria, Elaine was able to confirm that it was indeed Paw Paw that was missing. An anxious hour passed before we finally saw the navigation lights and the spotlight and then the dinghy appeared out of the darkness. Paw Paw was safely re-anchored after being found adrift more than a nautical mile out to sea, having missed the reef to the east, thankfully. 

It was definitely not the anniversary celebrations we had in mind considering, only an hour earlier, Elaine had taken photographs of the fishermen heading out in their spider boats and Paw Paw was in the background. As luck would have it, the anchor alarm had sent all the email messages it was supposed to, but, for the first time ever, Roy had left his phone onboard. The first warning alarm was sent at 1905, followed by the drift alarm at 1906. We still have no idea what happened other than to assume that our anchor was tripped inadvertently by another yacht which had arrived earlier in the day while we were out touring. Regardless, we were just delighted to have our home back safe and sound and we absolutely knew now how Monique and Dick off Umnyama had felt; we too had joined this exclusive club, one we would rather not have joined to be honest! What was becoming a recurring theme, though, was our disastrous wedding anniversary celebrations, since this was a hat-trick; three years running we’ve had disasters of varying degrees occur. We’re definitely going to be a lot more careful celebrating the next one!

After that ordeal, on the morning of Wednesday, 25^th September 2019, we didn’t hesitate to weigh anchor and set sail for Lovina to rejoin the rally and enjoy a more secure anchorage. We enjoyed a great sail for the first few hours before the wind died and we had to motor the rest of the way with the current on the nose, but Elaine missed most of that as she was “man-down and feeling like death warmed up” the whole day. The terrible heat didn’t help matters either, but, after we were safely anchored off Lovina on the northern side of Bali, both of us fell asleep on the trampoline with a light breeze to keep us cool, which definitely helped take the edge of the day and afforded us a good night’s sleep in a relatively calm anchorage. 

 

Since returning to Lombok Island from Bali after our luxurious week in the Hilton Resort, we had done nothing but rush around, it seemed, but arriving in Lovina, we had hoped for some downtime. This was not meant to be, however. Late that evening we received notification from the rally organisers that they had arranged a tour of northern Bali, starting early the following day. Wanting to see the sites, we went to bed thinking we’d probably have to forego the tour, but hopeful that Elaine would be well enough to participate. Fortunately she was and what a gift that turned out to be! 

That, of course, meant it was another early start on Thursday, 26^th September 2019 to meet the tour at Sweet Lips Café and, with that, another busy, but interesting and very enjoyable day in Bali began. 

Our tour started off very energetically; a hike to and from the GitGit Waterfalls. Fortunately it was a concrete pathway, but the number of steps was a killer. Thankfully it was early morning with the cooler temperatures, but the air-conditioned “minivan” certainly went a long way to keeping us comfortable throughout the day, not to mention the cooler mountain temperatures and the wonderful rain we got in the afternoon.

Next stop was the stunning Ulun Danu Beratan or Pura Bratan temple, located on Lake Bratan, also known as the Lake of Holy Mountain due to the fertility of this area. Located 1200 metres above sea level, it has a cold tropical climate and when the water levels rise in the Bratan River, the temple appears to float. Built in 1633, this temple is a major Hindu Shaivite water temple, where Shaivism is one of the largest sects within Hinduism, that believes “Shiva”, worshipped as creator and destroyer of worlds, is the Supreme God and is also used for offerings and ceremonies to the Balinese water, lake and river goddess, “Dewi Danu”, due to the importance of Lake Bratan as a main source of irrigation in central Bali. The 11-storey “Pelinggih Meru” in the complex is dedicated to “Shiva” and his consort “Parvathi”. Buddha’s statue is also enshrined in this temple. Set amongst beautiful gardens, the tranquillity of the temple and its surroundings didn’t escape us. 

Next stop was a coffee plantation then lunch, where others got the opportunity to sample the Luwak coffee. Since we’d already had this experience, we chose to wait in the shade of the gardens instead, but we did take the opportunity to participate in the photo shoots, before Roy enjoyed a buffet lunch with the other cruisers and Elaine enjoyed her “padkos”.

