4-6 Jan Flew to Bali! Took off at 2355 on 4 Jan, flew via Hong Kong and Singapore to Denpasar. Landed at 1630 on 6 Jan for a total travel time of 26+ hours. Ever been in a 747 that aborted its landing? Ours did - twice - while landing in Denpasar. Got settled into the hotel, ate at the hotel restaurant, went to bed. 7 Jan A day of recuperation. Changed money. Got used to being hounded - "transport?". Swam in the Indian Ocean, the in the hotel pool. Dinner out - rode the bemo there. Joe got in an argument with the driver over the fare. The driver threw some change at us! 8 Jan Started a regime of running in the AM first thing. Aborted trip to museums - they were closed! Toured the market in Denpasar. Went to a dance performance put on by I Wayan Sinti, a friend of Joe's. I have the program. It was stunning - 20+ musicians and 5+ dancers. 9 Jan Visited the Tanah Lot Temple and the Mengwi Temple and one other Temple. I'm barely able to cope with driving all day in traffic, which is horrendous. Urban sprawl, the part of the island we are on is densely populated. Ate at the Swastika restaurant, watched another dance performance, I recognized some of the dances from the previous night. 10 Jan Another day from hell on the road. But... Visited a fantastic wood carver. No pictures, wish I had some but they said no pictures... Visited Rudana's art gallery. Rudana is a (rich) friend of Joe's, who invited us to dinner when we get back to Bali on the 17th. Visited a temple which was a cave. Dinner and a beer with May. It was pleasant, rained hard. 11 Jan Flew to Yogyakarta. Marliaboro(sp?) Street is a mass of people. Joe got us some sort of fried pancake thing with meat and stuffing for dinner, it was real good. 12 Jan Threw my jaw out of joint! Lying in bed - can't be too careful. My teeth won't come together, it was tough eating breakfast. I admire the volcano that I can see from the balcony outside my room. Mt. Merapi. It smokes continually. I also admire the little birds building their nests in the tree in front of my room. Toured the city by betcha(sp?) - a bicycle where you sit in front of the peddler) - museum, bird market, batik factory. I broke the ice and bought a batik stamp for 95,000r. Caused a ruckus by tipping my betcha driver 5,000r. They all had to have 5000r - lucky I didn't on a whim tip him 50,000r! (About $7) Went to a lecture at Prof. X's house. Dinner at the first of several disappointing Indonesian buffets. At least my jaw was getting back to normal 13 Jan Called Susan, talked for 7 minutes, have the receipt for it. Everything fine. Visited a pottery village, not very interesting, nothing I wanted. Visited the sultan's palace, the guide was unintelligible. Took a betcha back to the main drag. Got separated from May, waited for a while at the market for her. Eventually ate at the Ciberon Cafe. Bought a shirt and napkins on my way back to the hotel. Dance lecture by a friend of Joe's. Followed by another boring Indonesian buffet and dance performance. 14 Jan Went to Borobudur. I touched buddha's thumb. It's good luck, will get me into Nirvana! Everybody wants to take a picture with Westerners and I was very popular. "Exclusive" one fellow called me. Had dinner with some friends of Joe's. Went to a puppet show by an avant-gard puppeteer, Sukassman. He had a full white beard, the first I'd seen on a native. The show was impressive, both sides of the screen and a 20 person gamelan. There was dancing too, which none of us thought added to the show. But it was a mystery to me... 15 Jan Skipped a shopping trip with Joe et al, went by myself. Bought about 300,000r worth of batik - table cloths, shirts, ... In the PM, we went to a puppet makers house/factory. Had a lecture by another friend of Joe's, Prof. Soedarso, which was pretty good. Had a good Indonesian buffet prepared by the people of the house. I bought a puppet for 60,000r. Went to a traditional puppet show. All the kids/neighbors turned out to watch. I was mystified again. The dalang (puppeteer) smoked. The whole gamelan smoked. 