Celukan Bawang, north shore of the island Bali

We were headed for a coastal resort on the north shore of the island of Bali, and, of course, traffic is heavy on the coastal road.

Amazing how much can be carried on a single motorbike.  Alternately, you would frequently see husband-wife-child-and a bag of purchases all on one motorbike.  Rule is that everyone should have a helmet, but that was often ignored.

The resort itself was beautiful with extensive gardens.  We were fed an excellent buffet meal with many native dishes.

Lovina Beach Resort had a beautiful pool (water temperature perfect).

Many boats tied up adjacent to the resort beach.  The water here was shallow extending for a significant distance offshore.

Those are my feet; we are playing with Rummikub tiles while relaxing on a covered platform.

Extensive lawn and thatched buildings for those staying for a few days.  Bali is beautiful for the tourists; the life of average citizens is considerably different.

I used the infinity pool.  Most of it was about six feet deep with a portion at the far end where you could wade.

We spent our time today at Lovina Beach Hotel on the north shore of the island of Bali. The bus ride there was an hour long: a one-hour sermon on Hinduism by our tour guide.  What I got out of the talk was that Hinduism teaches you to be satisfied with whatever life you have (the caste system). Your life is predetermined to a great extent.  Every event in your life, or that of a relative, requires a celebration which can be quite expensive.  Your duty is to honor the spirits of your ancestors.  If you have any spare time or money, it should be spent on temples-monuments-alters honoring those ancestors, Now I understand why Hinduism is synonymous with backwardness and poverty.  Bali is 87% Hindu.

During that one-hour bus drive, we could observe the endless poverty lining both sides of the road.  The people are very nice, but it is difficult for me to see their conditions improving.  The culture must change first.  If someone wanted to even widen one of their narrow roads, all the homes and businesses would have to move.  Those homes and businesses are located very close to the edge of the present road, seldom is there ever even a sidewalk.

The Lovina resort was very nice for a third-world location.  They served an extensive buffet of native dishes, and I tried almost all of them (and may skip dinner).  The dishes tasted good but not exceptional.  The resort is on a black sand beach, not pristine.  A beautiful infinity pool was there for our use, perfect temperature.  The grounds are shaded by many palm trees.  We relaxed on a raised cushion bed under an open thatched roof for shade.