From there we visited the Air Panas Banjar Hot Springs, set amongst tropical gardens, with  a sulphur content of 26% and a temperature of around 38°C, apparently perfect for healing. It was the colour of the water, though, that definitely didn’t appeal to either of us, although a few cruisers, who had come prepared with swimwear, didn’t seem to mind. We settled for an ice-cream instead. It was the drive to the Hot Springs, along the ridge on top of the mountain range, with steep drop offs on each side, that captured our interest and got the adrenaline pumping on more than one occasion. In fact, it was best not to look out the side windows and we were quite relieved to eventually reach our destination unscathed. The cool mountain breezes were definitely welcomed, though. 

Our last stop was the second highlight of the day, in our opinion anyway; the Banjar Buddhist temple, also called Brahmavihara-Arama, the biggest Buddhist monastery located on a hill at Banjar Tegeha village and not too far from the anchorage. It was built in 1969 and formally starting functioning around 1973. Its name, given by the late founding father of the monastery, Bhante Giri, consists of three words: Brahma, Vihara and Arama, which, when combined, mean “A place for Self-Cultivation”. Built over a series of terraces and set amongst beautiful gardens, the impressive architecture, with a lot of Hindu influences due to its location on Bali, included a number of meditation rooms and libraries, as well as a miniature replica of the world’s largest Buddhist temple located in Java; the UNESCO listed, Borobudur, on its highest location. 

 

The entrance gate is designed in Balinese architecture with a rising Balinese-style bell tower housing a metal bell instead of the traditional wooden “kul-kul” bell, but as we entered, we were greeted by the beautiful Balinese-style courtyard with a round lotus-filled central pond, surrounded by stone guardian figures. Then, through another gate, two sets of stairs, lined with guardian statues up the hillside and each step marked with aspects from the Buddhist’s “Eightfold Path of Enlightenment”, lead to one of the meditation rooms featuring a seated Thai-style Buddha statue. 

Research revealed that the several main sections include the “Uposatha Gara”, which is a restful and very quiet meditation room in the western section, with walls portraying Prince Siddhartha Gautama’s birth, and a statue of Buddha in his state of reaching Nirvana. The room also serves as a main venue for the initiation of new “Bhikhu” or Buddhist monks. Another building which is called “Dharmasala”, is located in the eastern part of the monastery. This apparently is a study room where the “Bhikhu” conduct their prayers and lectures. 

In all areas of the gardens, we saw various Buddha figures in different postures. The most prominent ones being two gold-plated bronze statues which were gifts from Thailand and Sri Lanka in 1977.

This Buddhist monastery is also a meditation place for Buddhist pilgrims during the holy day of “Vesak” or “Asada”, when the monastery grounds and mini Borobudur are at its most interesting with monks in spiritual procession. For us, however, having never been to a Buddhist temple before or knowing very little about this religion, we found it completely fascinating and thoroughly enjoyed the serenity and peaceful atmosphere, especially after another busy week.  Meeting one of the monks, who invited us to a meditation class, was the cherry on the cake. By the time we returned to Paw Paw, though, all we wanted was our dinner and sleep, but we were, nonetheless,  appreciative of the rally organisers who had arranged this most interesting and enjoyable day.

On Friday, 27^th September 2019, while Elaine stayed onboard to catch up with a number of activities that had piled up again, Roy dinghied ashore to visit the western-style supermarket, Market Pepito, and returned with all sorts of luxury items, including French pastries, freshly baked bread,  bacon and smoked salmon, but not before we enjoyed some fun-time with the family in Arizona. We had a good laugh at the parent’s report on what rascals the twins were becoming with big brother, William, apparently the ringleader. By the time the video call was over, there was definitely a consensus that it was time to get them all engaged in various extramural activities to keep them occupied and out of mischief. We also had the good fortune of one of the locals, Joe, collecting our dirty laundry and empty jerry cans before Roy made a second trip back to shore later in the day to collect the paperwork required for our third visa renewal, which, needless to say, was a definite nuisance for cruisers sailing around Indonesia. We expected this one to be the last renewal, though, thank goodness!

