SOME FINAL THOUGHTS ...

MY FAVORITE IMAGE OF THEM ALL

Before heading off to our Farewell Dinner at a the conclusion of our tour, we met with our guide Manik for a debriefing session.  He asked us what the highlight of the tour was for each of us as we looked back on our prior thirteen days.  Interestingly each of the responses was different, yet everyone acknowledged that those highlights others had were on their "favorites" lists as well.  

Among those highlights, the Indonesian people struck us all, particularly, as patient, open-hearted, content, and willing workers.  We appreciated the sense of fellow-feeling, family and community they demonstrated.  The ability to live harmoniously as Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist and Christian religious communities inspired us as did the ability to make use without waste (and with attention to detail) of the rich natural environment in which they live and work.  

Manik gave us insights into the impact of a multifaceted cultural and religious history on the current state of Indonesian life.  This placed everything in an appropriate long range context.  We came away as a result with a nicely developed sense of "authentic" Indonesian life, one not so easily acquired in an environment so given over to "touristic" simplification and Orientalist exoticism.

Then, on our flight(s) homeward, Lee watched a documentary film about the reconstruction of the Grand Shrine of Ise which has occurred every twenty years in Japan for well over a thousand, perhaps two thousand, years.  Now, although a heavily ritualized process, the result both keeps alive over time the arts and craft techniques required but also makes new again in the present a religious artifact initially constructed in exactly the same way using exactly the same means and materials all those centuries ago.

The reconstruction process depends heavily on the maintenance of the source of natural materials used as provided in the forest surrounding the shrine.  The documentary takes off on this, focusing on the benefits accruing from a sustained effort to preserve (and restore) natural forests and their supporting ecology in order to maintain and preserve Japan itself in the present.  

This emphasis on "living in awe amidst the mysteries of things" stands in contrast to the Indonesian view of a world sharply divided between the forces of good and evil in which humanity must strive to please the gods above while placating (and avoiding) the evil below.

In Bali the result is a ready willingness to forgive and forbear (since evil is always and inevitably present in daily life) and a necessary drive to avoid stirring up all those evil forces as much as possible.  Since both forest and ocean harbor these potentially dangerous and disruptive forces, Balinese avoided traditionally disturbing either one - and have ended up with an environment far more intact than in most of the rest of the  world.

Japan, on the other hand, sees humanity as part of a larger spiritual and material whole, assuming the need to nurture and sustain that whole in order to maintain harmony and assure survival.

The final result may well be similar but the means to that common end are radically different.  Interesting what one can learn while cooped up on an eleven hour trans-Pacific flight!

"THE TIME IS HERE, THE DAY HAS COME ... ONE DAY MORE"

After a couple of days not her best, Heidi finally struggled back into "travel mode" and joined Lee and the rest of the group on one last excursion - to a thousand year old Hindu temple a little over one hour out of Sanur.

The temple is one of six guarding the island of Bali from evil spirits.  It also houses some "naughty monkeys" known for their skill in stealing eyeglasses and footware from unsuspecting tourists.

Although we had been warned not to wear glasses or glittery earrings or carry water bottles with us, we witnessed several altercations between monkeys and those not cautioned against the antics of these local residents.

Otherwise our visit afforded us the peaceful opportunity to view the Indian Ocean from the high cliffs on which the temple complex is perched and to admire the beautiful white sandstone and unique architecture of the temple buildings.

Uluwatu  Temple on Bali

The flowers and oddly-shaped trees (due to the thin topsoil and coral rock dominating the site) added to the beauty and tranquility of the setting.

.  

Our visit proved a fitting ending to our formal tour itinerary - and still provided sufficient time for some last minute shopping or lunch on the beach or a long afternoon nap before this evening's Farewell Dinner, also at a beachside restaurant and blessed by a full moon rising out of the sea and the music of a talented young group of musicians whose playing had many of us tapping our feet to their upbeat tunes.

ALL IS NOT LOST

Our intrepid group of experienced travelers ventured into somewhat unknown territory this morning with a pilgrimage visit to a rural village Hindu temple complex where we participated in a water purification ritual.

