Bali
Bali has been inhabited from ancient times. The Dutch landed here in about 1600 and returned again in the mid 1800s and claimed Bali as part of the Dutch East Indies. The Japanese took control of the island in a naval battle with Dutch and American warships shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack on 1941. After World War II the Dutch wanted to retain ownership of Bali but the Balinese won independence in 1949.
The flight from Yangon, Myanmar to Denpasar, Bali was 9 hours with a short layover in Singapore. We were picked up and driven 30 minutes to the Four Seasons Bali at Jimbaran Bay. This is a beautiful property on a beautiful beach.
This area of Bali is known for excellent surfing. They have gentle waves for beginners and larger waves that break offshore for expert surfers. We summoned up our courage and took a surfing lesson in the gentle waves and were surprised that we were each able to get up and surf a few waves all the way to the beach. We crashed and burned a lot trying to pop up and balance on the waves but it was fun to try and learn a new sport at age 63. Our instructor was from Australia and a former professional surfer and he said he had never taught 63 year olds to surf before.
Bali is 90% Hindu but they practice a different version than is found in India. The Balinese layered the Hindu religion onto their own ancient customs with its art and dancing and temple celebrations.
We visited a Temple known for its monkeys and saw a traditional play enacted by dancers and musicians and accompanied by a chorus of 70 men. The dancing was precise and jerky and the music was a mix between chanting and crashing noise.
We visited a factory where rattan is harvested and weaved into purses and other fun things. Barb bought so many purses that we had to buy another suitcase to get them back home.
There was an American made World War II jeep at the rattan factory that must have been abandoned by the US Military after World War II.
We traveled a couple of hours north in a hotel car to the town of Ubud. Ubud is surrounded by beautiful rice fields, jungles and ravines terraced with rice. This is a very beautiful area and has become a destination for yoga enthusiasts.
The Ubud Palace is fun to wander in and around and is located in the center of Ubud.
After a night in Hong Kong, it is time to fly home. We flew through too many time zones to count. I think we flew through 15 time zones. We departed Hong Kong on November 11 at 1 in the afternoon and arrived the same day at LAX at 9:30 in the morning of the same day! The jet lag is going to be brutal.
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