By then it was time to get ready and head back to shore for the Gala dinner and various ceremonies arranged by the rally organisers. We were definitely surprised at the lengths to which the Balinese community had gone to welcome us to Lovina. Everyone was dressed in their finest, the tables were beautifully decorated, Roy enjoyed a tasty meal and we were entertained in various ways. First by a number of individual and group Balinese dances while dinner was served, with both of us joining in after being solicited onto the stage individually. This was followed by a “fish releasing” ceremony on the beach at sunset with all the local dignitaries in attendance,  signifying “giving back to the sea” for the fish provided to the community. Finally, we attended a fantastic opening ceremony for the Lovina Festival; all very unexpected. 

Besides the fabulous performances, the backdrop of the stage, woven from palm and banana leaves and decorated with various fresh flowers was absolutely stunning. We eventually realised that the Lovina Festival is something similar to the “Heiva” we enjoyed in Boro Boro; primarily an event for locals, comprising dancing, singing, marching bands and various competitive sporting events.

The following day we remained onboard. Firstly, to receive our clean laundry and full jerry cans, delivered straight to Paw Paw as scheduled. Joe definitely deserved a great big THANK YOU for a fantastic service that saved us a lot of hassle. Staying onboard had allowed Elaine to, once again, catch up on the blogs, but more importantly, have some downtime and for Roy to continue work on his “mystery” project, adding a few extra features after the rather unpleasant “real-time test” of Paw Paw drifting off. We were fortunate enough, though, to not have to re-anchor as instructed by the Harbour Master, following a demarcation zone that was being set up for the swimming events that were taking place on the Sunday, which resulted in us having front row seats, right on the edge of the zone. 

 

That evening we decided to dinghy ashore and join many of the other cruisers at the Sail Malaysia rally event, primarily for a little company, but also to see if there was any information we could find useful. Unfortunately the timing of this rally didn’t dovetail with our plans, nor any of the discounts offered, so we opted instead to enjoy a good chin-wag with our fellow cruisers. Then, with most folks heading off to enjoy their dinner plans, we returned to Paw Paw to enjoy one of our last Australian steaks on the barbecue, following which we were entertained by a few of the American comedy shows portraying all the dramas taking place with the Trump administration and the various hangers-on. While the depictions were hilarious, the sad reality of what was going on in the US with this presidency was very troubling and, unfortunately, has continued. Regardless, all we had to deal with for the rest of the night was the heat and the noise from shore with the continuation of the Lovina Festival. At least our air-conditioning solved both matters by cooling us down and drowning out the racket.

On Sunday, 29^th September 2019 we had the opportunity to watch the swimming events from Paw Paw and it was quite a distance the competitors had to swim. Then, after dinghying ashore for a coffee at the Spice Beach Club, which definitely wasn’t the establishment we’d been led to believe, although the coffee wasn’t bad, we popped into Market Pepito again for a few more French pastries, some Lindt chocolate for Elaine, an ice-cream for Roy and some Australian lamb chops. On our return we stumbled upon the kite-flying contest associated with the festival and we had no option but listen to a few performances on the main stage, given the associated volume. Although we’d made a number of enquires and browsed around online, we weren’t able to find a program of the festivities anywhere; a real shame, as there was plenty advertised, but with no mention of date, time or place. Something we had hoped the rally organisers could provide, but to no avail. What we had read, though, touted the Lovina Festival as: “An annual event held along Kalibukbuk Beach, highlighting the culture and traditions of the Balinese people, especially those living in the northern region. Guests could expect handicraft exhibitions, photography contests, bull races, traditional Balinese marching bands, a towering fruit and flower offering parade, traditional puppet performances and plenty of live music. You could also enjoy classic Balinese dances which included the more popular and renowned dances as well as those that are unique to the north, including “Ki Barak Panji Sakti” and “Gong Kebyar”. Fortunately we’d seen a lot of these activities on our own, but some events would definitely have been very interesting and lovely to see, nonetheless. 