16 Jan Went to Prambanan (temple). Got the rundown on the Rama story for Tis. Tis was our guide, a tiny Indonesian woman, who knew everything. Ate at Ciberon with May. Flew back to Bali 17 Jan Agung took May and I to a maker of name plates. We ordered a bunch (6 for me, 8 for May). We went within a stone's throw of Batuan, where I had a delivery to make for Made Sudana, but I didn't know and hadn't brought the stuff. Changed some more money and shopped. Got 2 bintang T-shirts; Joe got another one and May got 2+. Went to a cock fight. It was interesting, but the action was too fast. Went to a dinner/performance at Rudana's. A ketjak dance with 120 performers and a good dinner. Rudana spares no expense. 18 Jan Visited a weaving place where I bought a sarong for 92,000. And some shorts for Susan for about 50,000. An art gallery which Joe's friend Nyoman Gunarse owns/operates. Gunarse is very sick. A "court", 3 antique shops. And Besake temple, which was swell. Katut showed us around. It rained like stink, we rented umbrellas for the trip back down the hill. At the foot of Mt Agung, 3,100 meters. Ate at a restaurant with a great view and mediocre food. Took the scenic route home, good road winding thru the foothills, not much traffic. Sent EM to VanceH and Susan. 19 Jan We went snorkeling, May and Bryson and I. It was not a success. May wouldn't go in the water, saying it was too rough. Bryson tried it but he'd never been snorkeling before and couldn't hack it. I snorkeled for a while, saw tons of small (<3") fish, including some black ones about 1" long. We went to another beach and swam. Agung took us to an Indonesian place for lunch - 29,000r for 4 meals and 2 beers. Ate at the Dirty Duck restaurant, 32,000 for Jack Daniels. 20 Jan Went boating on the Ayung River, class 2 & 3 rapids. It was fun. I lost my swiss army knife. Went to a dance performance in Ubud. Followed by pizza dinner at Casa Luna. 21 Jan Sitting in front of the hotel, waiting for Agung. A street person comes up to me and starts a conversation. Shakes my hand, asks my name, which I tell him, and then he tells me his: Made Sudana. I asked if he was form Batuan and he said yes! It turns out that it was him that I had the package for! So I delivered it. He was selling paintings for $150! Out of my price range, and that of the others as well. I arranged to go to his house on Sunday, but I would cancel that appointment - didn't want to be subjected to a sales pitch. We visited the bird park. And the Nekka museum, which is owned by another friend of Joe's. Nekka seems to own about half of Ubud. Unassuming guy, dressed casually. His son owns the Komaneka hotel, where we were staying. I skipped another couple museums and walked back to the hotel. In the evening, we had dinner with Kommen and Mansri - she operates the hotel, he operates the gallery. It was another good Balinese buffet. Went to a Barong dance after dinner. It was already in progress and we (May and Luci and I) didn't stay long. Went and drank JD at a local bar. 22 Jan Agung delivered May and my name plaques, they are magnificent. Went for an eco-lecture and vegetarian dinner with Panji. Toured his compound - head, body, and feet. Afterwards, we went and visited Made Wainte(sp?), another rich friend of Joe's. He put on a puppet show for us while we drank beer. Then we saw his collection being computerized. Then we saw a video of him. Then we had another beautiful Balinese buffet. Then it rained like hell. 23 Jan I checked out of the tour. Agung took Luci, Claudette, and Bryson to the airport. Then he took me to Kuta. Out parting was a sad, disjointed affair. And, I almost panicked being stuck in this hotel on my own. The beach wasn't what I had expected and I had to walk about 1/4 mile to get to it. I thought of calling Agung and asking him to take my anyplace else. But I persevered, ate out at a restaurant with colorful clientele. Decided to go diving. 24 Jan Called the Ena Dive Center. Signed up for an introductory dive at Nusa Penida for $100. Spent the day mostly reading. Called Susan, left a message on her machine. 