We began, however, with a visit to a restaurant in our guide Manik's hometown where we sampled the speciality roast suckling pig before wandering through a nearby market.  This is much more familiar territory for most of us - and, as always, a great photo opportunity.  This time around, Lee focused on flower vendors and women putting together the small bamboo offering baskets placed on the ground daily seemingly everywhere on the entire island.

Something else caught his eye as well: a series of huge decorated bamboo poles lined up along both sides of the town's main drag, placed there as part of an annual local celebration.  The effect was magical - as the following album of images amply illustrates.

Some Holiday Bamboo Poles 

Then it was on to the Balinese Hindu temple.  Talk about "remote"!  Pura Tirta Sudamala dates back to the fourteenth century ar least and is well known and highly regarded by nearby residents.  Today, for instance, a number of local women were gathered at the temple to put together decorations to be utilized in a major annual celebration scheduled for early May.  The not-easily-reached location of the temple complex has kept it off any visiting tourist roster; that may change.  But for now, at least, that remoteness resulted in a much more "authentic" experience than might otherwise have been the case.

And what an experience it was!  Having changed into sarongs belted with a ritual scarf, we first stepped gingerly into the river while the local priest led us in a set of ritual prayers.  Then we (literally) plunged headlong into the river itself before proceeding to douse ourselves, one by one, in a set of waterfalls springing out of the hillside above.  After drying off, we concluded the ceremony in the main temple courtyard before the sacred altar as another priest led us in the same set of ritual prayers.

Purification at Pura Tirta Sudamala Temple

After all was said and done, we talked with the priest for awhile.  The entire experience was undertaken in the presence of others for whom this ritual represented a familiar undertaking.  No one seemed at all perplexed or offended by our participation.  Indeed the famed ready "Balinese smile" was everywhere apparent.

Eventually we climbed the lengthy set of stone stairs back to our waiting vans and wandered off to lunch - which, in and of itself, proved memorable (especially the banana split sundae for desert and the lovely water garden setting just at the side of our dining pavilion.

BACK TO "THE REAL WORLD"

Our last evening in Lovina, we celebrated with drinks and dinner beachside - a pure indulgent delight!

Our arrival mid-afternoon here at our hotel in Sanur, on the other hand, proved ample illustration of just how far Bali has slipped into the tourism mainstream.  As we struggled through the maze of motorcycle and minivan traffic, past an increasing number of recognizable franchise namebrand outlets, encountering more and more casually dressed (generously speaking) westerners out shopping in the midday sun (which everyone since Noel Coward penned the imortal lyrics knows only mad dogs and Englismen are prone to do), it became increasingly obvious that Bali had become, at least hereabouts, a mere shadow of its "authentic" self.

Our restaurant this evening mirrored the inevitable result.  While munching on an Italian cheese pizza and quaffing a local Bintang beer, we were entertained by a beautifully dressed and elegantly trained pair of traditional Balanese dancers - who then posed for photos and selfies with customers and passers-by alike, encircled by overly familiar arms around shoulders and waists, with hardly the usual respect accorded temple dancers in earlier times.  The restaurant wait staff all spoke really good English; no need to know any Indonesian words or phrases.  We might just as well have been in some crazy, mixed up version of Disney's Epcot Center!

The idealized image of Bali most of the rest of the world conjures up when imagining this supposed island paradise seems to have been swallowed up and homogenized into something of a parody of itself, becoming acceptably exotic without requiring visitors to step too far out of their personal cultural comfort zone.

Fortunately the earlier part of the day was spent motoring through stunningly beautiful remote mountain scenery on our way from Lovina to Sanur.  We stopped to walk through terraced rice fields, ate lunch at a quiet, almost totally deserted, resort restaurant overlooking our unimaginably lush green surroundings. "Authenticity" still exists, it seems; you just have to look harder to find it!