 

It’s fair to say, though, that there wasn’t too much of what Bali had to offer that we didn’t see. All we needed now was our renewed visas so we could depart and continue our explorations of the remaining northwestern areas of Indonesia. We knew by now, however, that we would be one of the last yachts to leave Bali, since we had to undertake our second visa renewal here and delays were already occurring, while most yachts were setting off for Bawean Island and the Indonesian Kalimantan region of Borneo Island. Unfortunately we had planned on visiting the immigration office on the previous Friday, but only received our paperwork that afternoon, thereby introducing this unexpected delay with the weekend. We had hoped, with a bit of luck, the authorities would process our application on the  same day, though, versus us having to wait a few more days, but we found out soon enough that that was not going to happen, as another fiasco started to unfold.

That evening, although we were invited ashore for dinner with Cattiva prior to them setting sail with the other yachts, Elaine’s stomach was only just starting to return to normal after her encounter with poor quality food in Gili Air and, given the fact that she was now definitely tired of being a “sucker for punishment” by giving an establishment the benefit of the doubt, we settled for sundowners with Cattiva aboard Paw Paw, instead. Her stomach clearly  just preferred international luxury establishments and nothing less!

 

After another night of listening to banging music to all hours of the night, then the mosque waking us up at 0430, followed by the festival activities getting started again at around 0630, we really didn’t need the alarm to wake us up on Tuesday ^1st October 2019, but we definitely would have preferred a quieter time to catch up on our sleep. Instead we had a repeat of the previous morning; dinghy ashore, find a taxi and head to the immigration office in Singaraja to collect our renewed visas. At least this time it was a much shorter drive than trying to get to Mataram on Lombok Island, but no less frustrating and tedious. The previous day, after handing in all our paperwork, we were told to come back the following day. Given the last experience in Mataram, we were delighted at this swift process in Singaraja, but it was short lived. When we arrived at immigration, we were told to: “Come back tomorrow”; introducing another day’s delay. So much for our plan to continue through the rest of Indonesia with the rally. With this delay we were now behind, given that most yachts adhering to the rally itinerary had already left and some had already arrived at the next destination, Bawean Island. It was a case of: “guess we’ll get out of Lovina at some point”!  

So, change of plan, again; forget the rally itinerary; pick a few more destinations we still wanted to see in Indonesia, maybe stumble upon a few gems and head on towards Singapore / Malaysia. This modus operandi had worked for us so far, since we’d had the opportunity to enjoy our chosen destinations for a longer period of time rather than trying to “piss on every tree” as Roy says. Pardon the language, but it’s succinct and demonstrates the point. Continuing in that vein, but with no particular timeframe or schedule this time, other than to ensure we’d be in Singapore / Malaysia before another visa renewal was required, seemed like the perfect way forward! 

After our return from the immigration office on the Monday, Elaine spent the rest of her morning getting through some paperwork, while Roy continued work on his “mystery” project. By this stage we could announce that the project was eventually in the final testing phase, a project he’d started in Australia to keep himself occupied on the days when Elaine was unable to “function” as a regular or normal human being, although, most who know Elaine well would suggest that there is nothing “regular” or “normal” about her to begin with! With the extreme heat, though, an afternoon nap was needed, but that had to be postponed until the AC/DC tribute band, practising for the festival closing ceremony, was finished. Unfortunately, we then had the pleasure of listening to it all over again that night. By this stage, we were both definitely looking forward to leaving Lovina and getting some peace in a quieter anchorage. It was, however, lovely to see the “turtle releasing” ceremony on the beach at sunset, where baby turtles were released into the wild.

On the Tuesday, after we returned from the immigration office empty-handed, we decided to defeat the heat with some water activities; clean Paw Paw’s bottom. So, while Roy did the throughhulls and saildrives, Elaine cleaned the waterline. Unfortunately Roy worked up a sweat again as he completed some maintenance on the starboard engine and then replaced the saildrive oil on the port engine, after investigating a problem that we suspected had developed after Paw Paw went walkabout and may have damaged the saildrive. Thank goodness that proved not to be the case, which resulted in a rather large sigh of relief. 

