WONDERFUL INDONESIA

Wonderful Indonesia, this is the current tourism slogan.  The Republic of Indonesia has 17,508 islands and over 238 million people, placing it #4 next to China, India and the USA.  For most of modern history it was known as the Dutch East Indies, but independence was gained from the Netherlands in 1945.  The GDP/capita is only around $3,500 and the country ranks #124 on the UN Human Development Index, which is not too good.  The president is Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (to the left with President Barack Obama, who spent part of his youth here).

I can dedicate a whole week to this country, but let me focus only on Bali, which has a population approaching 4 million, with 92% Hindu.  As the nation only has 1.7% Hindus, and 87% Muslim (mostly Sunnis), that explains a lot about the culture of this island.  All this began half a millennium ago when Bali became the refuge for Hindus, sort of the opposite from Pakistan, where this religion dropped from 22% in 1951 to 2% now.  The caste system is still practiced, but mixed-religion marriages are slowly becoming more and more accepted.

Bali is half the size of the Big Island of Hawaii and has four islands (actually five, but one is a preserve with no people), supporting 5,259 temples and having two active volcanoes.

The major international airport is down south in Kuta and my hotel is a few miles up the coastline towards the left from there.

What is most horrendous about Bali?  The traffic!  First, 85% of vehicles are motor bikes.  The top issues faced by the government is a surprise:

You can't see that too well, but concern for the economy is 3.5% and on education, 5.25%.  However,  transportation and road repair is 34.25% and traffic congestion is 18.38%.  Is it, however, safe to rent a motorbike?  NO!  NO!  NO!  While in most countries, the cars are a few feet apart, here, the distance is closer to an inch or two or three.  The lines on the road mean nothing.

Here is something that struck me as remarkably honest.  There are no nuclear power plants in Indonesia, but public hearings are being held to install one.  However, the overwhelming sentiment is absolutely no.  Why?  Fukushima failed even though the Japanese are precise and capable.  The people here don't want nuclear because, and this is from them, not me, they are not too careful so how can you trust us with anything so dangerous as nuclear power?

Oh, one more thing, time is a work in progress.  Being two hours late for dinner is common practice.  Don't, though, try this at the airport.

It was only half a century ago that 80,000 people were killed on this island in the transition from Sukarno to Suharto.  More recently, a decade ago, and five years later, militant Islamists bombed the tourist area, where more than 200 foreigners died.  The U.S. government only lifted travel warnings four years ago.  The current warning level is :  exercise a high degree of caution.  Julia Roberts came here in Eat, Pray, Love.

Remember Bucket List with Jack Nicholson and that very special coffee which is the most expensive sold?  It is called Kopi Luwak or civet coffee or cat shit coffee, and can go for up to $600/pound.  That comes from here.

I did not realize it when I made my reservations, but it is high season, and this weekend is a big holiday.  Thus, hotels are overbooked, mostly because it is really cold in Australia (my stop after Singapore).  Restaurant reservations are impossible.  I could not get a table for their famous brunch tomorrow, but I made loud noises, and my overbearing attitude worked.  Maybe it was my Platinum status.  I yesterday reported on all these fabulous meals.  You need to have experienced the culture of W hotels to understand that there is a continual background beat not unlike a nightclub.  There is also the smell of something burning, which the staff here cannot distinguish because I guess it is always here.  My room has a spectacular view:

Note those nice waves.  Constant at 3-5 foot faces as far left and right as I can see, and no surfers (because of serious rip tides--even swimming is largely prohibited).  Here is a close-up:

My bathroom is surrounded by glass walls, and I have thus run into them twice:

The sliding door to the lanai has flying pigs, for good reason:

A view of the bar:

What are those eggs?  I think they're cushions.

I took an animal safari tour, which was mostly to the Bali Zoo.  Here are some photos.  The first is a cassowary, and Harry Toups* will recognize this bird from our days at LSU:

Hard to believe that was 40 years ago.  This was a very large crocodile interested in me:

That protective glass is not all that thick if this reptile chose to attack.  There were bats all over the place:

Two bears with long tongues (it is, actually, twice that long):

I thought the color composition was ideal:

And a few more shots:

You can get very close to these animals, which struck me as being dangerous.

Gina and her son William from Ecuador, but now living in Beijing, were on the tour with me.  Here we are having a crispy duck lunch:

I might finally add that the prize cockfighters are given a shower every morning and fed vitamins:

Gambling is illegal in the country.  Sure.  Tomorrow, on to Singapore.

*For those from Louisiana, this is Harry, who after an illustrious career, is back teaching at LSU;

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