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF TIGA WASA VILLAGE

Bright and early this morning, shopping lists in hand, we intrepid travelers made our way from stall to stall at the morning market in search of ingredients we were instructed to purchase as our contribution to today's lunch.

LOVINA MORNING MARKET

Next three expertly-driven vans ferried thirteen of us forty minutes or so up, up and up, deep into the remote mountains to the east of Lovina along a newly laid (but very narrow) roadway to the village of Tiga Wasa where we were to spend much of the rest of the day.

The principal of the local elementary school greeted us upon arrival, answered lots of our questions about local education, accepted gifts we had brought with us and then let us interact with a class of fourth graders.  We watched an impressive math lesson, then listened to the students play bamboo angalung musical instruments before joining them in a spirited rendition of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star".

We then wandered around the village accompanied by our guide, Manik, who pointed out various plants and other ecological features of the local natural landscape.  Tiga Wasa is widely known for its woven bamboo baskets, and a family of local crafters invited us to watch them being produced (and, again, were given the opportunity to try the process out ourselves).

We also helped prepare lunch and then enjoyed a spirited discussion of local life with our extended host family and the village head (plus a neighbor recently back from Borneo in search for a local girl to wed!).

The image scrapbook attached fails utterly to convey just how enjoyable this entire experience was for all of us participants.  The day proved a real highlight of our entire tour experience!  See for yourself ....

TIGA WASA VILLAGE: A DAY IN THE LIFE

UBUD TO LOVINA, SIGHTSEEING ALONG THE WAY

We spent much of Tuesday traveling north by minibus from Ubud to Lovina on the black sand coast of the Java Sea.  The trip took us up and over some beautiful, tropical terrain, lush and green, with two major stops along the way.

The first was at Lake Bratan where visited Ulun Danu Bratan, a Balanese Hindu temple honoring a local water goddess.  The main pagoda appears to float on the surface of the lake.  Recently the park-like surroundings have been significantly upgraded, making the site even more attractive.

Our second stop involved a thirty minute jungle walk taking us to the foot of Gitgit Waterfall, a hike that left us all drenched in sweat and happy to return to the air-conditioned comfort of our tour bus!

Lovina proved to be a VERY small town along the coast, but one with all the requisite amenities: ATM, Indomaret convenience store, liquor store stocking the local Two Island wines, Wi-Fi and cellphone access, a couple of good restaurants - and the beautiful Lovina Bali Resort.  Who needs any more than that?

OF DOORS AND DOORWAYS

Balinese villages appear made up largely of walled compounds abutting one another cheek by jowl.  Each community centers on a Hindu temple, also walled off from the outside world.  Today most are threaded by narrow roads lined with tiny shops.  Widespread use of gray concrete and the general absence of painted surfaces lends a colorless atmosphere to much of the urban landscape.

The exception - and it's a wild one - are the entrance gateways to both homes and temples.  The towering "split gateway" is meant to suggest the need to constantly seek to reconcile the myriad opposites that needlessly complicate life as we experience it.  These side towers are also often elaborately decorated with stone statuary and deeply-carved decorative stone panels.

The wooden split door panels between the two supporting pillars are equally eye catching, their carved wooden figures often brightly painted and depicting well-known scenes from the Ramayana or Mahabharata.

As the following collages illustrate, each and everyone readily captures the photographer's eye....

FROM A DREAM OF DANCE INTO THE VALLEY OF DEATH

Here is a set of images from THE SUDI DANCE SCHOOL in UBUD from yesterday's dance recital, somwething of an upbeat alternative to what follows.

A several hour drive out into the country along sparsely traveled, newly blacktopped highways brought us to a spectacular view of a caldera inside of which loomed an active volcanic cone and a large pristine lake.  The caldera housed a number of active villages whose inhabitant's primary occupation involved quarrying basalt rocks frequently used as foundation stones and/or volcanic ash used as fertilizer.  Our goal, however, was an isolated village on the far side of the lake reached by first descending deep into the caldera and then zipping across the lake via motorboat.