 

With a number of yachts having left the anchorage over the previous two days, we were delighted to see quite a few more arrive that afternoon and, by that evening, the anchorage was filled with as many rally yachts that had departed and made us realise that there were many more cruisers than we thought doing their own thing on this rally, at their own pace! The odd thing was, it appeared to be delimited by nationality, with a few exceptions including ourselves; as the UK and US contingencies departed, the Australian, New Zealand and European contingencies arrived, with the Canadians splitting the difference. What did that say about this Sail2Indonesia rally!

 

On Wednesday, 2^nd October 2019, we woke up to peace and quiet having both slept like logs the entire night. Roy, however, was ready at around 0700 to take delivery of another jerry can of diesel from Joe, as our port diesel tank required a top up given that we’d been running the generator and air-conditioning at night to keep cool. He then hopped onto the spider boat to join the rest of the passengers for a ride to shore and a short walk to the local Fresh Produce Market.

By 0800 Elaine had collected him and our bags of fresh produce in the dinghy, breakfast was served and we then dinghied back to shore for yet another trip to the immigration office. It was a lovely surprise to find The Pub (Angela and Steve) already at the office, but our delight was replaced with annoyance when we were informed a short while later that our passports with the new visas were still not ready. We couldn’t say we were surprised, but we were definitely disappointed.

Fortunately our driver had waited for us, so, although empty-handed again, we asked to be dropped off at the German Bakery where we enjoyed a mid-morning coffee and freshly baked apple pie in a delightful, clean, air-conditioned setting. At the same time we resigned ourselves to the fact that there was a high probability that we’d only get our passports the following week. With that, we decided to explore additional activities to entertain ourselves and we were delighted to find a number of lovely hotels and spas to enjoy, a restaurant and bar serving breakfasts and coffees with a lovely swimming pool open to patrons, a number of high-end restaurants we had no idea existed in this area, as well a number of activities like mediation lessons, cooking classes, etc. Guess there were worse places than Bali to be stuck!

That afternoon we spent some time finalising our sailing itinerary for the remainder of our time in Indonesia, researching possible anchorages and working out the best route to achieve this, bearing in mind that we had no choice but to undertake a number of overnight sails due to the distances involved and the lack of anchorage en route. We also had Impi (Ana and Brett) stop by briefly who had coincidentally planned a similar route, but were departing ahead of us. Either way, we’d hoped to get their input on the anchorages, fishing boats, FADs, shipping, etc, as they progressed. Disappointingly, this didn’t happen and emphasised our experience on this rally that cruisers were not sharing pertinent information, never mind the rally organisers, a subject covered extensively in our article, “Indonesia, A Most Unusual Destination”.

 

Although we’d been up early for a number of consecutive days to make our trek to the immigration office, our journey on Thursday, 3^rd October 2019 overwhelmed our visionary sensors with glimpses into local life and that we had the good fortune to witness. There were so many instances where we’d wished we’d had a camera to the ready in order to capture some of these brilliant encounters. It’s a true saying:”a picture is worth a thousand words” and words will definitely fail on this occasion, but here is our feeble attempt at describing some of these sights that awaited us the minute we left Paw Paw:

Boatmen in their brightly coloured spider boats putt-putting past Paw Paw as they ferried their passengers to work; A mother driving a scooter with a baby, peeking over the handlebars, while wrapped in a colourful blanket and placed in a basket wedged between mom’s knees; A mother driving a scooter with a toddler, dressed in a rainbow coloured knitted hat and scarf, regardless of the sweltering heat, standing on the platform, observing intently, while wedged between mom’s legs; A man driving a scooter with an array of at least fifty colourful balloons of all shapes, arranged perfectly behind the seat, stacked at least a metre / 3ft higher than his head and a half a metre / 2ft wider than his shoulders on each side; Numerous farmers wearing their Asian conical hat, commonly known as an Asian rice hat, coolie hat, or farmer's hat, wadding through the water in their rice-paddies. This standing fresh water, of course, also explained the increase in mosquitoes we’d encountered in Bali versus the other islands; A man pulling a wooden cart, stacked high with his newly handmade bamboo and wooden chairs; Shop owners out sweeping the floors and pavements fronting their store, using a “broom” fashioned from thin branches of a tree or bush, bound by a rope to form a handle of sorts; Traditional market stalls or traditional roadside snack stalls, known as “Warungs”, all being stacked with exotic and tasty fruits. The latter being a feast for the eyes and taste buds, with their striking textures, colours, shapes, sizes and some varieties that can only be found in Bali due to the island’s volcanic highlands and terraces that provide fertile plains and village plantations to produce them.  

