Turnbull Family Pacific Tour 2015

I like to learn a few things about the places I visit to gain a better appreciation for my surroundings. I have to admit I didn't really know much about Indonesia before we arrived. We are enjoying our stay here, but now that we've been here for almost two weeks and plan to stay for a couple more, a few questions have come to my mind. Here in Java we're reminded five or six times a day by the call to prayer that this is primarily a Muslim island, yet the island of Bali is primary a Hindu area. Why is that, and do the various groups in Indonesia get along? Why are the people here better off than say Vietnam, but not as well off as the people in Thailand? And why is Indonesia, a vast collection of islands, one country and not many? I found some answers, but it's complicated. The various religious groups in Indonesia tell a story of empire and trade spanning thousands of years. Buddhism and Hinduism originated from India and made their way to Java and Sumatra via merchan...

Modern urban environments like Singapore have their charms, but I prefer a rural setting most of the time. When we take a holiday we usually try to strike a balance between time spent in the countryside and time spent in the big cities. There's usually a tug of war being city and rural time, since Catheleen and now John usually prefer what the cities have to offer. When we're home and weather permits, I really like to spend time at the cottage, closer to nature than life in the city. Even when at home in the city, when the lawnmowers aren't mowing, it's nice to sit quietly in the backyard on the deck, with a view of the surrounding trees and garden, listening to the cardinals come and go while the squirrels scurry by across the canopy of trees. I'm not a huge nature lover on its own. I do like to go for a nature walk or a hike on occasion, but I'm not a camper. I avoid the odd suggestion from Catheleen that we give it a go. I've never tried glamping (camping...

Yesterday we hired a driver to take us around northern Bali to see some of the sights and sounds. We visited a couple of temples of course. I thought one temple was particularly beautiful since it incorporated the natural landscape. It had massive statues carved out of the cliffs, along with whimsical rice terraces forming loops and waves around the palm trees, and waterfalls running down the surrounding forested cliffs. It was also nice to see that the temple was well used, with many people making offerings for sale in the community, or making special wedding decorations. It looked like a community effort. The men in Bali often wear sarongs at the temples and elsewhere. So I purchased one, since the shorts I was wearing were not sufficiently modest for the temples. Catheleen bought one too, and I made sure to purchase one made for men. I don't know what the difference was between the two, but I was assured I had the right one. Later on we stopped at a viewpoint overlooking a lake ...

Having visited other places in South East Asia, it is only natural I think to compare them to Bali. I can only imagine if we had come to Bali straight away from Canada, with no other experiences in Asia to draw upon, it would have charmed and amazed me as an exotic and beautiful place. I am still charmed, but it's a subtle spell. Just for fun imagine you didn't have to concern yourself with working for a living. Where would you live? Perhaps some in Canada would choose a tropical paradise like Bali, but I don't think I would like to live anywhere else but Canada. The main reason is Canada is my home, plain and simple. It's where I feel most comfortable, in a culture and environment, both urban and natural, I understand and like to think I appreciate. Perhaps the winters are a bit long for my taste, and I wouldn't mind skipping the odd one, but I think I would feel out of place without the seasons. I'm sure most of the Balinese would say much the same thing about...

John and I went exploring yesterday for a geocache, which we found in a school for the mentally disabled, sponsored by the Sjaki-Tari-Us foundation. John was very happy since he found something in the cache called a geocache coin , which is supposed to have a mission assigned to it like "bring me to every continent". John was thrilled because this one from Germany and did not have mission yet, so John can make one up. I was interested to speak with one of the teachers from the school. She said the school was founded and sponsored by people from Holland. The Indonesian government does provide some schooling for the mentally disabled, but it's limited to kids ages 7 through 10. This school provides schooling for kids outside of these age ranges. Last night we attended a performance called the Kecak Fire and Trance Dance, which was definitely worth seeing. The local community puts on these performances in a number of temples in the area. We were told at the end of the perf...

Last night we had a great meal at an Italian restaurant, although we may have eaten too much. The portions were much bigger than we thought. No worries, we had left over pizza the next day. After dinner Catheleen and I wandered around. I don't know how many Hindu temples there are here but they are everywhere. It's an interesting mix to see restaurants and shops squeezed in on the street between temples. We definitely had the feeling that we were far from home, but yet we had a sense of relaxation. Today we visited the Bali Bird Park . It was an excellent day where we saw up to 250 species of tropical birds from Indonesia and around the world. Many of the birds we visually stunning with such brightly coloured feathers. But the best thing about this place was the close interaction we had with the birds. Something I suspect would not be possible in Canada for health and safety concerns. I think the locals are less fussed about that here. Upon arrival we had a chance to hold some...

It's our second day in Bali, an island in   Indonesia. We flew here from Singapore yesterday, and we're settling into our surroundings. We're planning to stay here in Indonesia for about a month, with most of our time spent in Bali and some time spent in Java. We're currently in the town of in Ubud , a little bit inland. I really like our accommodations. The room is its own building, surrounded by gardens, stone walls and gates, all overgrown with plants, trees and vines. This morning as I sat on the veranda I looked out over the stone gravel path, strewn with fragrant yellow flowers that fell overnight from the tree above. I gave a flower to Elizabeth and she put it in her hair - she looked very pretty with a big smile on her face and a flower in her hair.  The resort is set in the middle of working rice fields, which I think is unique and scenic. Sitting at the pool, I looked out across the terraced rice fields, where a few workers were preparing the fields for ne...