Bali: First Impressions

When Captain Daniel Moreland brought the barque Picton Castle into Benoa, Bali, he wrote, "We have just reached a point 180 degrees east and west of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, our North American homeport." If you read his sea letters posted to his website's "Captain's Log" and those of the BeWorldWise on-board educational team, you will find hundreds of diary entries and thousands of images taken during the ship's world-circling voyage that will ultimately cover 37,000 miles, 47 ports and 22 countries over a 19-month period. Below, Kate Menser, head of the BeWorldWise team, shares her Bali experiences with children around the globe.

Ever since I joined the Picton Castle I have been excited about the prospect of visiting the island of Bali. Just the name alone sounds exotic, mysterious and very, very cool. Bali is a small island in the vast archipelago of Indonesia, which includes more than 13,000 islands, and it is rich in history, culture, art, and crafts.

Our first day I had to do some ship's business with the captain and our ship's agent, Made Gerip, not to be confused with the captain's guide and driver, Made Alon. You see, among the Balinese there are only four first names. Firstborn children, boys or girls, are always named Wayan (pronounced why-ANNE). Second children are named Made (pronounced mah-DAY). Third children are named Nyoman (pronounced knee-OH-mahn) and fourth-born children are named Ketut (pronounced keh-TUHT). If there are more than four children in a family, they start over again with Wayan. There are also no family names (last names - Menser is my family name), so children are given a second name, like Gerip or Alon, to differentiate them from all the other Wayans, Mades, Nyomans and Ketuts in Bali. If I were born in Bali my full name would be Wayan Kate.

Made drove us into Denpasar, the capital city, where the streets were crowded with minivans called bemos that act like taxis, lots of cars, men pushing carts with noodle soup and coconut drinks for sale, and hundreds of whizzing motorbikes, some carrying families of four or five people! Even with all the traffic, people were still very polite and it was rare to hear a horn honking. We passed dozens of shops all crowded with what looked like the same stuff: woodcarvings, baskets, bamboo wind chimes, and hundreds of sarongs. Women were walking with large offerings of fruit and rice cakes balanced on their heads.

While the rest of Indonesia is predominantly Muslim, more than 95% of Balinese practice a form of Hinduism called Balinese Hindu Dharma. Evidence of this is everywhere, from the intricately carved stone temples seen peeking over the fences surrounding every dwelling to the small but elaborate morning offerings of rice, flowers and fruit that are placed in front of every house, store front and important intersection. We carefully stepped over three such offerings on our way into the modern glass-and-steel Bank Mandiri.

It was here we had to change our U.S. money into Indonesian rupiah. The exchange rate was 9,800 rupiah to one U.S. dollar, which means with only a bit over $100US, you could be a millionaire in Bali! We were very glad to have Made with us here because, while all Balinese speak Balinese and Indonesian, few speak very good English. In Indonesian, there are four different ways to say hello depending on the time of day and two ways to say goodbye depending on whether you are the person leaving or the person staying. Having Made was invaluable.

Driving back to the ship we passed terraces of ripe green rice plants and a vast mangrove forest that looked more like a swamp at low tide. I was already hooked and ready to discover what Bali was like. Already I could tell our three-week stay would be too short.

So come explore Bali with me, Hilary, and the rest of the Picton Castle crew as we learn how to make batik cloth, ride on an elephant, meet some thieving monkeys, attend important temple celebrations and visit schools in three isolated villages on the slopes of the volcano, Mount Agung.

Bali is everything the name promises!