Location: Mertasari Beach, Bali
Good day, everyone, tuning in from the home front or wherever you may be reading from. Chief mate Riley here, bringing you the latest updates on Vela’s crew in Bali. It is so amazing to be back on this side of the blogs after a fair amount of time away.
Yesterday was a huge day for the boat and program, so huge thanks to everyone who pitched in. From the taxi drivers to the grocery store cashiers, staff and students, dock workers and agents, it was definitely an all-hands-on (and below) deck endeavor. Huge shout-out to the team working with me on deck, including but not limited to: Fin, Adda, Alice, Maya, Wiley, Jewel, Payton, Vera, Perry, and all others getting the deck nice and clear again.
Anyway, enough about yesterday, on to our adventures from today. Our day started with Jack Johnson wake-ups and the option to do breakfast ashore, which almost everyone took advantage of. The staff stayed back to prepare some lectures and other materials for some projects occurring throughout the remainder of our time in Bali and Indonesia. At around 9:45, our bunkering barge showed up so we could load up on fuel. Since Vela is so large and has tons of tank space, we have to go through a more involved process when it comes to filling with diesel. Mac, Sam, Emma, and Kyler ran the on-deck filling operation, while I was in the engine room, running fuel transfers between the tanks down below. This process can be very time-consuming, but everyone came together to make it happen, including our agent. While this was occurring/finishing, students got to work on Oceanography, with a special guest lecture from Perry on plate tectonics. They then had a quick Leadership lecture with Emma, chatting about everyone’s values and what is most important to them.
After a wonderful lunch of white bean soup with couscous prepared by Zoe, the team got ready to head out to Uluwatu, one of the most well-known and scenic temple sites in Bali. We met with our guide, Sudi, who had organized a bus to ferry us around Denpasar. Much to the enjoyment of all involved, the bus had unreal air conditioning and reclining seats, allowing for a pleasant ride in the midday heat. Below are some quotes from the team about this series of revelations.
” I always enjoy long road trips in a comfortable setup.”-Payton
“Henry and I watched the scenery, watched some Young Sheldon, and talked about the stores we wanted to visit as we passed them.”-Scarlette
“This is perfect for me to catch up on work, except I get carsick.”-Destiny
“I have been here for a long time.”- Fin, when Perry noticed he had worked his way to the front of the bus.
“This looks like a great place to nap later.”-various.
Once arriving at the temple entrance, we grabbed our tickets and made our way into the grounds. Uluwatu temple is made up of a series of temples, amphitheaters, and viewpoints stretched out over the southern cliffside of Denpasar. It is such an unreal experience that these pictures can’t really give much justice. Since Adda, Destiny, Wiley, Rai-Ching, and Perry had been there before, they became the tour guides in the temple and grounds.
One decent (yet adorable) problem was the monkey population. Don’t let their looks deceive you; they are extremely mischievous and not afraid to take anything, and I mean anything. There were many scenes of people losing glasses, wallets, phones, hats, purses, etc., with the local guides trying to get everything back to mixed success. Thankfully, none of our group fell victim to the monkey terror, despite some close calls.
While the views and temple were an awesome experience, we all gathered for the main event, the kecak dance. Kecak dance is an ancient Balinese tradition that has a series of chants and coordinated dances to tell a story. In the case of the Uluwatu Kecak dance, it tells a traditional Hindu story about Sri Rama and his battle with Rahwana. Truly an unforgettable experience with long chants, fire, acrobatics, dancing, and high energy; it was something worth spending a lot of time on. Post kecak dance, we made our way over to dinner at a local spot. As I am sure you readers at home have already been told or have heard, many people went a bit overboard with access to smoothies, milkshakes, cheesecake, ice cream, pizza, burgers, live music, and lots of local faredefinitely a well-enjoyed meal after a long day out.
Our long bus ride back to the boat allowed people to catch up on some well-needed sleep, especially as they will be up at 6:30 tomorrow to go surfing! Some people stayed up, but most others chose to sleep in the AC and had a relatively smooth ride.
Highlights from today include:
Keith and the most expensive item on the menu.
Henry unknowingly ordered spicy food and was trying to beat the heat.
Wiley ordering two cheeseburgers with fries.
Destiny, Hannah, and Vera recount their adventures with Emma from the previous day of provisioning.
Alice remembering getting scared by Jewel pretending to be a monkey sneaking up on her.
Thaxton and Payton reminiscing about Looney Tunes.
Maya passing out in the bus ride back with Vera next to her, trying to not disturb her too much.
Adda and Jewel breaking out into random song at any and all times.
A group staying behind to get photos with the dancers, which resulted in Zeke taking a photo with random people.
Thank you all for tuning in for this installment of the blog. Next time you’ll read from me personally, it will be somewhere deep in the Indian Ocean. So glad to be back, and we will keep you updated as everything else unfolds. Love you, Mom, Dad, Eli, and Ava! Thoughts and prayers out to everyone affected by the recent tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic. And to the office team, miss y’all and thanks for all of your work and support getting us to this point and beyond.