A double rainbow greeted us the morning we arrived in Bali. How magical! (Itinerary) 

 
People fished from small boats and on foot in the harbor as we sailed in.

 
A minimal lighthouse (with only metal supports) on the point and some wrecks were rotting on a sandbar not far away.

 
The other end of the rainbow over the fishing boats. The dancers took a selfie with the ship in the background before they were called on to perform.

A group of musicians playing drums, gongs, and chimes made beautiful music both on their own and then with the dancers.

 
The swags are used for celebrations. We guessed that a bunch of rich cruise passengers is indeed cause for celebration.

     
We hired a driver and van with George Srenko (A ship's lecturer on environmental issues who was on this leg of the cruise), his wife Jan and another couple who were interested in birding. They hired a birding lady to lead Jan and the couple on a birding trip with only short walks. George went with us on a nice hike. Here the bird lady gives George instructions on meeting them back at this restaurant in 2.5 hours.

 
We walked by a temple.

 
We started our hike along a road with no sidewalk and no shoulders.

 
Some of the drop-offs were steep as the road crossed deep gorges.

 
I asked why the roosters were under the baskets, this man answered with the universal shrug for I don't understand.

We walked past some laundry to see the rice paddies.

 
George had a GPS on his phone and map of the region, so we knew more or less where we were headed.

 
We loved walking along the clay walls of the paddies. The rice was in various stages of growth.

 
Dragonflies were everywhere, so mosquitoes were not a problem.

The paddies were sprinkled with primitive shelters.

 
Backbreaking work for sure. Note how the rows of rice follow the contours of the dikes.

 
We came to the other side of the rice paddies and were on the road that led to the ridge trail.

 
A temple in the rice paddies. We saw a number of pond herons working the paddies.

In the middle of some paddies, cattle and chickens grazed. We saw some drained fields where cows were fertilizing the land.

 
A bamboo bridge with an offering at its entrance. These workers were taking seedlings out of the field.

A patch of rice seedlings.

 
We passed a spa with these open huts where you could receive treatments...

 
People were expected along this section of our hike. This man fashioned wooden eggs for sale.

 
We were finally on the ridge trail itself.

 
A temple was near the town at the end of the trail.

 
A beautiful young couple were there to renew their marriage vows. They'd been married the previous September.

 
A school girl swept the roadway in front of her school. An offering on a dragonfly tile doorstep.

  
A pedestrian suspension bridge across the river gorge connects the temple to the town.

   
And back in town we marveled at the unsubtly-shaped bottle openers that were offered for sale next to fans and other trinkets. We met the rest of our group at a restaurant. They were admiring this spotted neck dove at eye level looking out from their table.

 
In keeping with our bird-oriented day, we stopped at a heron nesting area in some trees between the road and a rice paddy. A couple of young herons had fallen from their nests too soon and were on the ground. (In Florida, the gators would have eaten them but in the absence of large predators, they might make it to adulthood.)

 
There were a couple of different heron species here including the pond heron that we'd seen in the paddies and cattle egrets, but most of them were this medium-sized white heron.

 
Our next stop was a very busy road overlooking some steeply terraced paddies. Next to the overlooking road there were restaurants, shops, and people selling quilts and other stuff to the tourists who had stopped here on there taxi tours.

  
Our next stop was a water temple which includes an active spring.

The koi pool and this bathing pool are fed with the runoff from the spring pool.

The spring pool: The springs in Florida have white sand that floats around the vents but here, since it's a volcanic island, the sand around the vents is black.

 
A leaning wall covered with moss and small ferns reminded us of the wall in the Emperor's Gardens in Japan. This worshiped tree is slowly taking over the structures built to honor it. And so we called it a day and our cab driver took us back to the ship. We were tired for sure.

Sunrise the next morning. We hired a taxi with another couple to see stuff we'd missed the day before.

We'd seen this amazing sculpture the day before. It's built in the middle of a traffic circle. We stopped.

 
Our driver told us the story of the god and the army of monkeys that rescued his true love who had been kidnapped:  a Hindu Helen of Troy.

 
Stone pots and tile paving tablets were for sale across the street from the traffic circle. The next stop was a silver factory that we'd also seen the day before that sports a whimsical and outrageous exterior. We did not go into the factory, but had a good time trying to capture the whimsy.

 
This is the street view of the factory. Amazing!

 
We stopped the driver when we saw this giant torso being built in a temple. It will be covered with paper maché for a big celebration for the Hindu New Year coming up. We'd seen many of them. In the temple a smaller model is further along...

 
We stopped the cab when we saw this view of Mount Agung (the highest mountain on the island) with rice paddies in front of it and across the street rice paddies were being worked next to the beach.

A little way farther down the road, the driver stopped at this black sand beach.

A temple was built right on the beach.

 
Dean stopped to talk to these men who were tying fishing lures.

   
Our next stop was the bat cave temple.

 
This temple had an 11-tier pagoda, which is the highest level. There are only six of these high temples in Bali.

 
Guests are not allowed in the cave, but the bats were hanging at the edge and were clearly visible. These are not the flying foxes (large fruit bats that we'd seen earlier) but were small insect-eating bats.

  
The offering on the nose of the temple dog made us think of the dog trick where you put a treat on his nose and make him wait before he flips it into his mouth. The bat-god with blue wings is featured in this sculpture. A holy man sat unmoving for the whole time we were there.

 
Some cute boys in the bat-cave temple parking lot probably belong to some of the vendors hawking their wares.

 
Then we were off toward Blue Lagoon, but first a white sand beach stop. It seemed more resort-like with rooms to rent and dive shops.

 
As the ferry came in from the nearby island of Lombok, the vendors hoisted their loads to sell to the off-loading passengers. We'd been to Lombok on our 2012 cruise. (Half way down the page.)

 
Roosters for sale and huge satellite dishes adorn tiny houses.

The people were so friendly...

 
There was a temple at the end of the beach. We got back in the cab and drove over the hill to Blue Lagoon. It is famous for good snorkeling. The entrance is either by boat or down some steep stairs. There is a resort and spa here built into the side of the hill.

 
There were several snorkel boats on the lagoon. Trees clung to the lava cliffs. The beach had been swept, but the trash was just left in a pile waiting for the tide to carry it back out to sea. We concluded that Blue Lagoon looks better from a distance.

A small temple overlooks the lagoon and was teeming with dragonflies.

 
Street scenes.

 
We stopped at another rice paddy area where the rice was almost ready to harvest. Then it was back to the port where this protecting deity watched over the terminal.

 
We sucked some Internet on the promanade deck while we waited for the sail away party. Some of our service crew have family here and this was celebrated. Before we cast off our lines, Dean took a photo of their reflections in the water.

Some wreckage on the way out...

 
The sunset was spectacular.

We especially liked this spreading tree over one a harbor.

Dean's Log: Bali  

The next stop was Semarang, Java. Even more crew members had family there. We gave our room stewards a break by putting a note on our door that we did not need service on family days.