Satonda Island

August 26: Another Indonesian island with excellent snorkeling opportunities (say I unenthusiastically). However, this one - formed by the eruption of an ancient volcano - has some good hiking, an inland crater lake, nice scenery, and an astonishing profusion of fruit bats. So I'm happy.

A member of the crew waiting to zodiac us from the ship to the island.

The first part of the hike from the shore to the crater's edge is - rather surprisingly - paved.

A pretty view of the lake through the trees

We've seen fruit bats before, but never in this number or density. Where do they get their food?

More fruit bats, at the other side of the island

Our ship, artfully framed by branches as seen from the top of the island

Another view of Pan Orama II, at the island's edge

A rather dramatic sunset

Sailing Indonesia's Eastern Islands

August 25. On our first overnight sail, we crossed the Wallace line.  Wikipedia: "The Wallace Line or Wallace's Line is a faunal boundary line drawn in 1859 by the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace and named by English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley, that separates the ecozones of Asia and Wallacea, a transitional zone between Asia and Australia."

We had been warned that this inter-island patch of water can be rough, and indeed the Pan Orama II rocked noticeably, but it wasn't nearly as bad as other rough seas we had experienced, and the rocking may have lulled us to sleep.

We awoke to a memorable sunrise.

We passed an island in the far distance, which held a Moslem village. (Most of Indonesia, except Bali, is predominantly Moslem.) I racked the lens of my Lumix ZS200 out as far as it could go (360 mm), applied "Intelligent Zoom" to double that, and substantially cropped the resulting JPEG to achieve the image that you see above. It looks like an Impressionist watercolor, which I put up as an object lesson in pushing imaging technology too far.

The sails of the Pan Orama II were raised (one of only two times on this voyage) and made an interesting (to me) composition with the mast partly blocking the sun.

The stern of the ship, with Greek flag flying and paddle-boards, scuba gear, and life preservers readied for a wet landing on Badil Island.

A larger island on the way to Badil, showing the eroded remnants of volcanic activity that formed the Indonesian island chain.

By mid-afternoon we had gone ashore on Badil, and those who wanted to paddle, swim, or scuba were enjoying themselves. I, on the other hand, am unenthusiastic about water sports, so I contented myself with taking pictures of the vegetation.

Boarding the Pan Orama II

Around 4:30 in the afternoon of August 24, our bus took us to Benoa, the cruise port near Denpasar. We boarded our ship, the Pan Orama II, for a week's voyage to some of the eastern islands of Indonesia.

The Pan Orama II is the two-masted ship in the foreground. The sails were raised only twice on our week-long excursion; we mainly proceeded by engine power.

Benoa is on the take-off path of international flights from the nearby airport.  I took this photo just for fun.

Though the sails were not hoisted, the lights made a pretty sight in the evening.

Bali Art Museum in Denpasar

Denpasar is the capitol of Bali, and the main way of getting on and off the island by air or sea. About noon of August 24 our group drove there from Ubud by bus, and went to another good museum - the Bali Museum Denpasar - before having lunch and boarding our ship that will take us to some of the Eastern islands of Indonesia.

In contrast to the Museum Puri Lukisan in Ubud, about which I posted yesterday, the Bali Museum Denpasar mainly emphasizes sculpture - which is much more characteristic of the public art we've seen on Bali. Impressive stuff.

A courtyard was being used for pre-wedding photography. The ornateness of the costumes is nicely complemented by that of the stone carvings.

Excellent Balinese Art Museum in Ubud

The morning of August 24 was flexible time on our Road Scholar tour of Bali, so we went to the Museum Puri Lukisan in Ubud. It was an excellent choice: an attractive complex of four buildings, in nicely landscaped grounds, with some very interesting paintings. Here are some, in diverse styles over the centuries, that struck my fancy.

Some of the landscaping in the central courtyard:

On the street just outside, an attractive entrance to a temple.

A Day Full of Variety on Bali: Part 5 - Evening at the Theater

Returning to our Ubud hotel, we were told that there was a traditional theater performance at the palace that evening, which we could see if we skipped dinner. Some of us decided to do that, and piled into a hotel car along with Andre, our tour leader. The traffic was so heavy, however (as it often is in the evenings in Ubud) that we eventually got out of the car and walked the last few blocks.

It turned out that the palace had been commandeered for a private event, but after some inquiries Andre found that the performance had been rescheduled to a hall a couple of blocks away. Our delays meant that we got to the hall only a few minutes before the performance was to start, and seats were no longer available. However, we were granted standing room at the back of the hall (as long as Andre paid for our admissions). This turned out to be a good thing, since sight lines for photography were much better standing up. (And I like the fringe of silhouetted audience heads at the bottom of most frames.)

I took many pictures, and editing them down to a reasonable number was a challenge. I decided to post one for each appearance of a new character or ensemble, along with two at the beginning - an overall view of the hall, and the gamelan accompanists - and one at the end of the assembled company taking bows.

I have no idea of what this play was about, or whom the characters represented, but was told that it portrayed the triumph of good over evil. And the performance, with its visual ornateness, color, sound, and vivid ritual, was a memorable experience - one of the highlights of my Bali experience.