For example, the “Balinese Snake” or “Snakeskin Fruit”, called “salak”, which is a rather odd-looking, but delicious fruit, with skin that resembles tiny snake scales and a colour that ranges from reddish to dark brown. It is widely grown in the village of Sibetan in eastern Bali and grows in clusters on very spiny palm-like trees. Locals not only eat these fruits on their own, but many add them as main ingredients to exotic salads and dishes; “Durian” is the fruit most locals love, although it’s an acquired taste, if you can bear the smell; “Mangosteens” are a round, apple-sized, purple fruit, nicknamed the “blood fruit” as the rind exudes a reddish sap that can stain clothes and resembles blood at a glance. The white inner flesh is eaten as is, but the rinds are dried to make health teas and used in traditional medicine to alleviate skin and digestive problems; “Rambutan” meaning “hairy” aptly names this fruit. They grow in clumps on trees that are commonly grown in village backyards in rural areas. Bright red when ripe, they reveal a soft and cloudy white flesh with oval seeds when opened; “Buah Buni” or “Boni” is a type of wild berry grown on a shrub-like tree in bunches of white, red or black that can be found in fruit markets and “Warungs” throughout Bali. Although it can be enjoyed on its own, it is usually prepared as a “rujak” (salad mix) with a blend of sugar, chilli, shrimp paste and salt. High in vitamin C, it is also used as a local remedy for hypertension; “Juwet” or “Java Plum” is a seasonal fruit, widely grown in the southern Bukit region and usually prepared with a chilli mix; The “Ambarella” or “Kedongdong Fruit” grows on low trees, and is green in colour when ripe. Its flesh is crunchy and a little sour, but high in vitamin C. It's a local favourite to go with shrimp paste, forming a basic “rujak kedondong” or it is pickled. The locals believe that eating “Ambarella” improves the digestive system and can help cure anaemia.

The disconcerting observation, however, was that every scooter we saw, regardless of how many children were stacked to the front and rear of the driver, it was only ever the adults wearing a helmet. But, we digress. It was a good day all in all, making the best of yet another day of being unnecessarily delayed, but, at least, we’d received our visas and our passports were returned to us. 

Having been delayed initially by the tardy delivery of our paperwork from the sponsor the previous week, which resulted in us only getting our paperwork submitted to the immigration office on the Monday, following the weekend, we subsequently learnt that the sponsor was, in fact, at the immigration office processing applications for other rally cruisers on the Friday morning that we had wanted to submit ours, yet he refused to do ours for us after we directly requested his service; first in Medana Bay Marina and again on arrival in Lovina and this, after the cluster of monumental proportions that occurred when we had to renew our visas in Mataram and after receiving reassurances from both the sponsor and the rally organisers that it wouldn’t happen again! Further delays were then a result of computer system issues, but we then learnt that our passports were, in fact, ready for collection on Wednesday, 2^nd October 2019. A message sent in error from the sponsor to us on WhatsApp, meant for another yacht, alerted us to the fact that he had collected passports for other rally cruisers that Wednesday afternoon, but didn’t collect ours and, worse still, informed us that ours would only be ready mid-morning the following day, delaying us by yet another day for no good reason, but ensured we would not make the rally festivities in Bawean Island. An early morning arrival at the immigration office, exactly at opening time on the Thursday, revealed our passports, as we had suspected, sitting neatly in a completed pile. Not even two minutes later, we walked out with our passports in hand, but this extra day’s delay had, nonetheless, precluded us from remaining with the rally. In fact, as things transpired, we arrived at Bawean Island the evening of the same day that the other rally yachts had left for Kalimantan that morning.

