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BRIZO - 17 Sept 2012



We are extending our stay in Bali by one day so that Lew can have blank pages added to his passport. He is making a day trip to Surabaya where there is a US consulate and the pages can be added while-you-wait. This seems to be an emerging problem for quite a few people on the Rally since some countries use entire pages in your passport to affix the visa documents. We have heard that South Africa requires that visitors must arrive with at least three blank pages in your passport: two for their use and one left over to make sure the next country you visit will let you in!

None of us has ever been to Asia before so our visit to Bali has been very educational. The society and economy is very different from Western standards and has taken some adjustment. Locally produced products and services are very inexpensive, imported items can vary widely from our price expectations. Still, everything (especially restaurant meals) seems very cheap compared to Australia which everyone agrees was the most expensive place so far.

World Cruising had organized a day-long bus tour which was great except for the constant bombardment from hand craft vendors everywhere we went. The amount of crafts was overwhelming, we wondered how they could possibly sell all of the stuff on display. We had a very nice lunch overlooking a large valley from a high mountain road, also saw Hindu temples and a series of rice paddies sculpted from hill sides. The final stop was a monkey sanctuary with small monkeys roaming freely and mischievously in a beautiful, urban forest park. Unfortunately Phil from ANASTASIA was bitten by one of the monkeys but he seems fine now. So does Phil.

Corinne and the girls had a shopping experience unlike any before: they went to the large public marketplace and saw everything from animals being butchered to high fashion knock-offs. Apparently they went to the market for locals, not tourists, and were the only non-Asians among hundreds, perhaps thousands of vendors and shoppers. The girls felt very uncomfortable although there was no real danger. Still, they both said it was one of the most eye-popping experiences of the Rally!

Our plan is to depart Bali on Wedensday at noon after completing the immigration departure process and all provisioning for the next 2-3 weeks. We will be 24 hours behind the fleet but hope to catch up late Friday or early Saturday in Christmas Island.

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