Since we knew there was no way we could get into the actual conference, we went sightseeing today, instead. Our agent, Wayan, is also a tour guide, and he drove us to central Bali to the town of Ubud, which is considered an artistic Mecca. As we headed north from the marina, we headed to the capital of Denpassar on a main highway. Our first stop was Continue reading
Continued from yesterday”¦ We saw several cars escorted by police on the other side of the highway, clearly important officials that were leaving Nusa Dua to go to their hotels or sightseeing.
Just like in Denaru, you have to go through a security checkpoint to get into Nusa Dua when entering by car. The security guards eyed us carefully, checked the trunk, and walked down the length of the car holding a mirror to make sure there was nothing hidden under the car. They waved us through. Nusa Dua was exactly what we expected, with a golf course and perfectly manicured walkways set in and amongst posh, widely spaced hotels.
As we neared the conference center, traffic came to a grinding halt. We got out of the cab and made our way to the Westin grounds. It was 17:00 (5:00 pm) and the conference Continue reading
Lat 8`44.5S Long 115`12.7E
It is certain that Bali has been populated since pre-historic times. The oldest artifacts found are 3,000 years old. The earliest written records date back to the 9th century, well after the Indians had brought Hinduism to the archipelago. At the time, the Balinese were technically Hindu, but had incorporated in many of their animist beliefs (religion practiced prior to the arrival of Hinduism), creating a branch of Hinduism quite different from that practiced in India. By that time they already had a complex irrigation system used for growing rice.
In 1284 Bali was first conquered by its neighbor to the west, Java. This lead to two centuries of struggle for independence, with Bali winning for many years, then losing for as many, etc. In the 1400’s, Java’s empire fell apart and many intellectuals, artists, dancers, musicians and actors fled from Java to Bali. With so many artists, Bali flourished as an artistic center. In the 16th and 17th centuries, neighbor Java, as well as many other islands in the archipelago converted to Islam, but Bali held onto its unique Hindu belief system and corresponding artistic culture.
By the time Continue reading
On Monday, we were still feeling pretty beat up from diving the day before. We went into town for breakfast. We ran into some of our new friends we had met from diving the day before and had breakfast with them, which was nice. We both got banana pancakes. Rather than mashing the banana into the batter, they put sliced bananas in the pan and dump the pancake batter around it so it all cooks up together. They were good.
We decided that we should probably spend the day doing chores, so we headed back to Kosmos. At that point we still hadn’t decided if we were leaving the next day, as we had originally told the harbor master, or if we would stay one more day to do another dive. As we were walking by the Harbor Master’s office, he Continue reading
Continued from yesterday”¦ We suited up yet again, this time to go snorkeling with the Mantas. We swam around in search of them, and they didn’t take long to find. We saw a few individuals gracefully gliding along the floor below us. We also saw a group of four in a row, swimming in a wavy, loop de loop pattern one of the most elegant games of “follow the leader” we have ever seen. A couple more individuals entered the stage and suddenly we were looking at six mantas below us at once. It was pretty cool.
Within 15 minutes of climbing in the boat Continue reading