Happy New Year
New Years Eve ended up being a fairly relaxed evening for us. We had to play only one set of big band music. This contrasted immensely from my New Years experience on the Norwegian Dawn about 10 years ago. As my memory recalls, we had to play for six hours back then! Needless to say, I enjoyed the relaxed evening and made plans for the daytime. Unfortunately, I had “Port Manning” in the evening, so I would need to be on the ship rather than partying in Pattaya or Bangkok. From the stories I’ve heard of these places at nighttime, I didn’t mind having a reason to stay onboard the ship. “Port Manning” basically requires a certain percentage of the crew to be on the ship at any time in case of an emergency. That way, if the ship is sinking, more of us will be on the ship and need to be rescued (?).
During the day, Lisa and I went scuba diving about an hour off of the coast of Pattaya, Thailand. It ended up being an interesting and educational experience. The diving procedure and equipment rigging required that we do most of the work. In a way, I enjoyed this because it forced me to remember what I had been taught in my certification. On the other hand, it took more time. We eventually got all suited up and into the water. The visibility and overall dive plan did not amaze us very much. In fact, there really wasn’t a plan. I’m not sure, but I think our dive leader may have been mentally retarded to a degree.
This laid back approach to diving seems to capture the overall perspective of Thai life. Don’t worry be happy is one of their staples here. On a positive note, I saw a nice looking sea snake. I’ve always wanted to see one of these creatures. Apparently, these snakes can be some of the most dangerous in the world. There it lay, at the bottom of the ocean floor. This brings up an important point to be mentioned. It’s much safer to swim in the open water than to be walking or wading on the ocean floor. All sorts of things live on the bottom.
The dive itself refreshed my mind and prepared me for more ship life. The water felt cool and crisp despite the mediocre visibility. Then we made our way back to the ship, cleaned up, had a nap, and then played one set of music. After the set, I had a couple white russian drinks and witnessed the countdown on the pool deck. I didn’t stay long because of my morning plans.
At 8:15am, I got up, had breakfast, and made my way to the theatre where I escorted a group of guests to the designated tour bus. Then we drove into the jungle of Thailand to an elephant camp where we rode these massive creatures around trails, through rivers, and even on the highway! Near the end of the day we watched an exhibit where the elephants performed various tricks like putting basketballs in a hoop and doing acrobatic tricks.
The following day, I took a tour to the famous buddhist temple where locals pray for prosperity within the first week of the new year. As in the case of all the temples I’ve visited thus far, I simply absorbed the experience for all it had to offer. People from all backgrounds stood in the massive room while seeming to place pieces of paper on the statues themselves. I believe the paper contained a written message, a request, which the people hoped that the Buddha would acquiesce. If the wish came true throughout the year, the tradition requires that this person return to the statue to say “thank you” to the spirit of Buddha.
Although Thai people lean towards Buddhism as their main religion, the people of China, in contrast, do not subscribe to any religion generally speaking. A friend here on the ship who lives in China as a native explained to me that their history has made religion less appealing to the people. Her perspective suggests that religion flourishes easier in countries that have plenty of food and water so that acquiring basic necessities doesn’t constitute as much of a concern for them. Residents of China emphasize the accumulation of material things in order to ensure their own subsistence. She also assured me that their government believes gold to be the future financial savior in the world’s weakening economies, and they continue to buy gold despite the popular view that the United States dollar remains strong.
Indonesia
We spent four days on three different islands of Indonesia; these included Lombod, Komono, and Bali. The heat in Indonesia causes a person to begin sweating in less than a minute of stepping into the climate. Hot and humid pretty much sums it up. Interestingly enough, 90% of the people in Indonesia practice Islam, but society accepts all people regardless of their religious affiliation. On my first day (in Lombod), I visited a famous temple that has three sections combined together for a unitarian purpose. The section of the right exists for the Muslims to worship. The left section contains a Hindu alter and worship area. The middle portion accommodates Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and other local religions. As nice as all this might seem, the heat kept me from really getting into the zen of being there.
The ship sailed to the island of Komono on the second day. The island has been officially declared a national park by rite of being the home of the famous Komono Dragons. These giant coniferous lizards frequently hunt and eat deer, one another, and even humans. Although practically deaf, they have amazing eyesight and really powerful sense of smell. The rangers warn menstruating women to visit another time and for people in general not to wear red; the dragons think it looks like blood. A Komono Dragon will bite it’s prey, secrete venom into it’s body, and then patiently stalk the animal for days until it finally days. Apparently, the Komono Dragon can smell the blood and venom from miles away.
So I did what any sensible person would do. I walked right up to a group of about six of them and got some really good video. The rangers accompanied a large group of us for our protection. They were armed with long sticks which, after contemplating this in ernest, I believe they would use not on the Dragons but for us tourists; with the stick, the rangers could trip a tourist while making a safe escape as the Dragons devoured the fallen person. Just kidding. Luckily, the Komono Dragons had already eaten, so they were not hungry when we came prancing into the jungle with our cameras. After eating a meal, which can be the total mass of it’s own body, the dragon just lounges around for a couple weeks.
On the next day, Lisa and I spent a day in the town of Kuta, on the island of Bali. We had an authentic Indonesian lunch consisting of chicken, noodles, lots of spices, chips(in the soup), and vegetables. It tasted excellent, although very spicy. The bucket of beer we bought topped it nicely(which we finished before taking our leave). Right there on the beach front, locals will try to sell you all sorts of crap including art work, trinkets, dirty blankets, clean blankets, junk from their auntie, T-shirts, and even bows and arrows. I almost bought a bow/arrows set, but there’s no way I could get through security on the ship. Bummer. There were a bunch of temples along the beach as well, mostly Buddhist.
On the fourth day in Indonesia, Lisa and I decided to go scuba diving. We had set things up tentatively during the preceding day after meeting a “beach sports” agent on the strip. So many variables affect the outcome of these plans. First of all, we did not know our work schedule for the day yet. Second of all, we weren’t sure security would let us off the ship early enough in the day to get out by 8:30am. Long story short, we did it, and everything worked out. We ended up taking a small boat into the Bonoa bay area and doing two dives. There were only three of us, Lisa, me, and the dive master. Thankfully, this dive master did not appear to be mentally challenged. The most interesting thing about the dive pertained to the scenery on the bottom; Buddhist and Hindu statues were sitting(and kneeling) on the bottom of the ocean about 70 feet deep. They were probably put there as an attractive site for divers, but regardless, we got some great pics and video. The visibility wasn’t great, but we saw lots of fish, a ray, tons of starfish, and Komono dragon, just kidding, no dragons.
Something else deserves mentioning. The bathrooms in Benoa didn’t have toilet paper, nor do they ever I guess. They have a hose with a handle to be used for “cleaning” the backside and whatever else after using the can. Sort of like Fancy New York toilets, but eliminate the word “fancy” and “New York.” No actually, it’s more like a garden hose with one of those handles on the end that pressurizes the stream of water. I’m not for certain, but I think Vietnam public restrooms sometimes have something similar for people to use. Then, right outside this restroom with the hose of cleanliness, sat another Buddhist temple. The strange thing that I find to be confusing is that on the island of Bali(where I was today and the preceding day), the main religion is Hinduism, although 90% of Indonesians are muslim; I saw very few if any Hindu temples here, but lots of Buddhist Temples/shrines. After this day of diving and underwater statues and happy hoses, I decided to buy a nice wooden laughing Buddha, because it sums up my experience here. Then we enjoyed a nice vegetarian lunch on the beach, included in the price of diving.