Early 2023 brought an opportunity to take a trip that appeared to be one of those "Trips of a lifetime" and we jumped at the chance. Joyce was a bit reticent for less than a day, but she quickly realized we shouldn't pass up this opportunity so we made the reservation and boy, we were not sorry or disappointed in the least. Our group included six of us, Margie, Allan, Linda, Bill, Joyce and I.
The trip began with a bit of a bump in the road, literally. The car service driver managed to get into a pretty bad accident on the Southern State Parkway in Nassau County as we were heading to Newark Airport. She rear-ended another vehicle, destroying the front of hers. Luckily a replacement vehicle was dispatched and we made it in time to catch the first flight to San Francisco. From there we flew to Melbourne, Australia and then on to Darwin, where we spent three days seeing some local attractions. I will say that the 31-odd hours to get to Australia was not the most pleasant, but necessary. It will be a long time before I might consider flying that kind of distance again.
Each island presented different sights, different people, yet there were still similarities. In each case we were warmly welcomed by the locals and in many cases the entire population came out to welcome us. Most of the islands are pretty remote and only have one village. Daily, we would be invited to a welcome ceremony conducted in local garb. The ceremony would end with the local population inviting us to enjoy hand-made treats and they expected nothing in return, except for maybe a smile and to take a picture with them. They were as intrigued as we were. By our standards, poverty would be one word to describe living conditions on several of the most remote islands. However, what we saw and experienced was extreme happiness and joy.
Our ship was the first one several of the islands had seen in three years due to the pandemic. Most cruise lines do not hit these islands as there is no infrastructure to handle crowds and there are no tourist-friendly attractions. However, our cruise was classified as an Expedition Tour and being a small ship we were able to go places the larger ships cannot. Even so, to reach the islands, at least half required we use Zodiac inflatable boats as there are no docks for any kind of ships.
When we ended our cruise in Bali, we were treated to a stay in the Four Seasons at Jimbaran Bay, Bali for a few days. If you ever have the chance to stay at a Four Seasons, do it! This was the most spectacular resort I have ever been to. Absolutely first class all the way. From there, we moved to another top-shelf resort, the Maya Ubud, which I also highly recommend. We had tours every day in Bali and to say it was beautiful simply doesn't do it justice. We visited the Tagalalang rice terrace, had Balinese cooking lesson at Cafe Wayan, visited a kite maker and puppet master with a traditional dance show and visited the Goa Gajah Elephant Cave as well as a traditional Barong and Keris dance performance, ending with a visit to the Agung Rai Museum of Art.
One thing did stand out about Bali and that was in downtown Denpasar (the capital city of Bali). As we all know, NYC and the surrounding areas generate some of the worst traffic one can experience. Well, believe it or not, traffic in Denpasar makes the LIE look like a country road. The congestion is hard to imagine. Along with the cars were thousands of mopeds, which, due to costs of car ownership, are the main mode of transport for many families. Seeing families of four or five all traveling on one moped is a bit jarring. Whenever we travel a rental car is always part of the program as we enjoy getting out and exploring areas outside the usual tourist areas. Denpasar is the first place I have been to that I would refuse to rent a car and drive anywhere. It is just too crazy.
The trip home started from Bali bringing us to Dubai's magnificent airport and from there back to JFK, The return trip was "only" 25 1/2 hours. Heading out on the start of the trip took us on a westerly route and coming back took us on another westerly route so we essentially circumnavigated the globe.
First up, NW Australia...
Next up, The cruise ship...
Now, on to the various islands we visited...
This is the ship's map marked for the islands we visited before arriving in Bali ----->
Apologies for the reflections, but hey, the cocktails were great!
And on to Bali...First are some pictures of the Four Seasons Resort followed by some shots taken at a beautiful rice terrace.
Pay attention to the two pics near the end; I ran into what sure seemed like my doppelgänger. Never met him before, but he was on our bus heading to the next resort.
The last picture is of a typical experience on the local roads.
Finally, some pictures of our last resort, Maya Ubud along with the other adventures...
