Good evening...that is if I really stay awake tonight...Friday November 4th to write this blog. Trying to do it because our book club meets tonight and will be into a discussion of Christopher Hitchens. So I am sending my regards from a day in Bali. Gary would too...but I can hear him "reading" as he sits semi upright on the bed.

Since we last chatted in Singapore we have made our way in a south westerly direction through the South China Sea . I hadn't realized just how much of the world's shipping passes through its waters...it is busy and has extreme strategic value. Add in the possibility of huge oil and gas reserves beneath the seabed and you realize why China has her naval fleets out on exercises and squabbles about islands occur between China and everybody else.... or who is fishing in whose waters.

A couple days ago we bumped over the Equator...the usual Neptune party up on the swimming pool deck had to be cancelled with the monsoon rains falling heavily for most of the day. Gary and I have lost count of times over the equator but we did toast our return to the Southern Hemisphere.

This morning we dropped anchor in Benoa, the Port for Bali. Gary and I split up...I sedately visited some arts centres, had lunch in the middle of many rice paddies and then stopped at a batik factory, of course, where we were urged to do serious damage to our bank accounts in 20 minutes .

Gary chose the "Ayung White River Rafting Adventure." I definitely agree it sounded way more fun...but there is my propensity to fall out of river rafting crafts at the wrong time (think the Jaws of Death story I have dined out on for years or Gill remember when we both fell out in calm waters in Costa Rica....oh, but I did stay put in the raft on the Ganges in India...but I don't really qualify that as white water rafting...more a drift) and there is the slight matter of there being not only 500 steps down to the river, but 500 steps back up.

Gary reported he had a great fun today....1 1/2 hours in a raft for 6 careening down a canyon like river filled with warm water. Not as much volume as the Thompson or Fraser Rivers, no standing waves but lots of white water. He had his GoPro camera on his helmet but there is a zero chance tonight of getting any photos or videos...the sound of the reading has increased in volume.

Wayne we have to tell you I think we did not cross any paths with where Alexandra was when she was in Bali a year or so ago . We assume she was in the wonderful beach areas...we hit the highlands through twisty 1 1/2 lane roads (but we were a bus) and a zillion Japanese motor bikes. So on this trip we missed the beach area of Kuta and Sanur. These are the areas the Aussie college kids go after their exams.

Bali is one of the best south Asian islands we have visited...no doubt it does deserve its status as the second best island in the world to visit...first being the Galapagos...which would indeed be hard, if not impossible to beat. It is green, clean and seems in my brief visit friendly and pretty safe. It definitely also qualifies as the island of temples. There were temples every few miles as we travelled around the island. And of course it is an island of Hinduism in the Moslem country of Indonesia. The island with a population of 4.2 million and not large...just 50 by 90 miles hosted millions of tourists last year.

I visited a bit of history ...the former Royal Palace and the former House of Justice...now shrines to the up rising against the Dutch in 1908. Gary and I decided over dinner that the colonial powers ranged from bad to baddest. Certainly the Dutch had a heavy bloody hand, killed the King and don't seem to be recorded in Bali's history books with fondness.

My guide said there were no cars or any motorized vehicles until 1942 when the Japanese brought them in...never thought of the Japanese in that light during WW II. The Dutch, he said, took the rice and spices that were the crops, but brought nothing back to the island in return. Well today everything moving on the roads today seems to be made in Japan.

Following my history lesson we visited a primary school...Reggie and Charlie don't know how good they have it. And then onto a traditional village...which was very manicured it appeared to me...but maybe real folks do live there and do work in the rice paddies and their kids do walk to the school .

Speaking of rice paddies...rice is the main crop of Bali. They just keep planting it following each harvest...3 times a year. So we saw rice drying on the pavement after having been harvested, rice growing in paddies...like wheat we thought...and bright green young rice shoots having just been planted.

Agriculture might be the largest employer, but ever since Margaret Mead turned up in the 1930's and told the world about Bali tourism has gradually become the number one industry by far in terms of the economy (as in 80% these days). There was a dip in tourism following the terrorist attacks in the popular Kurta tourist area in 2002 and again in 2005. But the tourists have returned ...Bali is 8 degrees south of the equator, year round temperatures of 30 degrees, fantastic beaches and hosts with wide welcoming smiles.

Then the movie "Eat, Pray, Love" was released in 2010....and since the book it was based on by Elizabeth Gilbert spent 57 weeks on the NYT paperback best seller list ...a tourism boomlet was fuelled. And who knows now that in January of 2016 David Bowie's will specified he wished his ashes to be scattered in Bali what that will do for tourism in Bali.

And where do all the tourists to Bali come from...well Australia wins the gold star by far...followed by China and Japan. About 300 cruise ships drop anchor a year. But I do have to tell you that if Bali wants to deal effectively with cruise ships they will have to have more than one small jetty for tenders. It took Gary 1 1/2 hours from being in line for a tender back to the ship to reaching his cabin. On the other hand, jets were taking off overhead from the airport every 3 minutes....so I think tourism is more dependent on good air transport than cruise ship drop offs. If you are looking for the Bali you remember from the 1980's or 1990's...quiet, untouched with exquisite Balinese homes...well I think you just need to keep the memory. It is now a global tourist destination .

My highlight for the day was sitting down to lunch in the midst of many rice paddies...yes it was very touristy in a way...but we had to walk in along the path between the paddies and we ate under a large thatched roof with paddy fields in all directions...no shops, no vendors...just my 200 closest friends from Emerald Princess. It was just ok for a first time to Bali.

Gary would add something about his day...but he has given up on his reading and is now under the covers and asleep. Clearly river rafting is more strenuous that buying batik scarves and dining out in rice paddies.

Have a great discussion tonight fellow readers. I am now into "Elephant Company" and it is a great and easy read. Thank you Juanita for discovering it. To prepare for Australia I read Peter Carey's Amnesia...recommended...good political background. Then I diverted myself with two murder mysteries (Louise Penny's "A Great Reckoning" and Philip Kerr's "The Other Side of Silence" before moving onto Myanmar and "Elephant Company ."

Just before closing I should add in the time before our arrival in Bali that having monsoon rains envelop the ship together with 3 sea days and the last 3 games of the World Series created a perfect world. We could even order in. I am thinking that Pauline Moffat and Rick Arbanella from Chicago must be very happy with the Cubs win, especially Rick who is a baseball trivia master, and I'll bet Carole and Carl, our next door neighbour spring training fans, have been tuned in in Carson City, Nevada. What a great cliff hanger final game.

I have been thinking now that the end of our 41 day cruise is in sight I could just happily stay put and carry on. I think you get into a rhythm and also let's face it...it is like going home to mom's...or better in fact, no dishes to wash. Your bed is made, the meals are provided, somebody cleans up your spilt milk if it happens and unpleasant topics are avoided. I guess if I left my clothes in a heap they might be folded and put away or hung up...haven't tested that one.
If there are problems in the world they don't intrude on the daily life lying by the pool on the Emerald Princess in the middle of the South China Sea. (Except when we read the NYT or turn on the TV not to baseball games).

Good night for now...talk to you after we get to Perth on Tuesday. OMG I have to pack again..and add in a few items. Will it fit in the camper...that is the question! Oh and a minor Tuesday question...who will win the election?

Cheers
Mom, Grandma and Doreen