Port of call #Bali

After an interesting visit to Komodo, our next stop was Bali. Here we decided to do another trip on the first of two days. There were two  tours offered both with fascinating history. The one we chose visited two temples, the second one being on a  volcanic rock outcrop, separated by a narrow walkway.

​We set off in glorious sunshine and after a drive through villages, with several family temples on the way. we arrived at our stop. The guide handed out thin plastic rain covers. This was not a good sign and as we set off to explore the Royal Temple, the rain started. Fortunately, it didn't last long and we were able to leave our shelter and wander around the temple grounds..

,After an interesting tour, we climbed back on the bus just as the sun came out. Now, we were travelling to the highlight of the tour; the temple at Tanah Lot. 

​We arrived and walked through the market stalls to a fantastic viewpoint overlooking the temple. The clouds seemed to have followed us and it went very dark. The pictures I took look like they are from a black and white film. As we wandered further, the rain came and we found shelter again.
​Not to worry,the guide said told us. It would only last about ten minutes. Half an hour later, he got a phone call and we were told that the bus had to leave. Paddling up the road, we were completely soaked even with the thin raincoat provided. The  hour and a half drive back to the port wasn't pleasant, as we were sitting in wet clothes. At least the driver turned the air conditioning off!

We arrived back to bright sunshine and people were surprised when we told them about the rain. It took us days to dry out our trainers!

Second day in Bali

After the first day's trip, we decided against doing another one so we took a taxi into town. This was fairly easy and we arranged a time and place for the driver to pick us up, for our journey back to the ship.

​The beaches had a reputation as being the Australian's Benidorm or our Blackpool, and this had put a few people off going to them. This was not the case for the beach that we visited. When we walked along it, the atmosphere was very relaxed and not at all crowded. There were several areas where small bars had been set up and you could sit and buy drinks from their coo boxes. There were also a few market stalls but although they asked if you wanted to stop, they were very polite over it, unlike some countries we have visited, where they can be quite aggressive.​

---

After a walk along the beach we had some refreshments and decided to do a little shopping. For the first time in our lives we were millionaires and wanted to spend all our money. This unfortunately was in Indonesian money and wasn't worth much in ours. It did take some working out what 100.000 Rupiah was worth  about £5.00. Even so good were very reasonable and we managed to buy a few interesting items.

​We arrived back at the pick up point for the taxi and waited. For entertainment we had all the school children racing past on their motorcycles. They seem to start riding these at an early age and speed around like everyone else on the island. Quite scary to watch.
​

​Anyway after waiting half an hour we decided the ordered taxi wasn't coming, so stopped a passing taxi and returned to the ship. An interesting and colourful town and it showed that you shouldn't be put off by other peoples opinions.

---