25 Jan Up at 6, had to talk the crew out of breakfast which didn't start until 7. At 7 I was one my way. One-hour boat ride to Nusa Penida. I was the only customer! Diving was splendid. Clouds of little orange fish. Parrot fish. A moray eel. Coral formations. Went to 40', the limit for introductory dives. Made was my guide, he held my hand virtually the whole time. Tried to get a dive on Menjangen Island tomorrow. They said only if they get another client. They called later and said it was to be Tulamben. 26 Jan Went diving on the wreck of a liberty ship at Tulamben. A Dutch family was along - Nell, her husband, daughter, and son-in-law. Son-in-law and I got parked holding on to some rocks while our guide hassled with others in the group. Pop wasn't getting it (and never did, altho Made took him on a private dive). You couldn't tell it was a ship, it was just a jumble. I expected more structure. Saw a shoal of fish, silver, about 10" long. And a bat ray with blue/purple spots on it's back. Got cheated out of feeding the fish, my guide forgot the food. I got slightly sun-burned when I took the top of my wet suit down between dives. Wayan first Made second ? third Matut fourth Matur Suksema Watched the sun set from a restaurant on the beach. Well, I watched it get dark, it was cloudy. Thought about Bali my last night here! Agung has never been in an airplane. Made has never been off of Bali. 27 Jan Ran again this AM. Off to Hong Kong on at 1330 flight, leave here about 0930. Got to the airport with plenty of time on my hands. Had a couple beers (instead of bringing home a 50,000r note). Met Joe at the airport. Talked with a beautiful 30-year old English girl at the airport. She's on around-the-world trip, left last June, going until this June or the money runs out. Going to Singapore, the overland to Bangkok to join a friend. Brown eyes, blond hair. I didn't ask her name. Changed planes in Singapore. Got to Hong Kong. Left my loot-bag at "left luggage". After one false start, I got a bus to the hotel for $90HK 28 Jan Spoke with a woman from Tucson in the dining room, she was 70-80ish. She said I had to get to Victoria Peak, take the Star Ferry. So after breakfast, I set out. The Star Ferry was easy - there's a sign outside the hotel pointing at it. Thru a tunnel and a few blocks does it. The ferry trip is short - 10 minutes at the most. In Hong Kong, I decide to walk to Victoria Peak. I walk and walk. Come the various dead-ends. Eventually, I give up, walk back to the ferry and eat a little lunch. I ask the bus info people. She points out a bus sporting a sign that says "the peak". I take a thrilling 2-decker-bus ride up a long hill. I'd never have made it walking. The view was spectacular. On this walk, my shoes were pinching my feet. They must have shrunk when I washed them! I decided to trash them... I catch the ferry back to the hotel (which is in Kowloon!). Have a beer,dial flip, read, decide to shorten my stay one day. Too late calling Singapore airlines. I wander the streets, eventually eat dinner in a dive for $36HK. 29 Jan AM, walked the waterfront. Good place to run. Evening, flew to Guilin. Was met at the airport by Liu, taken to the hotel. 30 Jan 0830, Liu picks me up at the hotel. We drive down the river a bit and catch a tourist boat. The main deck is enclosed, the upper two decks not. The river is very shallow, we touch bottom a couple times. But the scenery is exceptional - the craggy part of China. Many pictures. Lunch is good and plentiful. After we get off the boat, I visit Silver(SP?) Cave. It makes Colossal Cave look dinky. Back in town, we visit Elephant mountain. Ate dinner with Liu and her husband. It was the high point of my stay in Guilin. Gambei! Drank and excellent beer, Elephant - very malty. And Chinese rice wine. Looked at pictures of a minority village (he's minority). Bought some pieces of minority hand-crafts from them. 31 Jan It's snowing! First time since 1991, according to Liu. Toured the city, saw many boring things. Had lunch with Liu, then she dropped me at the airport for my 1530 flight. I gave her and the driver all my cash except for the 90yen airport fee. Then, my flight got canceled! Rescheduled for an 1830 flight which would eventually leave at 2030. I'm wait-listed on Singapore airlines leaving Hong Kong at ~2200. Doubt I will make it! I eventually get to the hotel at 2430... 1 Feb Took the ferry to Discovery Bay. Flew back to SFO.