2023 Alaska, Asia, Australia, Arabian Peninsula Trip
Day 64/105 - Benoa, Bali, Indonesia - we're templed-out
At about 8 a.m., the dreaded "you don't have to go home but you can't stay here" announcement blared into the staterooms. It was the last official duty for Cruise Director, Graham, who leaves us today. Last night, the new Cruise Director, Arann, found us in the Explorers’ Bar. We sailed with him on Polaris between Amsterdam and Ushuaia and we were excited to hear he was coming aboard. It was nice to see another familiar face and we look forward to having him as Cruise Direct for these last 16 days of the voyage.
It is disembarkation day for many guests. 8 a.m. means you have to be out of your room and wait for your luggage tag color to be announced so you can disembark. Once the guests are gone, the mad dash begins to turn all the staterooms, readying them for the new guests. In the midst of all of this, those of us who are continuing on beyond Bali carry on with our lives. Today, that meant heading out on the included excursion, Market visit & Balinese Hindu Temple. Our tour had three stops – a temple, a market, and the Bali Museum, all north of Benoa in Denpasar.
As we headed to our tour bus, we passed a long line of new crew coming onboard today. One head waiter told us that more than 100 new crew arrived today. They aren’t necessarily new to Viking, but perhaps coming off time off. Still, that means a lot of new faces for us. Viking hires great people, so we fully expect that the excellent service will continue.
Hindu Temple
There are thousands of Hindu temples scattered around Bali. Hindu temples are vastly different than the Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples that we have toured. In comparison to those, Hindu temples are, for lack of a better word, spartan. There is usually a structure, typically a wall, and sometimes an enclosed or partially enclosed structure. They typically include courtyards. There are idol carvings scattered about but beyond that, there simply isn’t much to see at a Hindu temple. They aren’t tourist attractions. They are purpose-built for worship. The temple today was the same – little to see. We did pass a few more ornate ones on the drive, but this wasn’t one.
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| We both wore long pants covering our knees, but sarongs were required for all visitors – the tour provided them |
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| You can see offerings left for the gods – there are high and low offerings for positive and negative energy - this is a positive energy offering |
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| Chicken pens |
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A low offering for negative energy |
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| Hindu priest |
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| This was the entry to the holier courtyard – we could only peek in for photos |
Next, we took a short ride to the market.
Market - Pasar Badung
The port talk said that Balinese markets do not meet the same hygiene standards that we may be used to and boy, did they hit that nail squarely on the head. Still, the market, which sells spices, fruits and veggies, meat, fabric, clothing, decorative wares, and such, was bustling.
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| From the 4th floor, you can get a view of the market area |
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| Restroom instructions |
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Spices, peppers, and such |
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| Not exactly FDA-approved meat handling |
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| We stepped outside and saw this truck probably heading to market |
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| Carved statues can be found all over Bali |
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| Temples are everywhere – this was right across from the market |
After touring the market, we went to the Bali Museum.
Bali Museum
The Bali Museum is a multi-structure indoor and outdoor museum featuring artifacts documenting Bali’s history as well as presenting typical Hindu architecture.
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A fabric vendor |
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| A very small sarcophagus |
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| An amazingly intricate wood carving |
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Exactly what you think it is |
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| A xylophone-like musical instrument |
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| Early coins |
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A method for carrying coins – the center hole is handy |
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Sculptures made from coins |
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More coin sculptures |
Port Walk
After returning to the port, we took a short walk around the port area. Taxi drivers were quite aggressive in trying to sell rides. We just wanted to walk around a bit.
The sidewalks were decorated with several styles of animals
including elephants, what I assume are Garuda, turtles, and swans.
The god Brahma is commonly depicted as a bearded man with four heads and hands. His four heads represent the four Vedas and are pointed to the four cardinal directions, representing that God sees everything.
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Arlona spotted this guy hanging out on a turtle |
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There were nice little parks on both sides of the circle
where the statue of Brahma stands |
Walking back to the port, we stopped at a local market near the port. The vendors here made the taxi drivers look like wimps. One lady physically blocked me from going to look at the wares of a competitor. Seriously.
We boarded the ship and Arlona found an open washer so she got a load started before we grabbed salads for lunch at the World Café. New faces were all around – both passengers and crew.
Dinner tonight was at Chef’s Table private room, arranged by world cruise friends. It was a nice evening with great conversation.
Before dinner, we hit up the Explorers’ Bar where we met friends from home, Sue & Trish. They brought along Arlona’s new cell phone. It will take a couple of days at least on Viking’s sub-standard internet to get apps loaded back onto the phone, but at least Arlona will be back in the cellphone game.
We couldn’t be more grateful to our neighbor, Dave for activating the phone, and Sue & Trish for delivering it. A few more days to Darwin, Australia when Arlona will be reunited with her old phone, driver’s license, credit card, insurance card, Villages ID, and some cash.
We sail tonight around 11 p.m. to Lombok, the next large Indonesian island east of Bali. We have an 8:30 a.m. tour tomorrow that takes us to a...say it with me...temple.
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