Day 16: Lovina Beach, Bali
Today we were back on Bali at Lovina Beach, on the northern part of the island. We had booked a snorkeling tour, but it was cancelled, so we went instead on a tour to Ulun Danu Temple, about 30 miles inland.
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| Monument in the town of Lovina |
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| Countryside in northern Bali |
Ulan Danu Temple is a large complex on a lake in the mountains. The next several shots are from the temple.
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| At Ulan Danu Temple |
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| Members of the 1936 German Olympic Fishing team |
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| What appeared to be a funeral procession at the temple |
From the temple, we visited a local market in a nearby town.
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| These are freshly-made shrimp chips |
From the market, we headed to the Buyan and Tamblingan Twin Lakes
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| One of the lakes |
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| The other lake |
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| A fruit bat, available for petting (I didn't) |
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| A lizard and a fruit bat |
After we returned to Lovina Beach, we did a "photo tender". This was an opportunity for the passengers to go out in tender boats and take pictures of the Star Clipper under sail. (While the ship is in port, the sails can't be up, so there's no way to get a good sail picture).
After we got back on board, the ship set sail for the next port, and we enjoyed the sunset.
They even let me pilot the ship (under strict supervision).
Day 17: Gili Sudak, Lombok Island
Today we hung out on Gili Sudak, a low key beach on Lombok Island. Not much to report.
Day 17: Nusa Dua, Bali
Today we returned to Bali to end our cruise. About two weeks before the trip, I realized that I thought I had booked our flights home for the day the cruise ended, but I had in fact booked them for two days after the end of the cruise. I had to quickly book 2 nights on Bali, and I found accomomdations at the Hilton on Nusa Dua beach. So we were forced to endure 2 days there.
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| Aerial view of the Bali Hilton |
As you can (possibly) see in the picture above, part of the hotel is on a cliff, and the rest is on the beach. We were in one of the buildings (back left) on the cliff, and when you walked from the ground floor of our building to the front building, you entered on the 15th floor of the front building and had to take an elevator down to the beach.
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| View of the pools and beach from the front building |
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| Looking back at the buildings on the cliff |
We never left the hotel while we were there.
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| Pool with a beach |
We did have one adventure. While I was enjoying a refreshing Bali Hai beer at the beach bar, Brenda went to the bathroom. After 15 minutes she hadn't returned, so I went to the building where the bathrooms were. It turns out that she had locked herself in. I ran and got a bar employee, who couldn't unlock the door. He then called another female employee who figured out how to get the door open, and all was well.
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| Attempting to reach the trapped victim |
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| After her release |
The grounds of the hotel were very nice. Here are a few shots.
After 2 days at Nusa Dua, we reluctantly headed for home. We flew to Tokyo (7 hours) and stayed overnight near Narita Airport.
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| Bali Airport |
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| Bali Airport |
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| Reading departure signs in some big airport..... |
We arrived at Narita in the middle of the afternoon. It turns out that the hotel had a shuttle bus into the town of Narita, so took it and had a quick walk around the town and dinner.
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| A Japanese toilet |
The next few shots are from the town of Narita.
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| A Japanese vending machine--truly a technical wonder |
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| Note the total lack of English on the signs |
In the middle of town is
Narita-san Temple
After visiting the temple, we tried to find a place to eat dinner. This was hampered a bit by the fact that there was no English anywhere. Finally a hostess at one of the restaurants motioned us in.
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| Menu in front of the restaurant we ate at |
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| In the restaurant, awaiting our fate |
Fortunately, they did have an English menu inside the restaurant. I ordered the elastic wings from the very flesh chickens.
After the meal, we got a special "Thank You" (or perhaps "Thahk you") from the staff.
Having survived the experience, we went back to the hotel, and flew back home the next day.
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| The area around Narita from the air |