We met the village headman upon arrival, were guided around the village (including a brief conversation with the current resident of the oldest house in the village, above) and through the local temple before reboarding our small skiffs for a short ride to the local cemetery.  A giant and VERY old tree stands guard here over a set of ten graves.  The bodies therein are merely wrapped in thin burial shrouds and left to rot naturally.

Any new body brought to the site releases the oldest body there, the bones of the deceased then being dispersed around the general area beneath the enormous sheltering tree.  Each corpse is accompanied by all their earthly goods pied up around them.  Sheltering umbrellas and random coins often are scattered about as well.  Age old ritual customs still alive even in early twenty-first century Bali - unusual, unique and quite amazing!

KUBURAN TERUNYAN

YOGYAKARTA DAYS

The days have flown by in a whirl of activities not often leaving time to reflect and communicate all we've done and seen since last sitting down at a keyboard.  Let's see what's been going on these lakst several days, shall we?

Over thee days and along the way we have stopped in several villages to witness local handicraft and small scale home industry workers producing salty snacks and rice chips, various types of cloth turbans worn by different ethnic groups, hundreds of brightly painted clay bowls ordered for a wedding feast as well as full-scale workshop turning out truely beautiful batik cloth of the highest quality.

YOGYAKARTA RURAL HANDICRAFTS

One related observations: much of the economic activity we have observed overall from our tour but, on our village walks or mountain hikes represents independent, small scale entrepreneurs selling out of very tiny spaces to what appears to be a local market of longtime consumers.  

Even in urban areas sidewalks are in terrible condition, if they exist at all.  We encounter relatively few pedestrians anywhere -- motorcycles are, by far, the preferred mode of transportation.  The exceptions are manmouth multiplex complexes housing apartments, well stocked malls and all the other amenities allowing escape into a much more "international modernity".

Lots of other activities have marked our itinerary over the past few days, including a hike along the slopes of Mt. Merapi, devastated by a volcanic eruption in 2010 but slowly recovering, at least environmentally.  We spent some time in Kaliaem with a seventy-four-yea-old woman who has adamantly refused to even considering leaving her long time home; later we met with some military vets in their late eighties and nineties who recalled for us their wars for independence against the Dutch and the Japanese as well as times spent repelling cross-border excursions from Malaysia and Borneo.

For Lee the high point of our entire tour took place Friday morning with our several hour visit to Borobudur, the world's largest Budhist temple.  Built atop a hill rising above the surrounding landscape, it's squat appearance replicates the Buddist conception of the universe over a series of three levels rising to the ultimate one of NIRVANA.  Each level is lined with passageways depicting in stone relief, first, the nature of our human existence as we know it; secondly, those who have been able to control some of their desires but remain bound to existence; and thirdly, those who have mastered their desires and entered paradise.

The life of the historical Buddha is also highlighted along the way as are stories and myths associated with hundreds of his other manifestations in various human and animal forms.  Images of the Buddha are found in every nook and cranny; hardly a surface has been overlooked in the attempt to contain all of life's complexities in one single cosmological portrait.  A pretty fantastic accomplishment for those building the site in the 12th century, wouldn't you say?

BOROBUDUR'S BEST

Our flight to Bali the next day took us into an entirely different world, one full of color and tropical flowers and smiling, open hearted people.  Best of all, we visited a neighborhood Balinese Dance School where the headmaster and his wife are trying singlehandedly to keep alive local traditional dance forms by providing low cost weekly lessons to neighborhood kids.  The "big kids" we're off to attend a dance competition of some sort, so we had "to make due" with some delightful nine and ten year old substitutes.  We even got to sit in with the gamelan band and try our hands at some Balinese music making!

 

 

AN ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE, A COUNTRYSIDE LUNCH AND SOME VISITS WITH JAVANESE CRAFTSMAKERS

Historical context in Indonesia is never easily mastered.  Traders came early, from multilateral direction - India, China, Western Europe and Japan, Africa.  They found already in place a vast variety of independent, largely self-sufficient indigenous groups already possessing well developed cultural, social and religious ways.  Intermixing naturally occurs over the centuries and many a political entity came and went in these long reaches of time as well.

