Day 69: Benoa, Bali … Indonesia

Thursday, 16 March 2017
At Sea — Benoa Cruise Terminal

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Position (per Google): 8.74.32S / 115.21.18E

The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail.
Travel too fast and you miss all you are traveling for.
~ Louis L’Amour ~

Our day started at sea.  The Indonesian port that we were heading to — Benoa, Bali — was a tricky one, with high tidal fluctuations, sandbars, and shoals.  The ship’s arrival had to be timed just right.  Hundreds of small boats flitting about — some with parasailers in tow — added to the challenge of getting to the terminal once we picked up the pilot.  The ship’s horn had to be sounded several times to warn them away.

A high of 87F (31C) — with a feels like of 105F (41C) — was forecasted for our arrival in Benoa at noon.  That it was going to cool down by 6:00p to 86F (30C) — with a feels like of 96F (36C) — was little consolation.  We gritted our teeth, wiped the sweat pouring out of every exposed pore of our skin, and plunged in to explore the area east of Benoa.

We joined the Zs today for a half-day excursion they had booked with Dewa Bali Tours.  We disembarked the ship at 12:40p to dancers and musicians performing on the pier.  Everyone we encountered on our way to the terminal greeted us with cheerful welcomes.  I had read that cambio kiosks offered a better rate than ATMs in Indonesia, so when we saw an exchange place inside the terminal, we added another USD $50 worth of IDR to our existing stash.  Later, we saw exchange rates as high as IDR 13,900, but our guide said that those were come-on rates to get people inside.

En route to the Kuta Beach area, we drove through several towns and neighborhoods.  All were a hubbub of activity.  Traffic was slow, but not as bad as it would be later during rush hour.  The narrow sidewalks were crowded with tourists — Aussies making up the bulk of them.  Trinket shops lined either side of the streets, selling everything from clothing, to fridge magnets, to hats and bags, to various other gee-gaws … including phalluses in every shape and size.  Mixed in with the shops were neighborhood temples, houses, bars, restaurants, massage parlors, malls, sex shops, and more.  All of this stood in stark contrast to the mini temples situated on the northeast side of each house and shop.  Why northeast?  Because the “mother” temple on Bali, which is populated mostly by people who follow the Hindu faith, lies to the north.

After parking the car, Dewa suggested we wander around Kuta Beach for a couple of hours.  “Too long,” we told him and arranged to meet back at the car an hour later.  Then, we walked towards the beach and came upon our first temple in Indonesia — Pura [temple] Dalem  Pakendungan — and we were left us in awe.  It was built of intricately carved lava stone — each carving a symbol that we were ill-equipped to interpret.  Nonetheless, it was impressive.  We were unable to go inside, but what we saw whetted our appetite to see more before we left the island.

Pura Dalem  Pakendungan

Afterwards, we strolled along the narrow road that follows the beach.  Beachgoers and vendors crowded the area under the trees — the only shade to be had.  In the water, people were playing in the breakers crashing ashore … surfing being a popular pastime here.

Dewa next took us to Padang Padang Beach … now referred to as the Julia Roberts Beach because part of the movie Eat Pray Love was filmed here.  Our tour, which was $40 for the car and driver for the afternoon, did not include any admissions.  So, the first thing we did was pay the IDR 10,000/person (about USD .75¢) at the entrance kiosk.

As we walked to the stairs leading down to the beach through a narrow gap in the cliffs, we saw our first monkeys — macaques — on the roof of a nearby building.  Another monkey, a baby clutched to its breast, was seated on a wall at the top of the stairs, giving us good photo ops.  Mama monkey was ready to pounce on any unsuspecting people coming up the stairs with food or drink.  We removed our sunglasses and hats and proceeded down without incident.

The stairs took us right onto the sandy beach that is popular with surfers wanting to conquer the waves of the Indian Ocean.  It was low tide, so there were no breakers crashing ashore.  Though there were some people in the water, most — like us — were there just to check out the scenery.  We walked over to the tidal pools to get a closer look at the giant boulders and rock formations that were now sitting out of the water.  We had to make our way over moss-covered flat rocks, but they weren’t slippery so it was easy to get to them.  Fifteen minutes — if that — and we were ready to move on.  I got the distinct sense that Dewa was trying to kill time since we were supposed to be at our next stop for sunset.  Oh well; that did not happen.

Padang Padang’s rock formations at low tide.

Uluwatu, which turned out to be the final stop of our day, is a Hindu temple popular with visitors to Bali.  The name roughly translates as “head stone” … the brochure further clarifying it as a temple built on top of a coral reef.  It is set high on a cliff with spectacular views of the cliff faces and the Indian Ocean.  Admission here was IDR 30,000 (~ USD $2.30), and in return we were given orange sashes to tie around our waists as a sign of respect.  Mui’s long pants and my capris were sufficient covering for our legs, but TZ was in shorts and had to get a sarong.  This experience was different from our visit to the Hindu temple in Lautoka Fiji — which follows Indian traditions.  There, we all had to use sarongs — men and women — the only exception being women wearing long dresses.

Once properly attired, we walked through the forest of Alas Kekeran, home to macaques and other critters.  Dewa cautioned us that these monkeys were particularly aggressive and suggested we take off our sunglasses and leave our water bottles in the car.

The temple grounds were packed with visitors.  I tried to turn a blind eye to them, and focused on the beautiful setting instead … but all those people made photography a challenge … something I know I have to learn to deal with in all of our Asian ports of call.  Following a path along a wall rimming the clifftop, we walked first in one direction and then in the other direction.  And then went up to the temple for a quick look see.  I liked the setting of Uluwatu, but I was more impressed with the temple we saw at Kuta Beach.

The cliffs and the Indian Ocean at Uluwatu Temple, which is at the far end of the headland.

From here we retraced our route back to the port — this time getting a taste of rush hour traffic.  Soaked with sweat, we returned to the ship around 6:00p.  Though a refreshing shower beckoned, we decided to have a quick dinner at the Terrace Café before getting cleaned up to go to the Balinese show performed by a folklore group brought on the ship.  Beautiful make up and costumes; very expressive face and eye mimics; and elegant hand gestures … it was a lovely show.

By the time we returned to the cabin at 11:00p we were ready to crash … an early wake up call for our second day in Bali was just seven hours away.

For more photos from today, click here.

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