Team Sandpiper Update 2 Oct 2007

Still Moored Bali Marina
Anchorage #64 in "101 Anchorages Within The Indonesian Archipelago" by Geoff Wilson

Bali Island
Indonesia
8'44.4S/115'12.8E

Bali, Week 2 and Week 3

Believe it or not we are still in fabulous Bali! I'm not even sure what we have been doing with our time but I know the days are not long enough for us to enjoy all Bali has to offer. We could easily spend a few more weeks or even months here but it is time for us to press on.

We will unleash our lines and rat guards from the Bali Marina dock sometime early tomorrow (Wednesday Oct 3) morning. The marina has been really nice in that we've been able to fill up on water, wash the boat, plug into power, do a few odd jobs and just feel secure about leaving the boat.

Since our last entry we have been doing a little of this and a little of that. We finally took our boogie boards to Kuta beach and once we arrived early morning we were both in awe of the size of the waves. Around the full moon the waves can get big (double overhead), way too big for us novice boarders. After an hour of watching the surfers it seemed the size of the waves had decreased so we gave it a go and had a blast. I still prefer the smaller waves that I can ride for distance rather than the big guys, hopefully we will be able to use the boards later in our journey.

After a fantastic day of shopping and message we went out with our friends on S/V Uterus for a great dinner and many drinks. We hit a few of the crazy Kuta dance clubs, The Bounty and Paddy’s, two of the well known grimy tourist hang outs. I even made it into a cage and was able to brush up on my cage dancing skills. Mom, you would be so proud (photos coming soon)!

A little about the massage I had. It was at Jari Menari, which means 'dancing fingers'. It is known as one of the best places to get a message in Bali because its masseurs train staff from other spas. They have an all male team as they say men are more consistent with the pressure. Their style is Balinese, which is more long strokes, rocking, and stretching. After 75 minutes I was feeling great! Jari Menari gets two thumbs up from me.

We have also been adding to our DVD collection, finding great deals as "Buy 30, Get 14 free". They are a $1 each. What a deal.

This past week we finally made it up to the town of Ubud. Ubud is the center of 'cultural tourism' in Bali. There are numerous temples, ancient sites, and lots of interesting craft centers. Our main objective was to walk the rice fields and check out the art.

The road leading up to Ubud is broken into a few towns all specializing in different mediums; batik, wood carving, stone carving, painting, and silver/gold jewelry. Walking around Ubud you can see a little of all of these. Ubud is a real hippy/dippy town, a popular place for yoga retreats, and meditation. It is a very tranquil place.

The second morning of our stay I wanted to find a gentlemen that gave walking tours through the rice fields. We never found him, but we did meet Wayan. Wayan approached us and asked us "You want to come up here and see a great view of the rice fields?" Two hours and several miles later we walked through rice fields, down into the jungle and back out again, over bamboo bridges, and through temples.

We ended up in a small, true traditional Bali neighborhood. No tourists or restaurants out here. Traditionally the Balinese family all live together on one compound. There are usually 4 house structures, a kitchen, a communal living area, and family temple. The most impressive feature to me are the front gates of these compounds with their intricately carved gates.

Another Balinese custom is to name the children, boys and girls, using only four names. The first born is named Wayanv (pronounced 'Why-Ann), second is name Madev ('Mah-Day), third is named Nyoman, and finally the fourth is named Ketut. If they have a fifth child then they start the names all over again.

Ubud was a place we really enjoyed and again wish we had more time to spend. Maybe next time.

Our time here in Bali is up. We have less than one month left on our visa and still have a few hundred nautical miles to cover. Tomorrow we say our final goodbye. We have had a most enlightening cultural experience staying here. Thanks to Bali my dreams are now filled with images of calming rice fields and the sounds of chanting from nearby temples.

Terima Kasih (thank you) Bali

Tom Note; We have been busy while here in Bali getting photos posted whenever we could find internet here. Check out our new photos. They are caught up to Bali. Even better, we have been getting some of our many short video clips posted on YouTube at http://youtube.com/results?search_query=12170213&search=Search.