Early Monday morning we visited a physical remanent of one such early Javanese kingdom recently subject to archeological exploration. The site was of a ninth century Hindu temple honoring Shiva and his associated entourage, Parvati (Shiva's spouse), Durga (a Verdic sage) and Ganesha (Shiva's son), together with three smaller shrines housing their three trusty steeds, the bull, the swan and the Garuda.

The site proved a easily assimilated entry point into the multilayered complexity of Hindu mythology, construction materials and techniques and architectural styles likely to encountered elsewhere in Java and around the rest of Indonesia

[Having become increasingly flustered with my various attempts at effectively intergrating images into these blog posts, I have decided to insert a single "teaser" image followe by a link to a small set of related images that, when clicked, enlarge to render details more fully.  Thanks your patience with all this experimentation.]

The Hindu Temple Complex at Candi Sambisari, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Countrystyle Lunch on a Veranda Overlooking Yogyakarata Rice Fields

We experienced Prombanan Temple under a light summer shower during the early afternoon, but that proved no deterrent to our appreciation of this truely awesome 10th century Hindu temple complex.  The sultan controlling this part of the Indonesian archipelago also extended his control into parts of the modern Souteast Asian mainland and thereby influenced the architectural look of Ankor Wat.

The hight of the central structures, the intricate and complex carvings, he narrative retelling of the whole of the Ramayana epic in hand carved stone bad reliefs were all stunning to behold.  Other, essentially untouched piles of rubble nearby attest to the magnitude of the mighty reconstruction process that lies ahead.

Prambanan Temple, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

A BUSY DAY IN JAKARTA

One's initial impressions of Jakarta is of a VERY large city (some 16 million inhabitants, thereabouts) with very little intrinsic charm, a city of business and commerce with little to hold the attention of leisure travelers, a city dotted with new skyscrapers but lacking essential amenities (such as sidewalks and decent public transportation).  No one walks anywhere; motorcycles are everywhere; all the cars are new and clean and Japanese and predominantly minivans rather than sedans.

We spent our first day "on tour with OAT" adding depth and understanding to those first impressions. The city came alive as a result (although unlikely to stir any significant relocation thoughts among us).

Istiqial Mosque was first on our agenda.  Designed by Frederick Silaban in a highly symbolic "internationist" style, "Independence Mosque" was completed in 1978.  The largest mosque in Southeast Asia, it can serve 200,000 adherients simultaneously on its five interior worship level and the huge surrounding outdoor terraces.  Right across the street is the city's largest Catholic cathedral.

The architecture is stark and regal and striking in its simplicity as illustrated in this Jakarta Mosque 2016 Google Photos album [click on the album title to bring up the images; click an album image to enlarge it, then sweep towards the left to view the others].

Our local guide includes in her mixed heritage a good many Chinese ancestors.  For our second adventure of the day we walked through an urban Chinese neighborhood where her family once lived, the site of several days of anti-Chinese rioting in 1998 that left lots of death and destruction in its wake.  We visited a market area and then a typical temple complex where we met the local neighborhood government leader with whom we carried on an extended discussion of the riots and their consequences,

JAKARTA CHINATOWN 2016

We next rode three wheeler jitneys to Fatahillah Square, the center of Dutch Colonial control beginning in the seventeenth century.  After lunch at the famed Cafe Batavia and a brief stroll around the square and to the nearby railroad station, we hopped back aboard our bus and drove through the heart of contemporary Jakarta's newest upscale neighborhoods, providing quite a contrast to the run-down sections of town in which we had spent much of the morning.

JAKARTA, INDONESIA 2016

An elegant dinner in an equally elegant restaurant full of exotic Indonesian collectibles rounded out the day, in the end leaving us all with a positive impression of a cosmopolitan, diverse and vibrant city. 

Tomorrow we fly off to Yogyakarta in Central Java for more adventures.

