Cruise to Southeast Asia, Part One

On January 20 we set off on our trip to Southeast Asia, most of it spent aboard the Aegean Odyssey again. I was so pleased with the staff and arrangements on our first voyage in May 2012 that I hoped to repeat the experience. There were other differences, though, not just the destination. We were on our own, not traveling with the AIA or some other group, and the greater part of the cruise was spent at sea, with relatively few ports of call. Consequently, our experiences were not the same, neither in quantity nor quality. However, there are still many good things to remember. One memorable event, not at all a happy one, was the plane flight from SFO first to Hong Kong and then Singapore. The flight was delayed three hours, so we didn't take off until well after midnight. We were flying through darkness for most of the seventeen hours aboard, and, though I tried to get some sleep, I really couldn't. Wound up watching a marathon of Nurse Jackie episodes, simply because I was too groggy to read and that was the best entertainment on offer. After landing in Singapore, we had to deal with an additional two-hour flight to Bali and transfer to the Nikko Bali Resort, checking in close to 10:00 p.m. their time. We had no idea how long we had been awake. The first thing that struck me was the contrast between the elegant resort properties and the native settlements. The latter were simply open storefronts with overhanging roofs, facing directly on the highway (no sidewalks) and selling food, clothing, you name it. Juxtaposition of inordinately wealthy and poor took your breath away. Resorts are protected enclaves with guard booths. The luxury was embarrassing; the resort was also not cheap, though prices outside it were very low. On our first full evening there, we ate in the more casual restaurant, by no means a dress-up place. While the food was not terribly expensive, alcohol, except for beer, was through the roof--a circumstance we noticed everywhere in SE Asia. Still trying to get my bearings, and completely unfamiliar with the currency, I ordered what I thought was a nine-dollar bottle of Australian wine (that would have been its price in the US), only to find that in mentally converting I had put the decimal in the wrong place. While on land I drank a lot more beer this trip than I normally do.

Bali is famous for its native dances, though the two we attended were quite obviously scaled down and oriented towards the tourist, as the action on stage did not match the scenes narrated in the libretto. We were also taken on a planned excursion to a jewelry shop and a wood-working establishment--the latter featuring not only statuettes of traditional deities, but representations of anything and everything a tourist might like, including sensual Western-style naked females.

I was impressed by two things--the absolutely ravishing orchids, growing untended, and the widespread animism. While we were told that Buddhism and Islam were the two dominant religions of Indonesia, on Bali there was evidence of animism everywhere--statues of divinities wrapped with checkered cloth for good luck, small shrines with incense, including one on a banyan tree in the middle of a shopping center. I actually saw the clerk from the shop nearby go out and make an offering of food at the shrine before returning to sell souvenirs. Visits to Buddhist temples were problematic, because, like Islam, etiquette requires the removal of shoes in sacred places, and that was something Ron was unable to do. Temples were also located in places difficult of access, like Gunung Kawi atop a high cliff (left). After two days in Bali, we traveled by bus to the port, embarked on the Aegean Odyssey, and sailed the next day to the port of Semarang and a visit to Borobudur. Climbing up the various levels to the top of the temple was unforgettable, as the stonework was extremely impressive and the temple complex well preserved. While on the topmost level, I noticed people leaving offerings of flowers and food at the stupas, or chambers housing Buddha images. As soon as the worshipper left, the guards took the offerings away and trashed them. The guide explained that Borobudur was not a Buddhist shrine but a public monument, so leaving offerings is discouraged, though devout Buddhists do it anyway. It seemed rather a waste. On the way back to the ship, we bought a pound of Java coffee at a local plantation. Unfortunately, we didn't try it beforehand, and Java coffee requires some getting used to. We're blending it with Starbucks' French Roast. Back to the ship and on to Singapore. I was looking forward to the guest lectures on board. In that I was not disappointed.