Words or explanation fail us as to why we had been continually treated like this by the sponsor, but we enjoyed our day nonetheless; coffee at Bakery Lovina, back to Paw Paw to complete our pre-sail checklist and then a wonderful afternoon at Rambutan boutique hotel, a perfect sanctuary away from the hubbub, with its tranquil gardens, meditation centre and spa, where Elaine enjoyed a gentle Balinese healing massage and received tips on meditation. It was fabulous and this, together with a successful meditation session, was the perfect way to put this rally and all the unpleasantries behind us. It is without a doubt that this sponsor and his antics were not only unnecessary, but vindictive and certainly contributed to the negative experiences we had in Indonesia! The saving grace is that in the end, though, we are glad we sailed through Indonesia our way!

We hope that this article, together with the “Indonesia, A Most Unusual Destination” one, will provide cruisers who are interested in sailing through Indonesia in the future, some insights and suggestions on how to avoid the frustrating pitfalls of the visa renewal process as well as provide suggestions on an itinerary, based on our experiences and numerous titbits of information received from other cruisers along the way, both from non-rally participants and, surprisingly, from many cruisers on the rally, who had indicated to us that we had taken the better approach; one we stumbled into by accident due to unforeseen circumstances. Unfortunately, a sponsor is required in order to sail through Indonesia and using anyone you can find won’t make that much of a difference, as long as you are aware of what the actual procedure is and what is actually required, as we learnt the hard way. With this in mind, it is also possible to sail through Indonesia without being part of a rally and will allow more freedom to see what you want to see and for how long, since the tour operators are plentiful and in many cases, as we did, you can enjoy something more tailored. Regardless, though, as a saying from one of our favourite movies indicates: “It all works out in the end and, if it hasn’t worked out yet, then it’s not the end”!

 

So, with passports and visas in hand and having decided to leave the rally altogether, we were up at dawn on Friday, 4^th October 2019 in order to set sail for Menjangan Island, part of the West Bali National Park. As we approached the island, with the volcanoes of Java towering in the background, we were not only surprised to see just how small the island was, but to also spot Lady (Jenny and Charlie), whom we understood had left Bali for Bawean Island days before, as well two other rally yachts, Endorphin (Izzie and Colin) and Hecla of Uist (Jon), all heading north from our chosen anchorage of Banyuwedang. It was the dolphins frolicking in Paw Paw’s bow, though, that were a far more entertaining sight. Unfortunately we were a little slow off the mark in video calling the grandchildren so that they too could enjoy the show as well.

Located in the most northwesterly point of Bali, the national park includes the whole area of the Prapat Agung Peninsula, with its long stretches of protected beaches and areas around the towns of Gilimanuk, Cekik and Banyuwedang, covering a total area of approximately 19,000 hectares, split between 15,500 of land and 3,500 of marine reserve. It was the latter area that we were interested in, though, since it included the cape shores and the small offshore island of Menjangan with its excellent coral reefs surrounding it and fabulous corals on the drop-offs. After anchoring for our lunchtime stop, as with every area in Indonesia where we’d snorkelled, we enjoyed something completely different here, given its high bio-diversity in a relatively small marine area. 

Research backed up the spectacle we enjoyed, given that at the end of the last century, 110 species of corals belonging to 18 families were recorded here, of which 22 species were of the mushroom coral family. It should be noted that there are only 29 species of mushroom corals recorded worldwide, which makes this concentration extremely rare. Also, there were at least 27 species of acropora coral found in a very small area of the drop-off which we stumbled upon on our own, having decided to avoid the areas close to the tour boats. Acropora is a genus of small polyp stony coral, with some of its species known as table coral, elkhorn coral and staghorn coral. We were fortunate enough again to see these formations when we snorkelled the outer entrance to the bay of Banyuwedang. On both our snorkelling adventures in the national park, while there was an abundance of fish to enjoy, we were definitely more focussed on the corals again. In fact, one variety was so unusual Roy thought it was a brightly coloured red, purple and black hair “scrunchy” that someone had dropped, until we spotted numerous more larger ones and then spotted a marine ranger moving one off the sand back onto a coral head, where it happily fixed itself. It was the coolest thing to see. 