OFF TO SEE THE PUPPETS

The highlight of our first foray out into the Jakarta heat took us to the Wayang Museum of Indonesian (and world) puppetRey, housed in a converted Dutch colonial era church in the Old Town area of the city.

We "just happened" to run into a middle-aged man standing at the ticket counter, "Aldy" by name, who turned out to be a fourth generation Indonesian puppeteer and puppet master himself and whose family collections provided many of the artifacts on display.  He was happy to act as our guide to the exhibit and later, together with several others who joined us along the route, invited us to his nearby workshop where he both performed a short puppet show and demonstrated the processes involved in creating a two-dimensional shadow puppet.

Lee, having done his TripAdvisor homework, knew this kind of serendipity was a possibility and knew, too, that Aldy's presence was sure to turn the entire experience from "mediocre" to "fantastic" - which it, in fact, did!

Here are some images of our delightful host and both the three dimensional Indonesian puppets seen directly by the audience and the shadow puppets whose images are projected from behind a screen between the puppeteer and his viewers that he introduced us to during our museum and workshop visits.

AN ALTERNATE GOOGLE PHOTO ALBUM OF THE SAME IMAGES, WAYANG PUPPET MUSEUM, JAKARTA, CAN BE FOUND BY CLICKING ON THE UNDERLINED TITLE.

Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires

FAR AWAY BUT CLOSE AT HAND

A restful day, indeed.  Breakfast at Buzz in the hotel lobby, the only Westerners (but for one other) in the place, then a swim (perfect water temperature) in the roof deck pool, followed by a second breakfast in the Executive Lounge, lots of reading and a nap --- all before noon!

The remainder of the day went along much the same, although we did step outside the lobby doors for a look-see for a brief few minutes in the midday heat.  After a very light supper and a glass of white wine, we watched a bit of television in our room before Heidi fell fast asleep around 9:00 PM local time.

Decades ago all this (non)activity would have taken placa accompanied by a concurrent process of cross-cultural adjustment -- strange food, new language, unfamiliar environment, different customs.

In today's globalized setting, however, we still found ourselves tied to 'home" although half a world away.  Wi-Fi brought easy and fast Internet connections to the Plain Dealer, New York Times and Facebook.  We could access email accounts and check in on other favorite web sites.

Along the way we did read through the paper version of the local Jakarta daily newspaper and browsed some Indonesian English language magazines; but, overall, we're still more in touch with events in Ohio and the USA in general than we are with local affairs.  Even the TV show we watched, an episode of The Amazing Race, kept us firmly rooted in our American life.

Years ago letters home took ten days minimum to reach their destination.   Time and Newsweek arrived once a week to keep us abrest of what was happening elsewhere in the world.  Local television was unknown altogether; BBC World broadcasts provided our only link to current events.  Our "world" shrank accordingly, reduced to focusing on and mastering the intricacies of local "daily life" as best we could.

Our contemporary lifestyle, on the other hand, requires a level of multitasking not present back then.  Somehow we seem tied to being two places (minimum) at once even when one of those places is a world away.

Equally true: the world is much more "of a piece" now than half a century ago.  Everyone we encounter in our hotel, staff and fellow guests alike, speaks English, be they Indonesian, Malaysian or Korean.  Signs throughout the hotel are posted in English as well, the lingua franca of contemporary commerce.  Local shops deal in familiar namebrand goods; billboards advertise the latest Galaxy 7 smartphone and American films are ubiquitous.  Not much in the way of cultural adjustment seems called for given the circumstances.

In the final analysis, having traveled under both sets of circumstances, Heidi and Lee, while content with the current state of affairs, are equally happy to have had all those earlier experiences of a less connected, less homogenous world those many decades ago.  Travel was a REAL adventure back then, believe us!

JAKARTA ON AN EARLY SATURDAY MORNING

A PIECE OF CAKE !

In the aftermath of our fourteen hour marathon getting to Japan, today's eight hour flight proved considerably less daunting.  Our JAL plane was much more comfortable; and the food, more plentiful and tasty (Heidi disagrees).  Lee even lucked into being seated in a much roomier exit row seat!

