April 14, 2009
To catch up on other recent ports, I will deal with Bali first. Bali is a beautiful island with lovely people and amazing arts and crafts. It is actually a part of Indonesian, but especially unique as the only Hindu island among the 14000+ islands of that country. We had made arrangements ahead of time with the brother of one of our waiters to drive us for 8 hours all over the island. We felt quite welcomed as we got off the tender and there was a band and a number of pretty women forming a corridor for us to walk on the dock. And then it hits. The taxi drivers and the vendors literally assaulting us, even grabbing us or throwing their wares at us saying “free, free!” No matter how hard we try to say no, they kept up their assault. We did see our man with a sign “Mr. Ronnie Goodheart,” and we were happy to have him rescue us from the chaos. The vendors, by the way, have a particular bait and switch tactic – they try to get your attention with a very low price (“Only a dollar! Only a dollar!”) and then if you bite, they will immediately change the price to $10, saying “No, no” if you try to go back to the original price. I noticed myself feeling confused enough by the assault that I wondered if I heard them right at the beginning.
Our driver took us and the couple we had arranged to share the tour with (the craft lady Judy and her daughter Erica) to a fairly new air conditioned Toyota van with a driver already in place (they drive on the left side of the road British style). So we had both a guide and a driver. Our driver’s name was I Wayan, pronounced “EEE why on,” which means either first born or fifth born. Ours was fifth born, and he spoke quite passable English which he had picked up from English speaking visitors. We never did figure out how it works in a school, when there must be a lot of first and fifth borns all going by I Wayan.
We first wanted to go to Obud, the central craft area of the island. Obud is not really a city as we would think of one, but a spread out group of villages or sections all specializing in a particular craft. These crafts, whether it be stone work, painting, batik, or woodworking, are all passed on from generation to generation. So if you family does woodworking, you know what you will do as well. These are true craftsmen, not producing souvenirs for a mass market, but creating works of art. We did visit a number of the sections, and went to a representative store or groups of stores in a couple of sections. We loved the paintings the most, and after much negotiating we purchasing one by an artist whose work we really stood out above the rest. Don’t worry, it is small and light and we had it taken out of the frame. In the woodworking area of town our friends bought some beautiful carved wood pieces, including a mirror with an incredible wood frame.
We also visited some Hindu temples, and the impressive Hall of Justice (Kerta Gosa) in Klungkung, the former dynastic capital, seeing some amazing statues on the way. Both Kerta Gosa and Bale Kampang (the Floating Pavilion with an incredible painted ceiling) were destroyed by the Dutch during their occupation and then rebuilt by the remorseful Dutch two decades later. We had an excellent lunch at a restaurant overlooking some pretty rice fields. Then on the way home, when we had stopped at one temple near the beach, where we saw two processions, carrying icons and statues to the temple. I Wayan explained they were worship processions. All in all we were very pleased with a pleasant day in Bali, except of course, for the aggressive vendors. Our guide and driver were outstanding and we wished we had more time there.
To catch up on other recent ports, I will deal with Bali first. Bali is a beautiful island with lovely people and amazing arts and crafts. It is actually a part of Indonesian, but especially unique as the only Hindu island among the 14000+ islands of that country. We had made arrangements ahead of time with the brother of one of our waiters to drive us for 8 hours all over the island. We felt quite welcomed as we got off the tender and there was a band and a number of pretty women forming a corridor for us to walk on the dock. And then it hits. The taxi drivers and the vendors literally assaulting us, even grabbing us or throwing their wares at us saying “free, free!” No matter how hard we try to say no, they kept up their assault. We did see our man with a sign “Mr. Ronnie Goodheart,” and we were happy to have him rescue us from the chaos. The vendors, by the way, have a particular bait and switch tactic – they try to get your attention with a very low price (“Only a dollar! Only a dollar!”) and then if you bite, they will immediately change the price to $10, saying “No, no” if you try to go back to the original price. I noticed myself feeling confused enough by the assault that I wondered if I heard them right at the beginning.
Our driver took us and the couple we had arranged to share the tour with (the craft lady Judy and her daughter Erica) to a fairly new air conditioned Toyota van with a driver already in place (they drive on the left side of the road British style). So we had both a guide and a driver. Our driver’s name was I Wayan, pronounced “EEE why on,” which means either first born or fifth born. Ours was fifth born, and he spoke quite passable English which he had picked up from English speaking visitors. We never did figure out how it works in a school, when there must be a lot of first and fifth borns all going by I Wayan.
We first wanted to go to Obud, the central craft area of the island. Obud is not really a city as we would think of one, but a spread out group of villages or sections all specializing in a particular craft. These crafts, whether it be stone work, painting, batik, or woodworking, are all passed on from generation to generation. So if you family does woodworking, you know what you will do as well. These are true craftsmen, not producing souvenirs for a mass market, but creating works of art. We did visit a number of the sections, and went to a representative store or groups of stores in a couple of sections. We loved the paintings the most, and after much negotiating we purchasing one by an artist whose work we really stood out above the rest. Don’t worry, it is small and light and we had it taken out of the frame. In the woodworking area of town our friends bought some beautiful carved wood pieces, including a mirror with an incredible wood frame.
We also visited some Hindu temples, and the impressive Hall of Justice (Kerta Gosa) in Klungkung, the former dynastic capital, seeing some amazing statues on the way. Both Kerta Gosa and Bale Kampang (the Floating Pavilion with an incredible painted ceiling) were destroyed by the Dutch during their occupation and then rebuilt by the remorseful Dutch two decades later. We had an excellent lunch at a restaurant overlooking some pretty rice fields. Then on the way home, when we had stopped at one temple near the beach, where we saw two processions, carrying icons and statues to the temple. I Wayan explained they were worship processions. All in all we were very pleased with a pleasant day in Bali, except of course, for the aggressive vendors. Our guide and driver were outstanding and we wished we had more time there.
No comments:
Post a Comment