Furthermore, we learnt that the national park is home to 160 species of birds, including the near extinct Bali starling, Bali's only endemic vertebrate species, the fauna icon of Bali. In fact, this was the key reason this national park was created in 1941. By 2001, it was estimated that as few as 6 individual starlings were thought to have survived in the wild, all of them in this park. Since then, captive breeding and re-introduction efforts have continued, including a re-introduction program started in the remote regions of Nusa Penida in 2004. In June 2011 the West Bali National Park received 60 endangered Bali starling for release, 40 from Surabaya Zoo and 20 from Taman Safari. 

The park is also home to several endangered species of flora as well as a variety of fauna such as the “banteng”, also known as “tembadau”; a species of wild cattle, “lutungs”; a type of Old World monkey, also referred to as “langurs” or leaf monkeys; the leopard cat, a small wild cat native to continental South, Southeast and East Asia and the “menjangan” meaning deer, after which the island is named because the locals observe herds of wild deer swimming to the island from Bali every spring, a distance of approximately 2Km / 1 mile.

After our lunch stop off Menjangan Island, we returned to Banyuwedang for the night, but we were pleasantly surprised to find the best anchorage we’d seen in Indonesia. Not only was it completely protected, with plenty of swing room, given that we were the only yacht there, but it was very picturesque and had a fabulous resort, the Menjangan Dynasty, a luxury glamping resort with stunning beach camping tents on the nearby shore. It was the first place in Indonesia that reminded us of the many lovely resorts we frequented in Fiji. No wonder other rally yachts didn’t share their intentions of stopping here; a best kept secret for those in the know, it seemed.

With its easy beach access, we enjoyed a delicious dinner at the resort that night, as well as a morning coffee the following day before taking a nice long walk to stretch our legs. While we definitely felt like we’d lost out on visiting the Amanwana resort on Moyo Island, this made up for it! In fact, we enjoyed this anchorage so much, we decided to stay an extra night. The only downside was that we discovered a toddler visiting the resort had contracted chicken pox, although the parents were quick to let us know he was no longer contagious. Given the incubation period of chicken pox, together with the explanation that the child must have contracted the illness on the aeroplane travelling to Bali from the Netherlands, we were not entirely convinced, since they would have had to be staying at the resort for more than two weeks by that time. Possible, though! 

In any event, we were hopeful that this wouldn’t present a problem for Elaine, but Roy, nonetheless, took the precaution of completely sanitising the dinghy when we returned from our walk to find the toddler climbing all over it, while dad looked on. This after Elaine whipped out her face mask during sundowners the previous evening and we hastily moved to the far side of the restaurant area when this information was divulged by the parents to other guests sitting next to us. Afterwards the mother was kind enough to inform us that we were not in any danger, but agreed to keep the toddler away from us once we explained the reason for Elaine’s very obvious “freak-out”. If there was a chicken pox outbreak in Bali, we definitely knew the source, but our hope was that it wouldn’t accompany us as we continued our journey to Singapore / Malaysia; this was the last thing we needed, but, thankfully, it didn’t! Regardless of this scare, though, this was our most enjoyable anchorage in Indonesia; quiet, tranquil, calm, peaceful, protected, no “calls to prayer” to interrupt our sleep and a lovely resort to frequent!

 

However, by Sunday, 6^th October 2019, although we’d missed the opportunity to stay with the rally from Lovina, we were up with the alarm for our planned dawn departure to bid our farewell to beautiful Bali, for the second and final time, thankful that we’d had the opportunity to see another part of this island which did indeed solidify our opinion that Bali felt like a completely different country from everything else we’d seen in Indonesia. We were, however, looking forward to making it to Singapore / Malaysia by this stage, but wondered what else Indonesia had to dish up.