We arrived late afternoon in Jakarta and were picked up by a driver from the Alila Hotel.  A bit late because of traffic (two hours on the road instead of the ideal thirty minutes), he nonetheless got us to the hotel in just over an hour, much better than par for the course.

First Impressions: everywhere and immediately, the warm smells we have come to associate with Southeast Asia; lots and lots of traffic, mainly new Japanese minivans and motorcycles (with drivers all wearing helmets); a "new city" with lots of ongoing construction, mostly isolated, gargantuan multistory structures interspersed with a few examples of interesting contemporary architecture; friendly and open people, many dressed in Muslim garb -- lots of head scarfs and scull caps.

Jakarta itself appears spread over hundreds of square miles and houses a huge population; so far there's not much of a visual impression of a central urban core nor of much overall cohesion or central planning.  Few pedestrians on the streets anywhere; only an occasional bus, not much in the way of must-see sites, it would seem, to attract even the most adventurous travelers.

Yet, based on population numbers alone, the city must attract the interest of the Indonesian people and provide some sense of a shared and centralizing national identity, however derivative and global that identity might strike us as we glimpse close at hand yet another KFC, Arby's or Starbucks, so familiar to us from home.

Our preparatory reading and trip itinerary, indeed, counter this initial impression of Indonesia as a whole and promise more of the exotic and unusual; but, lest we forget, Jakarta is every bit as representative of today's Indonesia as any other place in the country....

Our hotel, on the other hand, seems an urban oasis perfectly suited as a refuge in which to overcome jet lag.  Our Executive Floor room entitles us, not only to a daily buffet breakfast, but to a sumptuous evening appetizer-and-wine spread as well.  There's a beautiful, large pool, too -- and our eighth floor room provides a far-ranging city view.

We have no complaints on that score, whatsoever!

EARLY FRIDAY MORNING IN JAPAN

Our two flights ((Cleveland - Chicago, Chicago - Tokyo) were long but uneventful.  They included our first BOEING 787 DREAMLINER trip, noteworthy for variable cabin lighting, bigger windows (with film "shades), universal Wi-Fi access, and seemingly endless entertainment choices. Movies and sporadic naps helped fill the fourteen-plus hours we spent in the air, arriving in Japan shortly after 3:30 PM on Thursday afternoon.

We staggered off the plane, along endless corridors, through immigration and customs to the arrival hall where we put our large suitcases in overnight storage and changed some dollars into yen before catching a train the short distance to Narita.  A helpful Australian couple familiar with the area helped us navigate the Narita station and pointed out the way to our hotel, essentially just across the street.

The Richmond Hotel sports a quite contemporary lobby, a competent and helpful staff, small but adequate rooms (no surprise anywhere in Japan) and all the expected modern conveniences and amenities.  We immediately tumbled into bed upon check-in and slept solidly until early Friday morning.  Heidi is still asleep....

From the train window enroute to Narita, even in the midst of the foggy gray of late afternoon, cherry blossom pink shown brightly against the pine trees forest green, proving the scenic highlight of the entire day.  Lee ventured out this morning to shoot some images, for him the first time ever being able to be in Japan two years in a row at the height of cherry blossom time!

   

We both also realized that age is catching up with us - weary legs, swollen ankles and leg cramps have suddenly become an unwelcome addition to our travel experiences.  But we carry on - our JAL flight to Jakarta leaves at 10:50 AM.

A CUP OF BAG DRIP COFFEE WHILE AWAITING BREAKFAST

UP AND OFF WE GO ...

Irony of ironies: having read about increasingly long TSA lines at airport check-in points due to increases in passenger traffic and funding cuts -- as well as accounts of congestion resulting from extensive construction underway at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, we decided to take no chances.

Diane Hartt picked us up promptly at 7:30 AM for our 10:20 AM flight to Chicago.  No traffic enroute meant we arrived at Hopkins around 8:15 AM.  Check-in lines were totally non-existent, both at American and TSA; and we ended up with TSA PRECHECK status as well, so we waltzed right on through without even having to remove shoes, coats or iPad for screening!

