Goodbye Bali

Friday 27th March

We were both really upset by yesterday's events. It is the first time in our lives where our liberty has been curtailed by religion, and we were surprised how strongly we felt about it. It wasn't that we were mistreated or in any way made uncomfortable, it was the principle that we were not free to travel, even to the adjacent beach, which angered and alienated us.

Perhaps though it explains how the anti-communist pogrom, which was so violent here, could be reconciled with the polite, eager to please, apparently laid-back inhabitants. What was revealed yesterday was that beneath the smiles is something akin to an underlying authoritarian theocracy. An institution which has the power to police what is effectively a religious curfew using black clad men wielding large sticks.

We couldn't enjoy the day and realised that it was because we could not condone a system which could treat our rights so disrespectfully. A wasted day, except it taught us that however charming a place may be, if you are foreign to the society you may be treated in ways you do not understand.

Last night's supper was a farce. We. were guided to a restaurant in the grounds by torchlight. As most lights in the hotel were turned off as it was against the religious principles of the day to use artificial light, a high percentage of orders were being sent back as either wrong or inedible because although the cooking staff were doing their best to prepare the food in the inadequately lit kitchen, they couldn't see what they were doing.

Spent the morning snorkelling although a thunderstorm last night had left the water quite turbid.

Walked along the beach promenade in the afternoon. The tide was very low and people were wading in the lagoon or in small outrigger canoes, dotted across the surface right up to the reef, fishing in the low water.

Saturday 28th March – Goodbye Bali

Final swim in the sea, then onwards to the final part of our global tour.