Noon Report:

• Location: S 08° 44.67′, E 115° 12.73′
• Speed: Docked
• Course: Docked
• Weather: Partly Cloudy
• Temperature: 27º C, 80º F
• Wind: SW 1 knot, 1.1 mph

Day 2 in Bali started with a bang. Our excursion left at 8:30. Before then we breakfasted, finished packing, checked and rechecked, and got ourselves to the meeting point with minutes to spare.

Our tour started with a visit to a batik factory/shop. We witnessed artists working intricate designs with wax (Many of us took advantage of their offer to make drawings on our hats/clothes with the wax.) and looked at the clothing and artwork on offer. Here are a few pics of amazing batik designs.

Our next stop was the famous Tanah Lot temple.

It was high tide so we weren’t able to walk out to the temple but we did get some good photos from different vantage points.

Then it was time for lunch. Lunch was served at a small hotel located “out in the rice paddies.”

Our final stop for the day was the Taman Ayun temple complex. This complex was built in the 17th century as the family temple of the Mengwi empire and has been expanded and renovated several times since. Cheryl and I did not view this temple.

We stayed outside the temple as this was the pickup point for Ralph and Anjar.

For the non-Kilpatricks in the audience here’s a bit of background. My cousin Ralph Coleman and his wife Anjar have moved to Bali and we took advantage of a multi-day port stay to visit them in their home. So this next section is not strictly related to the cruise. It’s really more of a matter of bragging to the other cousins that we were the first to enjoy Ralph and Anjar’s great hospitality.

The home (complex) is situated among the rice paddies in a flat plane northwest of Denpasar. They bought the property from the original builder and have been making improvements over the past couple of years. The complex includes a main house, a separate kitchen, a guest house, an office/garage, and an outdoor living room. They have added an herb garden and a koi pond and have reoriented the property toward the front. It is truly a magnificent property. Here are a few photos:

So they took us to their place and we spent the next 30 odd (some of them very odd) hours catching up with Ralph, getting to know (and love) Anjar, and generally relaxing. It was a great visit and the only change I’d make would be to make it longer next time.

So that’s the first day of the second half of the cruise. Tomorrow we continue our adventure with the Bali Colemans.

Now we rest. R