Heidi was disappointed, having looked forward to claiming the "over 75" exemption for the first time .

We got to our departure gate by 8:30 AM!  So much for "over planning"....

READY TO GO !

Lists compiled; suitcases packed; last minute details attended to; crises averted (the replacement for a compromised credit card arrived this morning) -- both Heidi and Lee are stoked to begin our adventure.

The itinerary begins with a flight to Chicago tomorrow morning to catch a connection on to Tokyo, arriving there late Thursday afternoon.  We'll spend the night in a hotel near the airport before catching a plane on Friday morning to Jakarta, Indonesia's capital and largest city.  What with the International Date Line and over twenty hours of flying time, undoubtedly we'll need the next couple of nights to catch our breath before our JAVA AND BALI: INDONESIA'S MYSTICAL ISLANDS tour begins.

Following a Monday spent in Jakarta, we will fly to Yogyakarta for four nights and then on to Bali where we will be for the next eight days while touring much of the island -- and, one hopes, enjoying some "sand and surf".  Anticipated highlights include Borobudur (Buddhist) and Prambanan (Hindu) temples on Java and the cultural riches of Bali -- dance, music, puppet shows, arts and crafts galore.

One characteristic of OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel) tours which sets them apart is the inclusion of visits to villages and meals with local families during the course of our travels.  On this trip we will stop off in Java at Kasongan Village to observe everyday Javanese rural life.  We will also travel to Truyan, home to the Bali Aga who display their dead in open graves behind wooden lattices "remarkably preserved by the roots of the fragrant taru menyaunyunn tree"!  On another occasion we will experience "A Day in the Life" of the farming village of Tiga Wasa where we will meet with palm sugar makers and bamboo weavers and also enjoy a school visit and a communal lunch.

Look for detailed impressions in the days ahead ....

[NOTE: Lee is still experiencing troubles with the slideshow software he has used successfully in the past, especially evident when attempting to view images on an iPad.  If these issues aren't resolved in the next day or so, he will likely reformat or delete several of his pre-departure posts and shift to another format for displaying images.]

PREPARATIONS AFOOT

We start today with a YouTube video version of a short sample slideshow created with ProShow Web software.  (Viewers can enlarge the video to full screen by clicking on the expanding arrows.)  The overall effect is pretty cool, but Lee still has a way to travel along the learning curve ...

Heidi and Lee's usual pre-departure activities frequently include a visit with the rest of the family before we depart for "destinations unknown".  This year those visits took us to Champaign, Oak Park and Chicago several days before Easter and gave us the opportunity to celebrate the holiday with both the Lonergan and the Evan Makela families.

That which follows is a malfunctioning HAIKU DECK slideshow.  Lee is hoping that the problem (which appears to be affecting all HAIKU DECK displays) can be fixed before we leave for Jakarta on Wednesday.  If not, an alternative image display approach will have to be employed, and the HAIKU DECK app will disappear for the duration of our Indonesian sojourn.

Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires

THE START OF SOMETHING NEW

Three days from today on Wednesday, April 6, 2016 Heidi and Lee will once again fly off on what we hope to be another unforgettable adventure, this time visiting the Indonesian islands of Java and Bali.  We will be traveling with Overseas Adventure Travel yet again on a small group tour that begins in Jakarta on Saturday, April 10th, returning to Cleveland April 25th.

Since Indonesia is located half way 'round the globe, we will break our outward bound flight overnight in Japan.  Our arrival in Indonesia's capital two nights early will give us a chance to overcome jet lag before setting off on our in-country journey.  Both of us are looking forward to what lies ahead.

Before we leave, however, as usual, Lee needs to scout out what new software has become available since the last time he blogged about a trip.

Experimentation undoubtedly will ensue over the next couple of days, some successes to be adopted and failures rejected.

How best to display images has always been a top priority in these quests for upgraded alternatives.  Here's what Lee has used in the past ....


Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires